When Apple made their big announcement in mid-January, iPads and textbooks suddenly became the talk of the town. Techies were of course immediately on the topic, and even casual users were drawn into various discussions. After all, the iPad is a device that is hard to ignore, and textbooks are close to the hearts of a lot of people who care about education.
The comparison of iPads and textbooks was, understandably, inevitable. Can the iPad really take the place of textbooks? Or will textbooks as we have always known them remain for eternity? Here is the lowdown on iPads and textbooks, brought to us by Online Teaching Degree.
The infographic is all about comparing iPads and textbooks, which of course includes cost analysis. The numbers are not surprising, I think.
- USD 27 billion is what it would cost the United States government to supply an iPad to every student in the nation. That figure is the same as the amount it will cost to pay 675,000 teachers a year’s worth of wages.
- In a hypothetical situation, a school that uses iPads in lieu of textbooks will spend $430,000 annually as compared to the $180,000 per year it will cost for traditional textbooks.
I suppose the issue really revolves around the cost of the device, as opposed to paper textbooks. Then again, we also have to consider the fact that iPads can last much longer. More so, if they can be used for, say, the entire duration of high school, students just might be able to save on the cost of buying books every year. That is, if textbooks available for the iPad are way cheaper than traditional ones.
It is too early to say how things will turn out, and the numbers do not seem encouraging. I think, though, that if publishers catch on, the possibility of iPads being used more for education is rather high. What is your take on this?