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A farewell to textbooks: Trinity Catholic's nearly 600 students access their books electronically [Ocala Star-Banner, Fla.]
[September 30, 2014]

A farewell to textbooks: Trinity Catholic's nearly 600 students access their books electronically [Ocala Star-Banner, Fla.]


(Ocala Star-Banner (FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 29--Biology teacher Cheryl Tomlinson looked at her Trinity Catholic High School class and challenged her students to find interesting facts about adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

Last year, many students would have had to thumb through their textbooks -- or maybe used a laptop, if they had one -- to find information about ATP. Research on ATP, which transports chemical energy within cells, is part of their photosynthesis instruction.



But this year, there are no textbooks. All of Trinity Catholic's nearly 600 students use iPads, or some type of tablet, to access their textbooks in a cloud, or other Web-based site.

Parents must provide the devices, unless the child qualifies for assistance. The school leases some devices, or even loans them, to students as needed.


An anonymous benefactor donated $500,000 to install the latest wireless technology at the school, including three signal towers and 125 routers, or what are known as "arrow hives." No matter where you go on campus, a student or teacher can access the Internet. Students waiting to practice after school can read homework assignments on their iPad while sitting in the football stands, for instance.

Last year, parents had to pay $600 for each child's textbooks. This year, the cost is a $350 technology fee. Most of Trinity's electronic textbooks are about 30 percent of the cost of traditional ones, officials said.

David L. McKenzie, Trinity Catholic's president, said most schools still operate like those of a century ago, with traditional textbooks and a chalkboard. McKenzie said officials felt it was time to utilize technology, more like college campuses do today.

McKenzie noted that once a traditional textbook is created, it takes a year or two for it to be edited and ready to distribute. By then, the information is two to three years old. The Internet books can be updated daily, he said.

"Students are learning about the latest conflicts in the Middle East," whereby last year the latest conflict a Trinity student may have studied could have been Desert Storm, McKenzie said.

"The (electronic) textbooks are more interactive, too," said Lou Pereira, Trinity Catholic's principal. "This is the world that students live in." McKenzie noted that "by the time our freshmen go to college, there will be no more (physical) textbooks." School officials want to get students ready for what they will face in college.

He said eliminating traditional textbooks completely changes the educational landscape.

But it did not come without its challenges: network crashes, system compatibility issues and database connectivity problems.

When classes began at Trinity Catholic more than a month ago, the campuswide WiFi had been tested. The system had 50 routers and was designed for about 900 devices.

McKenzie soon realized that he forgot one key part of figuring out the number of routers: Every child and adult on campus would also use the wireless system with his or her personal phones.

For the first two weeks it appeared the system would never work correctly. McKenzie ordered 75 more routers, and then the students and faculty could access the system much better, he noted.

Now the system can handle at least 1,500 devices, possibly as many as 2,000. There have also been issues with some of the platforms that many of the publishing companies use for schools to access their books.

Pereira said there also have been problems with student devices not being able to download data.

"In most cases, their (students') devices did not have enough space for to download because they have like 4,000 pictures on them," McKenzie said.

The school only has one Information Technology employee to help students with their devices. It uses an outside consultant for any other issue. He said most of the system issues can be handled from a consultant from offsite.

Pereira said that many of the electronic book adoptions have different platforms on which they operate. That also creates a challenge.

"One iPad has to connect with several different platforms of software to provide what they need on a daily basis," said Pereira, adding that over the summer Trinity officials had set up the proper campus infrastructure.

"Every challenge we tackled and have moved forward," Pereira said.

When it comes to the textbooks themselves, McKenzie said the school has found some for free, or for a nominal fee.

For example, principles of algebra never change. There are many free resources available to teach the subject. The same goes for literature and social studies.

"We strongly discourage a teacher to open a textbook at Page One and start teaching," McKenzie said. "Internet has more interactive resources and are much better teaching these students, who have grown up using technology." Since most students use iPads, McKenzie said Apple has 28,000 education apps available for high school students.

To get around some of the different publishing platforms, Trinity has shifted to primarily ordering electronic books from iBooks and on Amazon.

"The bumps and bruises pale in comparison to the benefits down the road," McKenzie said of the challenges so far.

Throughout Trinity Catholic's library, iPad stands have been bolted to tables and cubicles. They're there to house new iPads that will soon be installed.

Nearby is a charging station, one of four throughout campus for students to use to charge up to 20 personal devices. The library iPads will be for students to use while their device charges.

Today, in this library, the number of actual books has dwindled to just a few hundred on a dozen shelves.

Lila Vivi, Trinity's media specialist, said the days of a full-service library are almost over.

"Kids really like reading books on phones or on iPads," she said. "That's outstanding, because we will not run out of copies." Electronic textbooks and other online programs allow Trinity school officials to better utilize their classroom space. Many students taking a Rosetta Stone language class, for instance, can sit down at any supervised area on campus to work on their studies.

Sophomore Noah Smith, 15, sat in the library and worked on work for his Spanish class. With earphones, Noah listened intently to the enunciation of words during an interactive lesson on his iPad.

Last year, when taking freshman Spanish, Noah used a textbook and had to sit in class while a teacher taught his lesson.

"I like this much better," he said.

Across the room, freshman John Scott, 14, used his iPad to work in My Math Lab. That program allows students to learn math concepts. If they get stuck on a problem, they can access a video of a virtual teacher, who explains how to solve problems.

In a room just off the library, 15 International Program students worked on their Rosetta Stone English program. Reading specialist Irene Collier worked with the students -- from Korea, China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Mongolia -- on their English.

The students applied and were accepted to attend Trinity Catholic. They will spend all four years at the school, going home only during the summer breaks, McKenzie noted.

While providing such an electronic textbook opportunity can be accomplished at a 600-student private school, it will be a mammoth task for Marion County Public Schools, which has 50-plus schools and 42,000 students.

Florida law states that all school districts should be fully moved to electronic textbooks by 2017. But local officials say that cannot be done on such a large scale without state funding and the establishment of one electronic textbook publishing standard.

The difference between what private and public schools can accomplish is vastly different.

First, public school districts would have to furnish the iPads or tablets to every student. Then, officials would have to find a way to insure them and keep up with the devices.

"It is one thing when a student turns in a book with a missing page, and it is another when a student turns in a (device) with a broken screen," said Kevin Christian, spokesman for the school district.

And who would stop the student from selling the device? "We assume textbooks will get lost or damaged," Christian said. "But what if the (device) is damaged or sold, how do we control that?" If every child was given an upgraded iPad with a protective case or screen, the cost would easily hit $1,000 each, especially if each one was insured. And Marion has 42,000 students.

Then there's the cost of providing the infrastructure for students to access their electronic books. To create the same Trinity Catholic wireless system at all 51 public schools could easily hit $30 million to $40 million, McKenzie noted.

Though the state has set a 2017 deadline for all districts to be using electronic textbooks, it is an unfunded mandate. And without serious money from the state, district officials said it is nearly impossible to meet that 2017 deadline.

Scott Hansen, director of the district's Business Information Systems, said the task is daunting.

Like Trinity Catholic experienced, so many publishing companies release electronic textbooks on different platforms and using different types of databases. It will be difficult for one device to access every book.

Hansen said that because the platforms and databases are so different, all the state's K-12 districts are collectively lobbying Tallahassee to help push for one global electronic textbook publishing standard.

Pereira said the technology is not even there yet for all subjects in elementary and middle school. Publishing companies first focused on colleges and universities, and now high schools. There are not as many electronic textbooks in grades K-8.

"It would cost billions for all the schools in this state to do what we have done," McKenzie noted. "How can the state force them to do it without paying for it?" –––– Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.

___ (c)2014 Ocala Star-Banner (Ocala, Fla.) Visit the Ocala Star-Banner (Ocala, Fla.) at www.ocala.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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