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girlwithalessonplan:

gjmueller:

States move slowly toward digital textbooks

For all the noise nationally, movement to digital has been slow at the state and district level. Digital textbooks still account for only a small fraction of overall textbook sales. Still, several states have enacted changes in recent years to make it easier for districts to go digital and use free material in the classroom that’s available digitally.

photo via flickr:CC | Wesley Fryer

Continued:

But allowing districts to buy digital devices and content doesn’t guarantee that they will do it. In the 2010-11 school year, only 11 percent of Indiana districts actually made use of the blanket waiver, according to a survey conducted by the state Department of Education. “There’s a whole lot of moving parts to replacing textbooks,” says John Keller, assistant superintendent for technology in Indiana.

One of those moving parts is a quirk in Indiana law which allows districts to charge parents a “rental fee” for textbooks. Under the law, districts couldn’t charge more than 25 percent of the retail cost for each textbook, with the state picking up the tab for students on free and reduced lunch. With the shift to spending on technology and other materials, schools can retain the fees they previously charged based on textbook prices. But those fees vary widely by district, meaning it’s easier for some schools to buy technology with the funds than others.

And that’s what we’ve done.  Kids “rent” the iPad each semester, so it’s about 60 bucks a semester, but they can only take it home if they put an insurance deposit on it or prove their homeowner’s insurance will over it.  Still, $100 bucks a year, plus 120 for the rental is cheaper than renting books.  However, they pay $880 bucks after four years for the iPad.  (We intend to transfer ownership of the iPad to the kid after four years.)  I haven’t heard if we’re going to have the rental feels reflect the depreciating value of the iPad or not.  

The idea of renting iPads is interesting. What happens if the student already owns an iPad, or the parents decide to buy one upfront? Are they still allowed on the school network? Unfortunately, this probably wouldn’t work in my district, since students are only charged for textbooks if they lose or damage them.