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Should tablets replace textbooks? Should tablets replace textbooks?
Yes, tablets should replace textbooks. Yes, tablets should replace textbooks.
No, tablets should not replace textbooks. No, tablets should not replace textbooks.
Tablets should be considered an optional alternative Tablets should be considered an optional alternative
Learning on tablets is better for the environment Learning on tablets is better for the environment
Learning on tablets is more effective Learning on tablets is more effective
Tablets make classes more flexible and interesting Tablets make classes more flexible and interesting
Using tablets will reduce the weight of students’ backpacks Using tablets will reduce the weight of students’ backpacks
Tablets and electronic textbooks are more affordable Tablets and electronic textbooks are more affordable
Tablets have more updated information Tablets have more updated information
Tablets can make students easily distracted Tablets can make students easily distracted
Tablets are still expensive and not accessible to every student Tablets are still expensive and not accessible to every student
Tablets cause digital eyestrain Tablets cause digital eyestrain
Students should be allowed to choose their preferred learning style Students should be allowed to choose their preferred learning style
Tablets should not be made mandatory for classroom learning Tablets should not be made mandatory for classroom learning
Debate Mini Map

Should tablets replace textbooks?
Back to question

Yes, tablets should replace textbooks.

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Learning on tablets is better for the environment

Using electronic textbooks will greatly reduce the carbon footprint that the education sector makes.
Brian Palmer
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The Argument

Schoolwork is mainly distributed through the following mediums: worksheets, textbooks, exercise books and tests. Among these we can observe that the majority of these use paper. Around the world, schools have traditionally relied on these materials to teach students in classrooms. Here is an estimation of the scale of paper usage in schools alone: “Let's say that in a school of 100 teachers, each teacher gets a 50-ream allotment. Each ream holds 500 sheets, so per teacher, that would be 25,000 pieces of paper. In a class of 30 students that is 833 pieces of paper per student per year. This would mean at a school of 100 teachers, that school would use 250,000 piece of paper annually.” [1] Paper consumption is very high in the education industry, and printing textbooks take up quite a percentage of that each year. The issue of regularly producing new editions of textbooks (and rendering older ones useless) is also worrying as it then creates paper waste. If we switch to tablets, however, all of these problems would be resolved, as one electronic textbook uses no paper at all.

Counter arguments

Proponents

Premises

[P1] Printing textbooks results in a high consumption of paper. [P2] High consumption of paper means an increased deforestation rate. [P3] Increased deforestation rate worsens the issue of global warming. [P4] Global warming is detrimental to the environment.

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. Johnson, Ben. Paper and Pencil Curriculum: How Much Do You Rely on It? https://www.edutopia.org/blog/paperless-schools-techology-ben-johnson
This page was last edited on Sunday, 24 May 2020 at 07:21 UTC

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