Online Learning: Is It The End of Paper Textbooks?
By Mimi Rothschild
Perhaps it is a sign of the end…paper textbooks may be on their way out. There is an evolution in the way children are being schooled: many children are being taught through homeschool instead of going to a mainstream school. With the dawn of the homeschool revolution, parents who are opting to homeschool their children are seeking out new ways to introduce new ideas and get quick access to study material, research material and course curriculum.
When parents decide to homeschool their children, they quickly realize that the Internet is a vast and wonderful source of information and education that they can tap into for the latest and best information for their children. There are textbooks that are available in digital copy that can be delivered as fast as the Internet connection will allow, in seconds or minutes instead of days and weeks. Now, homeschool children can access their next course immediately without waiting for new textbooks to arrive via the regular postal mail.
The concept of digital texts is not new—digital text has been around since 1991, when the first state-adopted electronic textbook was adopted in the United States. Since then, new ways have been researched to provide information in digital format for quick and easy delivery to the students who require them. This new format for text has been quickly adopted into homeschool families as the easiest and best way to get textbooks and study information. Parents are realizing that immediate access to electronic textbooks allows their children to learn at a pace that fits their unique style. For those children who go through courses more quickly, the next course can be immediately available. This can help prevent the boredom that some children feel when they finish a course too soon and must wait too long to go on to the next level.
Homeschool is becoming more and more prevalent as parents see that their children do not learn “at the median.” Teachers teach to the middle point of the class. The faster students end up bored, and the slower students end up left behind and not understanding concepts. It is these children that do especially well in homeschool. They can work at their own pace and take in the study information the way that is best suited to them without having to compete with 30 other students in a class for help or more information.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling mother, writer, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of home education company Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of 28 years reside with their 8 children right outside Philadelphia, PA.
Rothschild launched Learning By Grace, Inc. because she believed that our nation's public school system has failed parents and students. Learning By Grace, Inc. offers online education through a multimedia-rich curriculum to PreK-12 children across the country and throughout the world.
An accomplished author, Rothschild has written books regarding education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Daily Education News Feed consists of articles and essays dealing with alternative learning methods.
