.. digital textbooks would be useful

The concept of digital textbooks were first introduced in South Korea in 2003.  It was developed as a tool that utilizes a variety of resources that include digital media.  I think that it would be useful for Canadian schools to adopt digital textbooks, as they can be updated easily and would be very useful in the classroom.  I find that while I am going through school, every year textbooks are being updated.  My younger sister is only younger by two years, and I find that when she enrolls in the same course two years later the textbook is changed.  Personally, I find this really annoying because I spend countless amount of money on textbooks and if I could pass them on to my sister to use that would be idea.  It really irritates me when I have to ask my mom to purchase the same textbook, in a newly revised version for my sister two years later.  I think that the introduction of digital textbooks, for this reason would benefit me.  The fact that by using digital textbooks, everything is updated on their own would save a lot of money.  Not only would I benefit, but so would schools that purchase textbooks for students to use and then find that the book has been updated soon after.   Aside fro being cost effective, I think that replacing printed textbooks with digital textbooks also has several more positive attributes.  The introduction of a digital textbook tool in a classroom can be beneficial as it can be assessed by students whether they are at school or at home.  The tool also integrates all content that would have existed in printed textbooks.  It has the ability to include more material as well, as they are not restricted to a specific amount of pages.  The integration of a digital textbook also allows the introduction of several integrative functions such as note, memo, bulletin board, discussion room and real time evaluation.  Also, when we are looking at different students and their needs we can see that this tool would be more than useful for special needs students.  Although I see various positive attributes in relation to the digital textbook, a critic would argue that negative attributes exist too.  As I sat here thinking about negative attributes I thought at first adopting the tool could conclude high costs for infrastructure and equipments such as running laptops and computer access.  Also, some students may not like the concept, and may therefore prefer a printed copy.  Aside from the debate that may exist on digital textbooks, I think that I would enforce it in my classroom if it were available.   As we move towards a more tech savvy future digital textbooks are ideal.....