French pupils to replace textbooks by PDA's

Maciamo

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The French education ministry has decided to introduce a new model of PDA in 50 schools as a test to replace paper textbooks. School children have had to carry increasingly heavy bags, now reaching an average of 8kg.

The new palmheld computers will have enough hard disk capacity to store thousands of books. The cost of paper books over the 12 years of primary and secondary education exceeds the cost of the new PDA, which means this solution would not just release the weight strain but also be cheaper for parents.

50 schools in France were chosen to test this system in the next academic year. If approved by the government, this method could become univeral in the country.
 
It's a great idea, really!
Students won't have to suffer from pain in their back...

But is the PDA performance will strong enough to accompany the students in their learning?
 
Welcome to the forum, Supernova !

I think that a PDA can do much more things than traditional books. It's not just about the weight. You can search the content of a computerised book, which can save a lot of time, for example when analysing a novel or finding a math theorem in a 700 pages book (memories of university...).

Then the PDA also acts as an advanced calculator for maths and science classes. Electronic dictionaries can easily be added for language classes. Some traditionalists will say that students shouldn't be allowed to have a dictionary in language classes (most of my teachers in secondary school), but I never learnt anything with them (proof that their system doesn't work, as I have learnt many languages mostly by myself, with an electronic dictionary).
 
No dictionaries?

If it weren't for the use of dictionaries, my Irish and French would be much, much worse.

This sounds like a brilliant idea, it was brought up here several years ago, but never went ahead. Since then I've developed strong shoulders and a fused spinal column.
 

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