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August 30, 2005

Look ma, no textbooks

Wired reports on one of the first public high schools to shun printed textbooks, Empire High school in Vail, Ariz. The brand new school was designed specifically as a textbook-free environment. The students are issued notebook computers:

Social studies teacher Jeremy Gypton said the transition was easier than expected. Gypton said he assigns readings based on websites, lists postings to news articles, uses online groups and message boards to keep the students connected on weekends and asks them to comment on each other's work.

One of the more surprising things, he said, was finding that students' proficiency at video games and e-mail hasn't always translated into other computer skills.

"One of the greatest challenges actually is getting the kids up to speed in using Word, in using an internet browser for other than a simple global search," Gypton said.

Also in Wired: Look ma, no chalk boards!

Posted August 30, 2005 11:00 AM