The death of classroom textbooks is predicted today by the new leader of the country’s top girls’ schools.

In future, pupils will access texts through smartphones and e-readers, Louise Robinson, the incoming president of the Girls’ Schools Association, said in her first interview.

“Taking on board the fact that textbooks will be on your mobile, whatever shape, name or type of fruit your mobile relates to… anywhere, any time, any place – it’s a huge possibility,” she said. Pupils could learn more from the “magic” of using smartphones and tablets than from simply reading a book, she argued. In addition, they can access information in advance of lessons. “If you say: ‘The next lesson is going to be on the skeleton’, what you can see online now in terms of the skeleton and where you can go with it makes children have far more control over their learning that they ever could do before. One click and you’re into another world,” she added.

However, children would have to be taught how to access information properly online, she cautioned. “You and I wouldn’t send a child into a library and say ‘Go and have a look’,” Mrs Robinson said. “You’d actually help them, show them where the information is to access and which bits they should be looking at for their age and stage.”

Source: The Independent

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