In Utah’s digital shift, students turning the page on traditional textbooks | The Salt Lake Tribune

"On a typical day, the only thing ninth-grader Jonah Warnick carries in his backpack is a binder. That’s because at his school, North Davis Junior High in Clearfield, students often use online texts on iPads and netbooks. Textbooks still line classroom shelves, but, to students, they’re just one of many resources, not tomes to be pored over every night, hauled back and forth from home.  ' love it,' Warnick said. 'It’s a lot easier to organize stuff. Things are much easier to find.'

A shift from traditional textbooks to e-books is gaining speed in Utah, as the state Office of Education coordinates efforts to develop digital texts in science, math and language arts. At least two state math texts are already available and the first of the science texts will be released this summer. The state texts will be open source, meaning anyone or any school in the state may use them for free.  Proponents say digital textbooks can be cheaper, more up to date and interactive, better suiting the needs of today’s tech-savvy learners. Box Elder, Nebo and several Wasatch Front districts, along with a number of charter and other schools, are already using at least some digital texts.  Diana Suddreth, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) coordinator at the state office, said the low cost and adaptability of open-source digital texts make them attractive to Utah educators.  'We really recognize that this is the wave of the future,' Suddreth said. 'We are moving toward becoming a digital society.'"