Is This the End of Textbooks As We Know It?

That’s the 40 million dollar question plaguing Shelby County, Tennessee administrators as they seek solutions to for a budget deficit that is prohibiting them from stocking their classrooms with supplies and technologies to prepare students for a more modernized world. 

Teachers in Shelby County have made three proposals of their own that has the potential to save the district hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

1. Elect an in-house conservationist that will send reminders and check to make sure energy-consuming devices are powered off when they are not in use. 

2. Reduce outsourcing of professional development courses by having the highest performing teachers run ongoing training seminars in their classrooms.

But the most radical solution proposed by teachers has the greatest potential to cut into the county’s budget deficit. 

3. Stop using textbooks as a teaching tool. 

While it may seem outlandish to get rid of textbooks in the classroom, just consider the numbers. The average textbook in Shelby County schools costs 70 dollars. Most classes have about 80 books. That means every classroom in Shelby County is spending $5600 on textbooks. Considering that teachers now have the ability to print material from the digital versions and distribute it to their classes, most of these textbooks are simply gathering dust.

These forward thinking teachers already know what many administrators are still trying to understand. The proper use of technology in the classroom can provide a more cost-effective way of educating than traditional methods. 

Not only can adopting new technology solutions be helpful for teachers looking to find course materials, but it can also be leveraged to augment instruction in a number of other ways. 

• Build virtual classrooms where students, teachers and parents can have a more interactive role in schoolwork beyond the school day
• Scalable bandwidth to promote video or audio learning in the classroom
• Network schools together to create a more unified communication channel for students to gain access to other groups, fostering new perspectives

Many school districts today are faced with the financial challenges being seen in Shelby County. Even if administrators aren’t ready to fully move away from textbooks, there are still ways to incorporate new technology in the classroom. 

The FCC’s E-rate program provides government funding for telecommunications improvements for schools that may not be able to afford it on their own. Thanks to E-rate, school districts that would otherwise be without now have access to high-speed broadband Internet, fiber optic networks and even computers and other connected devices. 

Whether your school district is ready to cut costs by ditching textbooks or making improvements to your telecommunications infrastructure with the help of E-rate funding, visit Cox Business to learn more.  

Cox Business is a proud partner of Connect2Compete, which offers discounted high-speed internet to low-income families, along with access to devices that can help them succeed beyond the classroom.