At some point in everyone’s high school career, they will have to deal with the frustrating monster we’re supposed to learn from, also known as the online textbook. CBS News recently did a study involving e-books vs regular paper books. Their studies showed that people who use e-books are more prone to eye strain due to staring at the screen for long amounts of time. It also showed that readers who choose to use regular books have a smaller amount of sleep issues and less eye strain issues.

Regardless of whether or not you choose paper books over e-books, our schooling system now-a-days expects every single student to be able to know how to use and manipulate an online textbook even when the teachers can’t do it themselves. Using an online textbooks feels like it might be one of the hardest ways to truly study, and while the textbook should be the main source a student goes to, it’s now becoming our last resort.

But online textbooks aren’t all bad. They save students from having frequent chiropractor appointments due to overuse of the spine because of an overly filled backpack. The online textbook is  weightless, because all you need is a computer. Which is also a problem, as not every student has internet or computer access at home, meaning instead of studying in the comfort of their house some students have to resort to going to the local library. Midlothian ISD is solving this problem by invoking the 1:1 M*POWERED  initiative, which will provide every Midlothian ISD student with some sort of electronic device. Students in grades Pre-K through 5th will receive an iPad Air and students in grades 6 through 12 will receive a MacBook Air.