Think twice before going electronic

The Hong Kong Education Bureau has been considering using electronic textbooks as the main teaching tool in schools. I think a number of things should be considered.

Some say there is no harm in using electronic textbooks. They say they are environmental friendly and thus preferable to traditional textbooks. But are they an effective tool for learning?

Traditional textbooks require us to draw diagrams and graphs in an exercise book. If we switch to electronic textbooks, these tasks can be easily done by the computer. This makes students too dependent on technology and unwilling to do their own work.

We also know staring at a computer screen for a long time is bad for the eyes. Students will easily get tired when doing schoolwork on a computer.

We should not jump into using electronic textbooks without thinking about the drawbacks.

Martin Tse, The Chinese Foundation Secondary School

From the Editor