'E' stands for exciting as youngsters embrace concept of e-learning

Electronic books could replace regular text books when teaching many school subjects within five years, a principal whose school has been a pioneer in using e-books predicts.

This school year, Price Memorial Catholic Primary School in Wong Tai Sin provided its 30 Primary One children with e-textbook devices named 'myID'.

The youngsters were enthusiastic about the new tool, headmaster Fung Lap-wing said. But it was not a must for all printed texts to be replaced by e-books, he said.

'They are much more attractive to students. They can show both images and sound,' Fung said. 'They are particularly useful in language classes and to illustrate motions, such as what is meant by 'jump'.' But for teaching things such as maths theories - which seldom needed updating - a printed book was satisfactory.

'An e-book is not a replacement, it's a supplement,' Fung said.

The school spent HK$50,000 on 20 e-books. They have a touch screen and work like a netbook: students can browse the internet and use learning applications loaded onto the computer.