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24-02-2012 14:59 This is the VOA Special English Education Report , from voaspecialenglish.com | http Electronic books have changed the way many people read for pleasure. Now online textbooks are changing the way some students learn and some teachers teach. More than one hundred seventy-five thousand students attend the public schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington. Last year, the school system used digital books in fifteen schools. This school year, middle schools and high schools changed from printed to electronic textbooks in their social studies classes.Luke Rosa is a history teacher at Falls Church High School. His students work on school laptop computers. He explains the idea to them this way: "It's just like a regular textbook, except it's got it all online." Peter Noonan, an assistant superintendent of schools, says with electronic textbooks, publishers can quickly update the content. "The world's changing consistently. And the online textbooks can change right along with the events that are happening." Online books also cost less than printed textbooks. "Usually it's in the neighborhood of between fifty and seventy dollars to buy a textbook for each student, which adds up to roughly eight million dollars for all of our students in Fairfax County. We actually have purchased all of the online textbooks for our students for just under six million dollars." Many students like the idea because it means they do not have to carry a textbook around. Also, they can write ...

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When a Textbook Is Online, Not on Paper - Video