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One reason why paper textbooks cost so much is because publishers need to recover their costs of producing new books in the first or second semester, Brady said. That's because the books end up in the used book market after that time, where publishers don't get a cut. And digital textbooks have kept a similar high-priced model, he said, which encourages students to break the encryption on them or stick with paper books because they can sell them back.

And videos, of course, can't be printed.

By using the HTML5 online content language, Brady hopes to give students cheaper instructional books that will give them all their material in one place. And the material will be updated in near real time.

This year’s entering college class of 2016 was born into cyberspace and they have therefore measured their output in the fundamental particles of life: bits, bytes, and bauds. They have come to political consciousness during a time of increasing doubts about America’s future, and are entering college bombarded by questions about jobs and the value of a college degree. They have never needed an actual airline “ticket,” a set of bound encyclopedias, or Romper Room. Members of this year’s freshman class, most of them born in 1994, are probably the most tribal generation in history and they despise being separated from contact with friends. They prefer to watch television everywhere except on a television, have seen a woman lead the U.S. State Department for most of their lives, and can carry school books--those that are not on their e-Readers--in backpacks that roll. 

They have always lived in cyberspace, addicted to a new generation of “electronic narcotics.”

Having grown up with MP3s and iPods, they never listen to music on the car radio and really have no use for radio at all.

Children born in the 1990s, dubbed the “iGeneration” by Rosen, live in a time of rapidly changing technology, in which they are constantly connected to a number of mobile technologies. Rosen said the “i” stands for both the technologies these students use—such as the iPod, iPhone, and Wii—and the individualized ways in which students use these tools.

Two-thirds of students want to use technology more often in their classrooms, and 76 percent of IT staff said faculty members show increasing interest in implementing educational technology.

But 87 percent of IT professionals said they would need to upgrade their infrastructure before they can incorporate much more technology in their classrooms, and almost nine in 10 faculty members anticipate problems moving away from the traditional lecture model.

“Schools need to have resources equal or better than what [students] have at home,” Washington said.

With the rise of standards-based instruction, districts and schools have been seeking out the best tools to foster it. Standards-Based grade books have been created is response to this need. As with educational changes, there are exciting potentials and pitfalls. First of all, here is what works when using the standards-based grade book:

1)     Ensures targeted Assessment and Rubrics

2)     Continuity across Classes and Teacher

Very low level of development of learning assets specifically for mobile devices.

Just-in-time knowledge: Short bursts of information and learning assets that can be consumed anywhere in just a few minutes.

Moderate to high levels of technology frustration in making learning assets fully viewable and optimized on devices — Flash on an iPad, for example.

1.Rapid growth in for-profit post-secondary

2.Expanded online learning offerings

3.Massively open online courses (MOOC)

The student-centered classroom harnesses the flexibility of new media to provide a diverse range of students with multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. The student-centered classroom harnesses the flexibility of new media for the teacher, providing a rich set of tools and resources to elevate and differentiate teaching. In that rich environment, the teacher can be both a content provider and the classroom’s most experienced and savvy teacher/learner, a model of the kind of expert learner students can emulate.

The outcome will be quite innovative. Within a year, the school district expects all 25,000 students to have an iPad — for grades 3-12 — or an iPod Touch for those in kindergarten through 2nd grade.

The total price tag of $20 million — over five years — will be covered with district money.

Federal funds will help with infrastructure. Free training will be provided by Abilene Christian University (ACU), a leader in educational technology instruction.