I chose to respond to Making Science Leap From the Page by Anne Eisenberg because it pertains a lot to the situations faced by college students at this point in time. The whole process of dealing with textbooks is something that gives migraines to many students. The whole concept is something that seems somewhat arcane, with the heavy tomes of books that almost look like ancient texts. The idea to evolve textbooks into the digital age is an innovation that isn’t just helpful, it is long overdue.

The one obvious advantage of online textbooks is convenience. No more going to the book store to have some overworked and underpaid employee tell me that a book I desperately need is “on its way.” It is now capable of being downloaded in the comfort of one’s own home. Teachers can now be sure that all of their students can have the required textbook on their mobile device. The excuse of “I forgot the textbook” would die out rapidly. When was the last time you saw a student in class without a phone?

However, the biggest benefit would be how it would radically improve the learning of students. Think about how much an average student reads the text on his phone compared to text in a book on a given weekday. The majority of reading will definitely be done on the mobile device. Students are already using their digital devices more anyway, so it is smart to take advantage of that by moving the textbooks to the mobile devices. Students today have so many options when it comes to things that take up their time and boring textbooks rank pretty low on the list. By making an interactive textbook with actual knowledge, we can safely take the first few steps into a new stage of learning.