The publishers of the textbooks Schoolchildren seem to see very closely how their business can have its days numbered as they understand it today, that is to say, varying year after year the textbooks in small details of each of the Primary, ESO or Bachelor courses, with the sole purpose of being able to sell hundreds of new books each school year, sometimes at abusive prices.
And it is that a group of professors from various institutes and universities of the Community of Madrid have created a series of digital textbooks adjusted to the official curricula of the region to be used for free for all those students who wish to do so, avoiding a huge expense to many parents who, for example and unfortunately in some cases, cannot be allowed.
This initiative is led by the Green Tide foundation who have wanted to defend their initiative due to "the impotence they feel when as parents they have to buy new textbooks for their children, forced by all means by the publishers".
At the moment, these teachers have published the books of Language and Literature of 1st ESO and 2nd ESO, the one on Technology of 1st ESO and the one on Natural Sciences of this same year. In addition, he has ensured that throughout 2013 the 3rd and 4th year of Language, 2nd of Natural Sciences and 1st of Mathematics will be completed.
As we have also learned through one of the participants in this initiative, all books meet the requirements of the curriculum of the Community of Madrid and also "They collect the real needs of the students thanks to the real experience of all the teachers who write these books".
With the use of these digital textbooks, the only expense that must be incurred will be the purchase of a tablet or an eReader so that students can access the books. Undoubtedly, this expense will be much lower than that which, for example, the lots of books for the four courses that make up Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) in Spain.
Opinion freely
I have never had to put myself in the role of a father to buy the textbooks for an academic year, but every day as a teacher I suffer the changes of the textbooks and I fight against the abuses that publishers do so much as teachers like me, like all the parents of students who are forced to buy new books every year even though in some cases they have those of their brother who is only one year older.
Something has to change in the world of school textbooks and without a doubt this seems like a great step for everything to start to change.
More information - The "Digital Backpack", a different education for Spanish students
Source - mareaverdemadrid.blogspot.com.es