Digital revolution: iPads replace textbooks

Around 75 schools in the Kingdom — international and private — have decided to distribute iPads instead of textbooks.
Education officials said the move would help reduce the burden on students carrying heavy bags every day and would help them cope with new developments in education.
Tariq Al-Shalfan, CEO and co-founder of Sahara Consultancy, said more than 15,000 students would benefit from the new system. “These schools wanted to modernize their teaching methods and replace printed textbooks with electronic books made available through smart devices,” he said.
According to a report published by Al-Arabiya, some Saudi experts intend to transform academic and training curricula using integrated technological solutions and creating a three-dimensional interactive environment.
The project targets government and private agencies with the aim of building a new generation of children who will be able to excel in all fields of life. This will be presented during an educational exhibition in Dubai.
Al-Shalfan said the project would bring about qualitative improvement in education and make learning more interesting and exciting. Applications of the new program will be presented at the Gulf Educational Supplies and Solutions exhibition, which will be held at Dubai World Trade Center between March 4 and 6, he said.
Mohammed Shaffe, principal of the International Indian School in Dammam, welcomed the new interactive education system using smart devices, saying it would make learning easier and interesting for children. “We have introduced this system from grades one through five and we have found that students attending these classes are more self-reliant, confident and cooperative than others,” he told Arab News.