One of the nations largest textbook publishers is going digital

soon all school textbooks will be digital
AP Photo/Acer

If one of the nations largest textbook publishers is going digital, then it means that schools are going digital too.  A few years ago Houghton (Houghton Mifflin) textbook publisher was sold and purchased for the third time in 10 years.  This time, it was purchased by Riverdeep Group of Ireland, a company that published education software.  Naturally, the 177 year old company began offering digital packages to schools.

All of the company’s textbooks - more than 2,000 - are now available in digital form. The company also has a high-tech development center in Dublin that employs 210 people.

“In many ways, Houghton and Riverdeep are well-positioned to take advantage of this trend,’’ Lesley University’s Johnson said. “Houghton has very good classroom-tested products, and Riverdeep has always had a digital, online focus.’’

The pros to having digital textbooks are many. 

Students don't have to carry heavy textbooks home anymore.

It is difficult to forget schoolwork if it is accessible on the internet.

Children will be able to move at their own pace. 

The only cons I can think of to having these online digital programs available to them is that there will be a learning curve for many teachers as they are trained to use the software.  Kids won't have this problem as most children are practically born with a computer mouse in their hands.

The educational software sold to the schools was developed with the help of Microsoft corporation.  To get an idea of what kind of software Riverdeep makes check out some of their products. 

They have  created Mavis Beacon and Spongebob square pants typing.  They have also created Carmen Sandiego math detective (which my kids loved), Clue Finders Math, Reader Rabbit, and other great learning software programs.