SB867

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	867
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that:

(1) Textbook shortages continue to be an issue for many Hawaii schools;

(2) The average weight of a backpack in middle school can be as much as twenty pounds, and some doctors recommend that individuals never carry more than ten per cent of their body weight to avoid injury;

(3) Some schools do not have enough textbooks to allow students to bring them home to study; and

(4) Textbooks typically cost between $60 and $90 each, and even when there are enough books for each student in a class, they can sometimes be too valuable to be allowed to leave the classroom.

An insufficient number of textbooks in a classroom can cripple the teacher's ability to teach and the student's ability to learn. Maintaining updated textbooks for every public school student in the State would cost tens of millions of dollars. Even when textbooks are relatively current, they cannot provide a complete curriculum, and teachers must supplement their lesson plans with handouts on the latest research; and

The academic landscape has expanded to include a range of resources that were technologically impossible a few years ago, and the traditional textbook may no longer be considered as central to a curriculum as it once was. E-books are text documents that have been converted and "published" in a digital format that display on specialized reading devices or computers.

E-books can be stored and read on laptops, pocket computers, and e-Book reading devices for access at any time, and a gigabyte of computer chip storage space can contain two hundred illustrated reference books, three hundred fifty legal volumes, or about two thousand five hundred 600-page novels. E-books can present text in a more user-friendly style than traditional books, and can allow users to adjust text size, bookmark a page, take notes within a book, highlight portions of the text, add drawings, look up definitions, search within the text, copy and paste selected text to other programs, and can be electronically read aloud. E-book software could be updated more often and at lower cost to schools over time.

The legislature finds that e-books can be considered stronger, dynamic, interactive versions of traditional textbooks that use computer programs that can respond in real time to a student's work with personalized feedback, thereby tailoring and improving the learning experience to meet the individual needs of the student. These online textbooks can provide on-demand suggestions, guided solutions, quizzes, and multiple problem examples and explanations. E-books allow students to learn at their own pace, without the time pressure or fear of answering incorrectly in front of their peers, which can be present in a group learning situation. There are many online libraries and organizations that make available a large number of e-books for little or no cost.

The legislature finds that e-books permit teachers to work more effectively with a range of students, allowing faster learners to forge ahead while giving other students more time to grasp certain concepts.

The purpose of this Act is to direct the department of education to conduct a feasibility study on converting hard cover textbooks to e-books.

SECTION 2. (a) The department of education is directed to conduct a feasibility study on converting hard cover text books to e-books for use in public schools. The study shall include, but not be limited to, considerations of cost and computer accessibility.

(b) The department of education shall report its findings and recommendations, including cost estimates, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2008.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________