APS unveils tech books

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Time has already slipped into the future for a number of high schools in Albuquerque.
    
They are getting rid of paper textbooks for some classes and launching the era of new virtual and interactive tech books.

Most of us had textbooks that were out of date in some form or another by the time we got to use them, but now obsolete hard-bound texts may be yet another thing of the past.

”I’ve been in education a long time and seen a lot of changes and I think that this is where education is going at all levels and we need to be on the cutting edge,” Kathy Hancock a teacher at on wheels high school said.
    
They are called tech books; instead of text books students will be doing their learning in front of a computer screen.
    
APS has partnered up with Discovery Education, the same people associated with the Discovery Channel which is known for some educational programming.
    
The group has already introduced the classroom resources in some elementary in middle schools, that's now set to come to Albuquerque high schools beginning next year:

”I think today we just can't afford to ignore the new technology and our students are connected in every which way you can think of with technology and we have to get on board and use it so we can connect and enhance their learning,” Hancock said.
    
Thirty four students and teachers, all from regular and alternative high schools under APS, met on Tuesday morning to learn the new programs.
    
This modern way of learning can have students follow along with live interactions like the NASA mars rover or learn real time historical events like presidential elections.

“It's going to be a lot faster and I think things are going to be like when something happens, you're going to know about it and everything's going to be to date instead of having a text book from like five years ago and using it now when it's a completely different president or something,” Meressa Mullins said.

The cost to implement these tools is estimated at around $11 million.
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That comes from the APS general budget, some of the same money that would be spent on paper text books for the classroom.
    
The district plans to use some of its new bond money to buy more equipment to go with these new tech books.