Education Report - When a Textbook Is Online, Not on Paper
教育报道 - 美国一些公立学校启用电子教科书
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
Electronic books have changed the way many people read for pleasure. Now online textbooks are changing the way some students learn and some teachers teach.
电子书已经改变了许多人消遣性阅读的方式。现在网上教科书正改变一些学生的学习方式和一些老师的教课方式。
More than one hundred seventy-five thousand students attend the public schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington. Last year, the school system used digital books in fifteen schools. This school year, middle schools and high schools changed from printed to electronic textbooks in their social studies classes.
超过17.5万名学生就读于费尔法克斯县的公立学校，该县位于华盛顿郊外的弗吉尼亚州。去年，该学区在15所学校启用了数字图书。这个学年，初中和高中社科类课程已经从印刷课本改为电子书。
Luke Rosa is a history teacher at Falls Church High School. His students work on school laptop computers. He explains the idea to them this way.
Luke Rosa是福尔斯彻奇市高中（Falls Church High School）的一名历史老师。他的学生在学校的笔记本电脑上学习。他这样对他们解释。
注：Falls Church又译为瀑布教堂市。注意美国行政单位中市小于县。
LUKE ROSA: "I mean, it's just like a regular textbook, except it's got it all online."
Rosa：“我的意思是，它就像一本普通的教科书，只是它们都是网络版。”
Peter Noonan, an assistant superintendent of schools, says with electronic textbooks, publishers can quickly update the content with the latest information.
Peter Noonan是学区助理总监，他说，通过电子教科书，出版商可以快速更新最新的内容。”
PETER NOONAN: "The world's changing consistently. And the online textbooks can change right along with the events that are happening."
Noonan：“世界不停在变，电子书可以与时事同步更新。”
Digital books also cost less than printed textbooks, he says.
他表示电子书也比印刷课本便宜。
PETER NOONAN: "Usually it's in the neighborhood of between fifty and seventy dollars to buy a textbook for each student, which adds up to roughly eight million dollars for all of our students in Fairfax County. We actually have purchased all of the online textbooks for our students for just under six million dollars."
Noonan：“通常为每个学生购买一本课本大约需要50到70美元，费尔法克斯县全部学生加起来大体上要800万美元。我们为学生们实际购买的所有电子书还略低于600万美元。”
So what do students think?
学生们怎么想呢？
MELANIE REUTER: "I don't have to carry a textbook around, so that's nice."
Reuter：“我不需要携带课本，这很好。”
MARIA STEPHANY: "I don't like it because the Internet sometimes, its like, doesn't work."
Stephany：“我不喜欢它，因为网络有时候不好使。”
BRIAN TRAN: "You can highlight your work. You can leave notes on your work and it'll all be saved onto your account. It's a lot better than a regular textbook."
Tran：“你可以重点标记你的作业，你可以在作业上做笔记，而且所有这一切都保存在你的用户名下。它比普通教科书好得多。”
Social studies teacher Michael Bambara says the e-book he uses in his government class is better than a printed textbook. He likes the way it has materials for students with different levels of reading skills.
社科类教师Michael Bambara表示，他在政治学课程中使用的电子书比印刷课本更好。电子书能够为不同阅读水平的学生提供素材，他很喜欢这点。
MICHAEL BAMBARA: "Particularly this book, that I use in government has differentiated reading levels. So a person can individualize their learning and I can individualize their instruction."
Bambara：“特别是这本我在政治学课程中使用的电子书划分了不同阅读水平。这样每个人都可以个性化学习，我也可以对他们进行个性化教育。”
But the students also need access to the Internet when they are not at school. About ten percent of students in Fairfax County do not have a computer or online access at home. Stephen Castillo is one of them.
当学生们不在学校时还需要访问互联网。费尔法克斯县大约10%的学生家里没有电脑或网络。Stephen Castillo就是其中之一。
STEPHEN CASTILLO: "Pretty much I go to, like, the library, I guess, or go to a friend's house."
Castillo：“我基本上都去图书馆或朋友家（上网学习）。”
Public libraries in the county have free Internet. There are also after-school computer labs as well as computer clubhouses supported by the county. Middle school student Slieman Hakim is happy about that. He says his family has to share a single computer at home.
该县公共图书馆可以免费上网。另外还有该县支持提供的课后电脑机房以及电脑会所。中学生Slieman Hakim对此非常高兴。他说在家里他的家人必须共享一台电脑。
SLIEMAN HAKIM: "All of my family works on a computer, my sister and me both do our homework on it. So I come here to do my homework. It's good."
Hakim：“我所有家人都要用同一台电脑。我和我姐都要在电脑上做作业。所以我来这里做作业，这很好。”
Other school systems in the area are also considering online textbooks. In Prince George's County, Maryland, a survey showed that sixty percent of students have computer access at home. Curriculum Director Gladys Whitehead says an e-book test project is being planned.
该地区其它学区也在考虑使用电子书。马里兰州乔治王子县的一项调查显示，60%的学生家里有电脑。课程主任Gladys Whitehead表示，一个电子书测试项目正在计划中。
GLADYS WHITEHEAD: "Next year we'll just have a pilot with probably one classroom and one subject area, so that we can see, you know, what issues will come up with complete online access."
Whitehead：“明年我们将进行一次试点，可能只是一间教室或一个学科。这样我们可以看看采用完全在线访问会出现哪些问题。”
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. We have a related video at voanews.cn. I'm Christopher Cruise.
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Contributing: June Soh |