As stated by Dove(1998), “the one-textbook approach is no
longer viable”. The strategies we use to provide students with knowledge and
instruction should reflect what is most viably used in society today. There is
no denying that technology has changed the world as we know and most students
use technology as a means of communication, entertainment, inquiry, and much
more in their everyday lives so it would seem silly for teachers not to utilize
technology within the classroom to interest and stimulate students. I’m not
suggesting we completely get rid of textbooks all together but I believe
students should be exposed to a variety of sources in order to acquire information.
This chapter recommends that textbooks be used as a guide for curriculum rather
than becoming the curriculum and I could not agree more. When writing papers or
reports teachers expect students to obtain information from a variety of
sources in order to develop a well-researched paper but we as teachers need to
demonstrate this skill to students in order for them to understand how to
utilize it.
Not all textbooks used in schools are up to date. This can
be a problem if teachers base their entire curriculum on the textbook because
students become disinterested and devalue the text. This chapter provides an
example of a textbook being used in a fourth grade classroom in the 1980’s that
predicted, “Someday we may put a man on the moon”. The students found this
quite funny because they often watched space launches on a roll-in television
in the classroom. I think this example highlights the fact that multiple
sources of information should be made available to students so they are
constantly up-to-date on the never-ending discovers made through science.
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