A report released in March found that while have been modest improvements among high-performing primary school students in reading due to investments in early childhood education, this stops once they reach high school.
This issue is made worse by the fact that some schools lack sufficient library resources. In many cases, teachers and principals pay for their students’ textbooks out of their own pockets.
A survey last year revealed that 92% of teachers spend their own money – in some cases more than $1,000 per year – on essential classroom materials such as exercise books, pens, and scissors.
Edgars Creek Secondary College is one school that has opted for digital e-textbooks over traditional physical textbooks.
The school’s principal, Joanne Camozzato, said she had used Copyright Agency’s digital textbook platform, LearningField, in previous teaching roles, and immediately saw its potential for her school.
“It meant we could have a broader range of resources available for students immediately, while also providing a far more cost-effective option for parents,” Camozzato told The Educator.
Camozzato said that a robust and flexible learning system was necessary to function across a broad spectrum of student devices – a feature that LearningField was able to deliver.
“Currently we’re utilising LearningField for five key subjects – maths, science, English, history and geography,” Camozzato said.
“However, there have been some teachers who have opted to subscribe to other subjects individually, to aid in creating their own resources for classrooms.”
Copyright Agency’s CEO, Adam Suckling, said teachers pick and choose material from a vast number of textbooks to suit the differing learning pace and ability of students.
“Instead of one textbook for the whole year, there are multiple textbooks to choose from. Teachers can choose books from either a lower grade or a higher grade, depending on whether their students need to be challenged or need to revise,” Suckling told The Educator.
The service also integrates with schools’ Learning Management System (LMS) to reduce the number of passwords and sign-ins students need to remember.
“Teachers often mention that students can no longer say they forgot their textbook and it’s also lightweight,” Suckling said.
For Camozzato, technology like this is a crucial part of her school’s environment and “an increasingly important life skill for students and teachers alike”.
“As greater data about the way children learn is gathered, teachers need to be willing to adjust their teaching techniques to ensure the best outcomes for their students,” she said.
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