时间:2018-12-08 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2012年(一月)


VOA标准英语2012--Online Textbooks Update Student Learning - 英语课
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  1. 1 VOA标准英语2012--Online Textbooks Update Student Learning 英语课
英语课

Online Textbooks Update Student Learning


History teacher Luke Rosa wheels his cart filled with laptops into a classroom at Falls Church High School in Virginia. He asks his students to look to Chapter 6, Section 1, on Jacksonian America. Rather than using a regular textbook, it's all online.

This school year, Fairfax County Public Schools shifted from hard cover to electronic textbooks for social studies in its middle and high schools. The switch came after digital books were used in 15 schools last year.

“Our students come to us technologically 1 savvy 2 and ready to utilize 3 resources from a variety of different places,” says Assistant Superintendent 4 Peter Noonan, who points to the benefits of electronic textbooks, such as the ability to update content. "The world is changing consistently. The online textbooks can change right along with the events that are happening.”

There's a significant financial benefit as well.

“Usually it is in the neighborhood of between $50 and $70 to buy a textbook for each student," Noonan says, "which adds up to roughly $8 million for all of our students in Fairfax County. We actually have purchased all of the online textbooks for our students for just under $6 million.”

Students have mixed feelings about the switch, but most like it.

“I do not have to carry a textbook around, so that is nice,” says high school student Melanie Reuter.

Fellow student Maria Stephany isn't completely sold on the concept. “I don’t like it because the internet sometimes doesn’t work.”

“You can highlight your work," says high schooler Brian Tran. "You can leave notes on your work and it will all be saved onto your account. It is a lot better than a regular textbook.”

Social studies teacher Michael Bambara thinks so, too.

“Particularly this book, that I use in government, has differentiated 5 reading levels," Bambara says. "So a person can individualize their learning and I can individualize their instruction.”

However, making sure all students have online access outside school remains 6 a challenge. About 10 percent of students in Fairfax County don’t have a computer or online access at home.

Stephen Castillo is one of them, but he makes it work. “Pretty much go to the library, I guess, or go to a friend’s house.”

Besides the public library’s free computer terminals, students can also use the school's after-school computer lab, or go to one of the computer club houses supported by the county.

“All of my family works on a computer, my sister and me both do our homework on it," says Slieman Hakim, a middle school student. "So I come here to do my homework. It is good.”

Neighboring counties are also considering online textbooks. Gladys Whitehead, director of Curriculum of Prince George’s County Public Schools, says its survey shows 60 percent of students have computer access at home.

“Next year we will just have a pilot with probably one classroom and one subject area, so that we can see what issues will come up with complete online access.”

Meanwhile, Peter Noonan foresees a future without traditional textbooks for his young child.

“I envision a future where my third grade son will likely not being carrying five textbooks back and forth 7 between high school and home when he gets there. I think he will be carrying either a tablet or some sort of device that he will be able to access his information on.”

And schools, he says, are taking the first steps in that direction now.



1 technologically
ad.技术上地
  • Shanghai is a technologically advanced city. 上海是中国的一个技术先进的城市。
  • Many senior managers are technologically illiterate. 许多高级经理都对技术知之甚少。
2 savvy
v.知道,了解;n.理解能力,机智,悟性;adj.有见识的,懂实际知识的,通情达理的
  • She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
  • Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了?
3 utilize
vt.使用,利用
  • The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
  • You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。
4 superintendent
n.监督人,主管,总监;(英国)警务长
  • He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
  • He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。
5 differentiated
区分,区别,辨别( differentiate的过去式和过去分词 ); 区别对待; 表明…间的差别,构成…间差别的特征
  • The development of mouse kidney tubules requires two kinds of differentiated cells. 小鼠肾小管的发育需要有两种分化的细胞。
  • In this enlargement, barley, alfalfa, and sugar beets can be differentiated. 在这张放大的照片上,大麦,苜蓿和甜菜都能被区分开。
6 remains
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
7 forth
adv.向前;向外,往外
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
学英语单词
address content independence
arrester carbon
Artaxias
as blithe as a butterfly
automatic limiting level
b.smith
barbican
batch method of treatment
blood vessel creep
Bosin's disease
brake cylinder piston rod
branch division of district courts
brng.
Cattell
center of flexure
central commercial district
citronalis
coldness in waist
colorcasting
correctoriate
data flow description
declarators
deep temporal veins
di-solution
dimethylmercury
District Commissioner
driven well
dryopteris costalisora tagawa
dubstepper
ecosan
emergency response team
federal security services
Frenapyl
get colors
glue stuff
ground propagation
hegaris
hollywoodization
ibisbills
Ilex integra
interstate park
isotherombroses
johny
Kohlrausch's law
kompla
leotospirosis
link center
local magnetic disturbance
magnetic focusing indicator tube
momentum law
mortarless
multi-teaching head microscope
multidecision game
N'-Dimethylguanylguanidine(metformin)
Nolonkonto
noodler
nuclear energy surface
octillionth
oxy-ferrite
palmipedes
parsenn
pea-soupers
phosphatidylinositol diphosphate
pig fishfish
power regulator
public-at-large
pulp-fiction
quartz pressure sensor
reflex bunching
refrigerating machine oil
reset attachment
resortlike
resources code
roughback
sew
shorthand typists
slat-stone
sleepy cream
sociorelational
special reserve for redemption of liabilities
Steiner, Rudolf
Svartån
terrestrial-reference flight
thalassogenesis
theory of international indebtedness
thermosetting resin binder
three-lines
trabecula (pl.trabeculae)
triacetylpyrogallol
Tyrolean traverses
under floor system
vii
vintage wine
wankies
washer-locating pin
whisper
whisperjet
wing play
Wittingen
zanganeh
zonalities