Backpacks are getting a lot lighter for sixth-graders at Gainesville Middle School as items such as pencil and notebooks are being left at home.

"We don't really need them anymore," Yitzel Trujillo, 12, explained.

Using an iPad computer tablet, Trujillo used her fingers to scrawl out notes on a digital worksheet for earth science Thursday.

Sixth-grade students at the school have been piloting iPads for each of their classes over the past two weeks. The devices contain textbooks for subjects such as math, science and language arts, sixth grade teacher Eddie Nemec said.

"With the way technology is advancing, this is the direction I think textbooks are going," he said.

While textbooks haven't gone the way of the dinosaur yet, many educators say it won't be long before they are replaced by digital versions.

"Anyone born after 1985 was born with technology; they're called digital natives," said Aaron Turpin, Hall County Schools technology director. "This is how they live and work."

Several teachers in Hall County and Gainesville can see the appeal of using devices such as iPads, tablets and handheld smart phones as daily learning aids.

Nemec said his class recently used an iPad application of the solar system, which included 3-D models of planets, selected images from NASA space missions and detailed captions.

"Here is an entire social studies book for 99 cents," Nemec said of one of the apps. "It has every country on earth and breaks down everything I teach in sixth and seventh grade. Plus it updates information constantly."

Infusing classrooms with digital devices has also caught the attention of state leaders.

Last month, the Georgia Senate voted 45-5 to expand the definition of "textbook" to include technical equipment.

The bill would give school districts the flexibility to seek modern, alternative methods of receiving information.

Turpin said Hall County already is heading in that direction. The district will introduce 800 Dell Streaks, a tablet device similar to the iPad, into classrooms next week. They were funded by state grants awarded to area charter schools.

Digital texts such as these, could save students from carrying backpacks filled with heavy textbooks down the road, Turpin said.

"Traditional textbooks are outdated when they are printed," Turpin said. "They're also very expensive; the average high school kid in Georgia has about $1,500 worth of textbooks. You can take a tablet with digital assets and electronic resources to give to kids for half the price."

Digital textbooks not only provide the print material generations of students have relied on, they also open the possibilities to more visual and interactive presentations of information.

At the same time, a digital future for many schools will be based on funding, Turpin added.

Turpin said the district is relying on the passage of the special purpose local option sales tax for education Tuesday to upgrade technology in more schools.

"The biggest piece missing from blended learning right now is student devices," he said.

Hall County has also partnered with Dell to develop a new learning management system called Hall Connect that students can access with laptops, iPads and smart phones.

The system would let students and parents track their progress in class, set goals and encourage teachers to create lessons with videos and online resources that are customized to meet state standards.

Dell is covering most of the costs and it could be launched in some schools as early as September, Turpin said.

As the revolution in educational technology continues, it also has forced educators to think about safeguards as students spend more time on the Web.

Nemec said safety has been easy to enforce.

"As a teacher, I have complete control of content," he said. "Students can't install apps without my password and I can filter websites such as YouTube," he said.

Moore added that instructional gadgets are only tools and can't replace a classroom teacher. One concern voiced by critics about digital devices in the classroom is that there is a divide because not all students and families have access to a computer.

However, Turpin said this gap is narrowing.

"We've surveyed students and asked who does or does not have access to a computer and it's close to less than 15 percent," he said.

He added that the new Hall Connect would have a "to-go-package."

"Teachers can download and print items that students can take home to work on and bring back to school," he said.
Hall County Superintendent Will Schofield said the way students are learning is changing, and districts must change, too. Much of what students have learned since they were born has come through a digital image such as television, iPods or computers, he said.

"Schools need to be more like that so (students) don't feel like they power down when they hit the school door and endure their 6« hours with us so they can get out of school and do what interests them," he said.