With digital textbooks becoming the latest craze among students, it looks like students and teachers will have to fork over a bit more money to be a part of this emerging trend. Introduced early last week by Apple, digital textbooks are quickly becoming adopted into school curriculum in an economy which is still struggling to get back on its feet. From school supplies to clothes and now iPads, students are quickly learning that the price of education is only going to rise and those less fortunate will definitely be left behind as others take advantage of this new technology.

The Big Divide
There’s already a major gap between the rich and poor when it comes to schools. Budget concerns and a faltering economy are just a few things preventing students from getting the education they deserve and the introduction of textbooks for the iPad pushes that gap further. Students without the money to afford a tablet or the many books their school requires will ultimately become segregated from their peers . What this could lead to is students not “fitting in” when they are stuck with regular textbooks and set the standard for new trends. $500 bucks for a tablet doesn’t come cheap and digital textbooks can’t be resold or even transferred to other devices for cost savings.

Accessories & Apps
There’s no arguing that tablets such as the iPad have plenty of features to offer, but the costs are only going to add up as these devices become crucial to the learning experience. The cost of the tablets with textbooks is already expensive enough, but when you add in other accessories and apps, things go even further out of reach. To protect tablets, case protection is a definite must to prevent damage, portable chargers are needed to keep the devices juiced up and apps are just icing on the cake. Students without the proper protection may end up damaging their device and fall behind or find a replacement and those who don’t have portable chargers may end up dead tablets for the rest of the school day. Adding new technology to the learning curriculum is a positive sign of the future, but not if measures are put in place to help the lower class get the same education.