We’ve seen plenty of programs where schools give students laptops to use. But this is the first I’ve seen where a public school is issuing students the computers and no textbooks.

At a new high school in my home town of Tucson, Arizona, 350 students will "use electronic and online articles as part of more traditional teacher lesson plans" instead of paper.

The article doesn’t give many details about the materials to be used but this could be an experiment to keep an eye on. The part about "traditional teacher lesson plans" bothers me, however.

This kind of bold challenge to the standard textbook should be accompanied by an equally bold change to the way students are taught.