Students often have to use textbooks in class or at home, but whether they should be physical or electronic is up to the teachers.

For example, sophomore Carl Deeds has to use an online textbook for his World History class.

“I’d rather have a real textbook,” Deeds said. “I don’t want online textbooks.”

Access to textbooks is necessary for some classes in order to complete homework, take notes, and study. Online textbooks allow students to work from any computer, but also presents problems to students who can’t always use a computer or who have technical problems.

“If something happens, you can’t log in or have technical difficulties, you get a zero for the work,” sophomore Judith Calderon said.

Calderon uses an online textbook in her geometry class. “We use it for homework, notes, everything; I don’t like it,”

Other students find online textbooks easier to use compared to physical copies.

Sophomore Brandon Diaz-Sosa uses online textbooks for Algebra 2 and government, and likes having them.

“It seems easier than lugging a thousand page textbook around,” sophomore Brandon Diaz-Sosa said. “All textbooks should be online, so that they’re easier to access,”

Some teachers prefer to give their students a choice between having an online textbook or physical textbook, or assign students one and let them use the other if they request one.

Tim Kelly, who teaches World History, World History Honors, and Theory of Knowledge, prefers to use physical books, but uses online textbooks to show students links to more information. However, Kelly does not have students use the online textbook at home.

“They are not truly interactive, they are more of a glorified pdf file,” Kelly said.

Online and physical textbooks have their own benefits and problems, but teachers are still figuring out what works best for getting students to understand the subject.

“If I saw students getting better with the online textbook, I would have them use it more,” Kelly said.