E-books are coming to classrooms thanks to a three-year, $30 million contract between the city and Amazon.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Soon, teachers in the city's public schools will no longer be able to tell students to take out their textbooks and open to a page.
Electronic textbooks -- e-books -- are coming to classrooms in New York City's public schools thanks to a three-year, $30 million contract between the city and e-commerce retail giant Amazon.
Pending approval by the Department of Education's Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) next month, Amazon will make e-textbooks and other e-content material available to teachers and schools that, according to the DOE, will be able to be accessed through any electronic device, including computers, tablets, cell phones and Smartboards.
"New York City's e-book and e-content marketplace for schools will be the first option of its kind," said DOE spokeswoman Devorah Kaye.
"Schools can use it to provide students with better and newer reading materials faster than ever before, and principals and teachers will have an easy-to-use tool to compare and purchase affordable, high-quality texts," she said.
DOE received 14 proposals for the contract, Kaye said, of which Amazon was the top choice for its cost and wide selection of material.
Ultimately, the DOE hopes the availability of electronic textbooks will solve several problems for classroom teachers, as they can be delivered quickly, do not take up space, and are not easily lost or depreciated.
The Amazon contract with the city is over three years, through 2018, at $4.3 million the first year, 2015-2016; $8.6 million the second year, 2016-2017, and $17.2 million the third year, 2017-2018.