Protractors and textbooks give way to Kindles and iPads for student learning

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Back in the day, among the items you'd find in a student's backpack were slide rules, a protractor and textbooks.

These days, only textbooks are still a staple -- but is that about to change? Not likely, at least right away. But the Feds are making a push to increase the number of electronic textbooks in the hands of students.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski are challenging schools and companies to get digital texts going mainstream within five years.

The effort by officials in the Obama administration's push comes two weeks after Apple announced it
would start to sell electronic versions of a few standard high-school books for use on its iPad tablet.

However the dream of e-textbooks for all is likely to be a slog. Many schools lack the broadband -- or the laptops or tablets for that matter -- to use e-texts. And with the economy the way it is, it will be hard to shake loose the money to pay for them.

It's also unclear how many textbook manufacturers are able or willing to make the transition
to electronic editions of their wares.