Sandy Blevins

Sandy Blevins, chief content officer for Barrett Kendall Publishing, says the company initially came out with two online textbooks, Grammar and Composition, for grades 6-12 in 2000, but they were implemented in the fall of 2001.The textbooks are most popular in Texas, Florida, Indiana and West Virginia, she says.The printed and online version costs $45 per student for both books.

The online book is "really not accepted" without a printed book to go along with it, Blevins says.Textbooks are usually left in school lockers, while students use the online version at home.If students are ill or have snow days, they could still do work from home and hand in their assignments via e-mail."The sacred snow day is over," she says.

And students have access to links for background information, she says.Students just need a password to log-in."It gives the book depth," Blevins says."Kids get bored with the same old textbook, fact after fact."

She adds that the books come with corrections, which printed versions can't.The books also come with a teacher management system that includes a grade book so every grade is weighed and averaged for the teacher.Teachers could also open their class page and see who did and didn't do homework, Blevins says.