Amazon kindle's to replace text books....i knew i should have bought amazon stock when i heard of these things.

PINELLAS COUNTY -- Textbooks are history - at least they soon will be at Clearwater High School.

The school will provide every student with electronic reading devices beginning in the fall. The students, all 2,100 of them, will receive Amazon Kindles next year to replace traditional textbooks.

Part of the motivating factor was a yearly survey of students, staff and community members that called for the need to integrate more technology into the classroom - and Kindles were the best option.

The electronic readers will allow students to access more than 1,000 books, access the Internet and lighten their backpack loads.

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"I think this is very cool,' said Clearwater High junior Bennie Niles. "You can pull up any novel that you really want and having to take this to school instead of a book is very useful."

Clearwater High principal Keith Mastorides is equally excited.

"It holds about 1500 books,' Mastorides said. "Technology wise, it does quite a bit, so the kids that have difficulty with fluency, it could read to them, if the don't understand a word, there's a dictionary built into it. It also has whisper technology, so many of our students for the first time will be able to have internet at home."

Students Bennie Niles (left) and Emma Loucks check out their electronic readers.

Despite the cost, Mastorides said the Kindles will actually save the school money in the long run.

The devices, which weigh less than a pound, run about $259, not counting the cost of electronic texts, which are far less than the $70 to $90 textbook costs.

History and Sociology teacher Kath Biddle said the devices are the future of learning.

"They can access books to read about world leaders and different events in history and they can research it,' she said. "And I think it will make things a lot easier as far as students having access to research."

Clearwater junior Emma Loucks said the devices will make things simpler for students.

"It will really help us because it makes things a lot easier,' Loucks said. "It puts all the resources that we need to do homework or assignments or projects into one single thing."

School leaders are tapping the technology and textbook budgets to pay for the Kindles. Mastorides said the school is still negotiating prices for the devices.

He said even if the devices are not Kindles, all students will have an e-reader and textbooks will be gone in the fall.