Actor-turned-politician Arnold Scwarzenegger wants schoolchildren in California to swap heavy textbooks for digital literature in a bid to save money. The California Governor insists schools are outdated and teachers should use advances in technology to save millions of dollars in state funding.

From the beginning of the next U.S. school year in August (09), online maths and science books will be available across California's high schools. And the Terminator star wants to make the most of today's technologically-minded youths by slowly phasing out traditional textbooks altogether.

Schwarzenegger says, "Basically kids are feeling as comfortable with their electronic devices as I was with my pencils and crayons. Textbooks are outdated, in my opinion. For so many years, we've been trying to teach the kids exactly the same way. Our kids get their information from the internet, downloaded onto their iPods, and in Twitter feeds to their cell phones. So why are California's school students still forced to lug around antiquated, heavy, expensive textbooks?" (KD/WNE/ZN)

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