WASHINGTON — Well before the cleanup from Superstorm Sandy was in full swing, students could read about the weather system that slammed the East Coast in their textbooks.

Welcome to the new digital bookcase, where traditional ink-and-paper textbooks have given way to iPads and book bags are getting lighter. Publishers update students’ books almost instantly with the latest events or research. Schools are increasingly looking to the hand-held tablets as a way to sustain students’ interest, reward their achievements and, in some cases, actually keep per-student costs down.

“We must use technology to empower teachers and improve the way students learn,” said Joel Klein, a former New York City schools’ chief who now leads News Corp.’s education tablet program. “At its best, education technology will change the face of education by helping teachers manage the classroom and personalize instruction.”

News Corp. officials planned to debut their Amplify tablet during a breakfast today at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. Priced at $299, the 10-inch unit runs on a school’s wireless Internet system and comes with software for teachers to watch each student’s activities, offer instant polls and provide anonymous quizzes to gauge student understanding.

Orders placed by June 30 will be ready for the start of the school year in the fall, officials at Rupert Murdoch’s company said ahead of the official announcement, adding yet another platform for schools to consider.

Putting a device in every student’s hand is not a pie-in-the-sky dream. Some 2,000 schools already have partnered with Google to use its lightweight Chromebooks, which start at $199. Some 20 million students and teachers are already using them, company officials said.

And a study from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project found that more than 40 percent of students or teachers use some sort of tablet in their Advanced Placement and National Writing Project classrooms.

“When you think about it, these are A.P. classes and National Writing Project classes, and 4 in 10 say they are using these devices,” said Kristen Purcell at Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. “That’s 6 in 10 who aren’t using them. We still have a lot of room for growth.”

Christine Quinn, the speaker of the New York City Council, has suggested replacing textbooks — they cost the city $100 million a year — with tablets. Schools in Los Angeles last month allocated $50 million to start buying tablets for every student; the project is expected to cost $500 million by the time it is completed.