Gov. Pat McCrory signed House Bills 23 and 44 into law Friday. He said the legislation is about moving education forward -- trading books for tablets and helping students prepare for a global economy.

The bills will transition all state funding from textbooks to digital learning devices in the next four years.

State officials will also develop new teaching standards based on those digital devices, like smart boards, laptops and tablets.

The governor picked Union County schools to sign the bills in part because of the district's blended learning program. By next year, the district will have 27,000 computers for student use.

"In the very near future, you're not going to see textbooks anymore. You're not going to see book bags anymore, because everything you'll need to know is going to be on a very small technical instrument that you can fit in your pocket," McCrory said.

The governor said eventually he thinks this will save students and families money, because instead of buying costly textbooks for college, they can access everything on a digital device.