Just a thought
I take the public transit going to work. I try my best to be productive by reading some articles, marking papers, or anything that would keep me busy.
I am using an IPad.
Advantages
- I do not have to print the articles I would like to read
- I do not have to carry too many articles or a heavy book.
Disadvantages
- Sometimes, there are too many people on the bus that it would be difficult to get a seat and read.
- Forgot to charge the battery
- reflection on the screen (sometimes)
When I am at home, I still prefer to read in-front of my laptop because it has a bigger screen. I like my fonts bigger when reading an important article. I try to avoid scrolling left – right, and up-down.
I have some students who are using IPad and/or tablets. I was told that they find it useful and portable. They can read the articles and go online to research … anytime … anywhere.
Unfortunately, I did not see any improvements on their grades. I think gadgets, in general, are excellent tools to help us in our studies, work, and whatever comes to mind. At the end of the day, it is about putting things in perspective and have the discipline to follow through.
On the students’ financial side, it would come out “cheaper” to acquire an e-Reader. I am assuming that the school would be willing to work closely with the publishers to have those textbooks in electronic format.
To make it effective, the school must impose on the students to have an e-Reader. Standard must be imposed or non-at-all.
So, what else can we do with e-Reader besides reading articles?
It would be nice to have the following features:
- similar to iClicker
- Collaboration tools
- note taking
- note sharing
- able to run video, sounds, 2D/3D graphics with quality
- game controller outlet
- Generate quiz questions
The purpose of the 2D/3D graphics support and game controller outlet is for us to support Game-Based Learning.
… just a humble thought
Posted in: Week 06: eBooks
Allie 1:09 pm on October 11, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
interesting reflections on using the iPad; I like how you draw attention to whether there is measurable benefits in learning and performance.
I have neither a tablet nor a e-reader; I am thinking of getting a Kindle, however, and for me the draw of the Kindle is that it isn’t reflective, as you say – my biggest concern with iPad/Macbook for electronic reading is eyestrain, which I think the dedicated e-readers address.
From my limited experience in publishing, my understanding is that a lot of books now being published are being done in hard copy and e-versions. Granted – my experience is with academic publishing, not textbook publishing.
schiong 4:10 pm on October 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi,
You could be right about the e-versions. In our college, we still sell the traditional textbooks. Out of 34 students per class, only 5% actually purchase the book. Other students? They would borrow their classmate’s book and secretly photocopy the pages they need.
kstooshnov 6:42 pm on October 11, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thank you for kicking off this week’s discussion, Stephen and Allie, and it is interesting to see the Kindle leading in the WordPress poll. I personally thought the iPad would be the front-runner, but it is clear that something designed to do many things will fall behind devices created for the single purpose of reading – although many of the read-only handhelds are adding on Web and other social networking features.
When I had to buy numerous textbooks for my BEd (and even ETEC 500 in the MEd) most of these very expensive items had a pull-out card which allowed me to login to the publishers’ webpage to make use of the e-versions, but I never got around to checking them out. Has anyone found these on-line resources helpful in their studies? Could this be one area of eBook development, one-time only login to electronic editions once you purchase a textbook? As Stephen suggests, it would be telling to see how effective these resources could be if there was more of difference made with students’ grades. Excellent point!
Doug Smith 8:24 pm on October 11, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Last spring I purchased a Blackberry Playbook, and one of the main reasons was so I could have mobile access to MET course readings and discussion forums. I was using public transit quite a lot at the time, and it really helped my get ahead of the readings by spending an hour or more on the bus or skytrain, reading papers. The sharp screen and small size made the Playbook great for my purposes. With the right pants or jacket, I could tuck the tablet away in my pocket – it is very convenient.
kstooshnov 9:33 am on October 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Interesting to hear about the BB PlayBook in the wake of BBM outages this week. With increased competition from Apple’s latest gizmo Siri (your iPhone talks back!), plus the legion of Androids tablets makes me wonder what other features the PlayBook has to offer. I look forward to seeing how their story progresses in weeks 10 and 11 of this course.
Deb Kim 8:36 pm on October 11, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Interesting observation on using iPad and your students’ academic performance. I haven’t used iPad yet so I can’t agree or diagree with the list of advantages and disadvantages you’ve listed. However, I can agree with you that it’s a hassle to scroll up, down, right, or left if a screen is too small.
As a matter of fact, I use my iPhone most of the time when I leave comments in this course. Before when the course I took used Vista, I used to sit in front of my laptop to read and respond to my coursemates’ posts because I wasn’t used to read from the screen. I liked it better when I read “paper” articles rather than “electronic”. However, as WordPress offers an OS application on an iPhone, I started reading people’s posts and comments using my iPhone whenever I had time.
During the first few weeks throughout this course, I was a little stressed out and frustrated that I wasn’t familiar with participating in the discussion as the ETEC522 blog was completely different from Vista. But since I installed the course blog on my iPhone, I’ve been participating more and have been getting used to it.
It hurt my eyes at first because fonts and the screen are way too tiny for me to become adjusted. However, since I became adjusted to the iPhone, I haven’t had a difficulty typing and publishing posts and comments.
Deb
schiong 4:00 pm on October 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Iphone? That would be a great challenge for me. I think what made the Mobile devices relevant are the apps. I often hear people say, “There’s an App for that. “
Keisha Edwards-Hamilton 6:18 am on October 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great post Stephen! I like the way you critically examined the worth of the ebook. To make it more interesting, you own and use one which allowed you to povide factual information. I also particularly liked the features of ebooks you propose for the future. sounds like an interesting venture. Thanks for your thought.
Cheers,
Keisha
schiong 4:11 pm on October 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
You are welcome. I am just a dreamer.