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:

  1. similar to iClicker
  2. Collaboration tools
  3. note taking
  4. note sharing
  5. able to run video, sounds, 2D/3D graphics with quality
  6. game controller outlet
  7. 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