I came across a news article tonight that I thought was rather interesting. In it, findings are given that say people who use tablets consume more news (and media in general) than they did before they had a tablet. Also noted was the development of apps to be used while consuming media on a separate […]
Continue reading Tablets – The New Newsies Posted in: Blog Café
Much has been discussed this week with regard to the affordances of eReaders, and while I enjoy using the device recreationally, I wanted to see if there were any studies documenting outcomes for struggling readers. I found little research, with the exception of one dissertation that examined the impact of eReaders on this population of […]
Continue reading Ereaders & Struggling Readers Posted in: Week 06: eBooks
Like some of the previous posters I also do not own an ereader although I find more and more of my reading is being from my computer and I think I would really benefit from an ereader as I would be able to do more of my research and reading while on-route without having a bunch […]
Continue reading Ereaderless Posted in: Week 06: eBooks
The great think about e-readers is having your library with you. You can take advantage of periods of time (even 5-10 minutes) to do reading of what would otherwise be large, heavy, unwieldy texts. You can also save yourself the wrist/finger-thumb/arm strain of holding a book up. It may sound silly but some books I’ve read have been pretty massive and it was the e-reader that got me through them completely both because of it’s light weight and also because of it’s convenience of use in any context.
I adopted a philosophy some time ago of “never waiting for anyone”. By “waiting” I mean sitting around and anticipating their arrival. Instead, I give myself something to do. Time flies and in many respects I don’t really care when someone shows up or where I am in a line, or how long my commute is.
This is a great thing for learning… if ebooks are modular enough, you can consume usable bits of information in small amounts of time and think about them and apply them right away.
I definitly agree with you on this aspect of ereaders and the opportunties they offer in organizing the information we read and the ease in which the do it (less strain). As my academic library of articles grows by the day the printing costs and strain on my back (with carrying a laptop bag everywhere) would probably pay for an ereader in a very short amount of time.
I can appreciate your earlier post and your comment how not everyone wants to lose themselves in a book and some want quick, efficient ways to summarize, browse and consume information to be used in the very immediate future. I think it is in this area they become a useful tool more so than in the classroom, but perhaps some classroom teachers feel differently?
Thanks for your comments.
I found this comment interesting: ” I think it is in this area they become a useful tool more so than in the classroom, but perhaps some classroom teachers feel differently?”
Why do you think that students wouldn’t want to operationalize knowledge as soon as possible for problem-solving? Wouldn’t that increase the authenticity of their learning and develop problem-solving skills?
Hi Jay,
Your position on the pedagogical relevance of e-books at the moment in particular caught my attention. You have presented potential challenges with the technology in education. I can see your angle, as you pointed out, the mere presence of a device will not change education but integration into mainstream learning will be more effective (this is what i understand, correct me if I am getting it wrong).
This would also speak to the concept of “technology for technology sake.” Acquiring the technology does not on it’s own change or make learning happen but how it is applied to bring about an effective learning experience. I was however glad that you mentioned the benefits linking it to high school.
As for making notes, the feature does exist in ebooks, the LexisNexis eBooks demonstration-a Youtube post by Group 2 makes a good case for ebooks features and gives a really good insight into what you can expect. I think that it would also make a good research tool with the features it possesses.
Like Ifeoma, I was struck with your comments about how “learning and educating will not simply be transformed by the simple presence of a new device.” We often overlook that new tools do not always offer any additional ways for people to engage with the information or learn. I think eBooks offer learners new ways to engage with materials, but it won’t simply be through creating digital versions of existing books. Digital versions might be cheaper or more convenient, but we need to reevaluate how we’re presenting information in these tools and modify our teaching approaches accordingly.
Hi Jay,
You make some really good points in your post, I especially agree with your comment about E-readers aiding those with visual disabilities (“Ereaders also serve in aiding those with visual disabilities since the text can be manipulated making it more readable”). I would like to add that with the growing interest of E-readers, that more and more books are becoming available in digital format. This is particularly beneficial for students with learning disabilities or dyslexia, as most (not all) digital formats can be converted into a reading program such as Kurzweil. Maybe more students with visual and learning disabilities will start to enjoy reading and start reading for pleasure instead of only reading as required as a part of their studies.
My first experience with an eBook would be when I installed apps called Stanza and Classics to my iPhone about 2 years ago. Stanza is an app which you can download a selection of more than 50,000 contemporary books from its partner stores. It also allows you to download classics and recent works from Project Gutenberg, Feedbooks, and other sources. […]
Continue reading My eBook Experience Posted in: Week 06: eBooks
I agree with your health issues. I guess we need to moderate the use of eBook (especially with children). Getting a pair of eyeglass is not cheap.
@ Schiong: I agree with you. In addition to glasses, affording eBook or iPad is expensive as well. But, eyes also hurt when we read a book in the dark or watch TV. We might need glasses even though we don’t use eBook. Which one do you think is worth possessing more in the end? eBook or paper books?
Many people like eBook for its convenience and portability. However, it’s more expensive than buying paper books. On the other hand, since my eBook, for example, has more than 50 000 novels, buying eBook is a lot cheaper than buying 50 000 paper books in the end.
Not considering health issues (eyes), then eBook is very useful, isn’t it?
Deb
I’ve done my own informal investigation of the e-book market over the past few months ever since I bought my iPad last year and prior to enrolling in the MET program. I actually bought the iPad so that I could take all of my MET PDFs and scanned portions of hard copy texts to do […]
Continue reading Confessions of a self-professed gadget girl Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 06: eBooks
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
David William Price 9:51 pm on October 14, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I’d say it’s because tablets are instant-on and handy. They also simplify consumption by creating “apps”. No computer, no boot up time, no web browser necessary. Tablets are big enough to read comfortably (especially with zoom) and small enough to curl up with.
bcourey 2:52 am on October 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
This is really encouraging news. I was always sad when I polled my senior students in my World Issues class as to how many of them ready any news on a daily or even weekly basis – the majority did not…nor did their parents. So I made sure that we had national and international papers in the classroom every day and gave them time to browse. So this article gives me great hope and gives me yet another reason to strengthen the pitch at our school board to allow tablets (and other devices) in the classroom – we are getting there, but at a snail’s pace!
Deb Giesbrecht 6:35 am on October 16, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I think it is because it is portable and in real-time – meaning I don’t have to lie in bed to wait for the news to come on – I can turn to it at any time with a tablet. Our society likes ‘instant’ everything, and tablets tend to feed into that mentality.