10 minutes of Fame teaching ICT with ICT: kindle, good reads, books for online reading, eBooks for downloading onto personal devices blurb “see links on my blog”
Since I was interested in finding ways to keep my English class paperless, I did my 10 minutes of fame on eBooks and eReaders. I added the social media aspect by using – introducing goodreads.com.
I have been living in non-English speaking countries for over 10 years now and the Kindle has saved my life. There are new and other brands of eReaders out there now; however I am emotionally attached to my Kindle. It was my first eReader, and I do love how Amazon stalks me, keeps me up to date on current books, and is always willing to honour it’s warranty, ship overseas, and do anything I need because they know that in the end I am addicted to them and will spend more money as long as they keep me happy and in new books!
I did look at my cousins Kobo, and it sucked. It did not have half the apps my Kindle had, and it was not going to be honoured or fixed if damaged while I was overseas. Sony also has an eReader, but I am so happy with my Kindle that I do not feel the need to go elsewhere. I tell others that if you want to play games and watch TV then get a tablet (Kindle Fire included – as it does do better with glossy magazines, illustrated children’s books, and comic books). If you just want to read books, get a Kindle.
My Kindle is very small and light weight; it is the size of half an A4 paper and the width of a pencil. I bought a “book case” so that I still had the feel of a paper book. My cover is also heavy and gives my Kindle that weight to feel like a paper book, plus it has a night light that runs of the Kindles’ battery, so I can read in bed without having to get out and close the overhead lights! Utter genius! I also liked how the screen was side light, and therefore has no glare as compared to a tablet or computer screen which is back light and glaring after a long period of use. Plus with the Kindle is also able to rotate it’s screen, go online, and some styles will even read the book to you!
I promote eReaders (especially my Kindle) as an educational tool as some students do not have access to books, or may have special needs that can be adapted by the eBook device (i.e. my dyslexic cousins who like having the book read to them at times, and my visual acuity students who can adjust the font size).
I also like how the Kindle app or Mobipocket app can be downloaded onto any computer or mobile device, and that your eLibrary can go with you. This is also a bonus if there is an extremely popular current book and the waitlist is too long, an e-copy can go out at multiple times and be designed for a certain expiry date as well if it is online read only. With eBooks you can either read online from a website or download the book. There are many websites that offer both, and they all have copyright (to some degree). For examples of the Kindles, Kindle app, Mobipocket, and other free eBook sites, see my links side bar on my blog. Plus if your books are on your mobile device, tablet, or eReader, they do not count as a “laptop” and will not cause you any hassle at airport security! (That is an especially GREAT thing for those of us who work and travel abroad!)
As for bringing in Social Media, I was told by my Head of English to use www.goodreads.com. I went on the site and reviewed a slew of books, put books on my wish list, put books on my read list, and got my discussion groups up and running for my 3 classes. The students and I enjoyed a class experimenting and exploring on goodreads as they had to sign in with their Chatsworth email address, use their first name, a fake last name, and non-real photo for their avatar. Each student made their profile, added me as their friend, friended each other, and accepted their invitation into our class discussion forum. I used this after about 8 weeks of training my students on reading analysis and from then on I could get creative with my questions, and analytical tasks. I used goodreads as a social media for books. The students who were avid readers had a new lifeline, and for those who were more reluctant had more fun with the more social aspects of the website i.e. friended others from different classes, playing book quizzes, looking at lists for similar genre books, reading aspiring writers, and asking questions to their favourite authors. In my English classes it was expected that the students would read 100 pages a week, of a chapter book (novel) of their choosing, and then respond to the question on our goodreads forum. The answers were public and others could comment on them. It was great to see the creativity, conversations, and debate flow! What I liked about this is that I only ever needed to sign in once and I could even sign in through my schools’ Gmail account. I would also get updates on the website activity and keep track of student participation that way as well. I liked how the website had links to authors’ official websites as well.
I felt that this was successful as my students were by far the best and most wide read of the 3 classes (there are 3 groups per grade level). I also felt that my students were much better at holding conversations about books, in fact have them at all as everyone was reading something!
As an English teacher I feel that the only way to get better at reading and writing is to read and write! I believe that students need to read in order to become more proficient at it, and get used to discussing it. I am preparing my middle schoolers for a very strict High School course of literature analysis in the IB Diploma Program (Grades 11 & 12) with a standardized exam, based on analytical skills, an essay written response, and if passed a first year credit for university!
Therefore I need to be strict in content yet flexible in how I get my students to read and in any way that I can. I have done this in “hardship postings” overseas for the last 10 years via eBooks, eReaders, and now goodreads.com as I bring my reading and writing courses into the 21st century of ICT skills and resources.