Kindles in the Classroom
Schools are on fixed budgets. Textbooks and novels for each student are expensive and many times teachers only have a finite number of these. When new students come into a school district, sometimes there is not a textbook or novel for them for several days. Copies need to be made of the reading material and it is frustrating for the new students without having the full benefit of the whole text. This is where the Kindle becomes the tool needed in the classroom.
Will the Kindle change education? In this article by Scholastic, one of the benefits that the Kindle provides is the storage capability. This tool can hold up to 1,500 digital books. This is a huge benefit for the student and the classroom. If a student had to literally pack around that many books, their physique would definitely suffer. However, the Kindle weighs 10.2 ounces. Students would be more than happy to carry this e-reader from class to class. The Kindle also alleviates the problem of not having enough of a textbook or novel. As you can download immediately the book needed, students do not have to be without.
Another benefit is the linking capability of the Kindle. You can sync your Kindle with computers. Now you have your books in several places. Kindle also provides software that makes it usable without having to purchase a Kindle. Dictionaries on the Kindle make understanding of unfamiliar words easier as the students can look up the word immediately. According to the Georgia Media Library Association library media specialist Pamela Hill, “E-readers have a lot of potential for use in the classroom.”
Of course being able to change the font and highlighting specific pieces of text is another benefit the Kindle offers. Students engage better with the text if they can manipulate it. The Kindle offers this attribute.
Grants are being awarded to schools for use of the Kindle in the classroom. Glenview Education Foundation granted 300 students Kindles at Springman Middle School. The Kindles will be used in a variety of ways from enriching to motivating students and their reading. The project is currently underway and results should be pending soon.
Is the Kindle without faults? No. Sometimes the ebooks are more expensive than previously owned books. Ebooks cannot always be shared between readers too. As the Kindle is an electronic device, charging the battery is a must and the battery will need to be replaced. However with a few faults, the Kindle seems to be a tool that is needed in the classroom.
Key words: Kindle, classroom
I love the idea of the Kindle in the classroom, but I do not think it should happen yet. Students need to learn value and discipline and giving them paper books can instill that. I know, giving them a Kindle accomplishes the same thing. While I own a Kindle and enjoy it immensely, students need to read some literature in the form it was meant to be presented: print. The benefits you mentioned are all there, and in all actuality, I agree with everything you said. Just not yet. Eventually, but not now.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Kindle is an exceptional tool for the classroom. I personally am a Nook fan but this is not a debate about which one is better. I think that for elementary students, they should have the experience of an actual book, but for middle school and high school this is the way of the future. I agree with you that it is going to keep students from having to carry heavy books. Not that I don't think they are capable of carrying heavy loads, but heavy loads can discourage kids bringing their books home and that is not what I want. I think that an interactive tool such as the kindle would be a great investment for schools.
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