To E-Read or Not to E-Read?
That Is the Question
E-Readers are a relatively new technology being
employed in classrooms around the country. The typical e-reader is a portable
device that uses very little energy to digitally display printed materials from
books, magazines, and newspapers. There are even e-readers that have access to
the internet in order to display electronic sources. They most often provide
black and white text in “e-ink” rather than with an LCD back-lit screen. Furthermore,
many e-readers allow their readers to resize the text, highlight, annotate, and
bookmark pages. These features make e-readers very similar to printed books.
So, why might this technology be useful in a
classroom? Well, there are several advantages to an e-reader for readers in
general and specifically students. As previously stated, most e-readers utilize
e-ink rather than LCD screens. This absence of back-lighting reduces eye strain
and eliminates glare so texts may be read in the sun. Thus, students are able
to read electronic documents that would normally only be available on their
back-lit computer screens. With the e-reader, students gain access to such
documents and spare their eyes in the process.
Over the past few years, e-readers have grown in
popularity throughout the nation’s schools. Students download textbooks to
their e-readers and have access to their information all in one place. Rather
than hauling five heavy textbooks between school and home, students can
maintain all of their books in the light, portable e-reader. Most e-readers
also offer their users the opportunity to annotate, highlight, and bookmark
pages in a text. These capabilities make using e-readers as easy as using
printed sources.
E-readers improve upon their printed counterparts
relative to the resizable fonts, affordable prices, and ecological impact. For
students with disabilities, e-readers often offer text-to-speech options as
well as resizable fonts. Students are thus able to hear what the text says as
well as enlarge it to better see. E-readers can also offer better prices than
printed books. Many texts that have outlived their copyright dates are
available for free in electronic format. Rather than purchasing a printed text
from a bookstore, students can now receive the same texts for free or at
reduced prices on their e-readers. In addition, e-readers provide the
environmentally-conscious student with an ecologically responsible option for
reading required school texts. E-readers differ from books in the most obvious
way: they are not made from paper. Thus, thousands of pages of paper can be
saved from investing in an e-reader that does not kill any trees. Go green!
However, this teacher cautions any who wishes to
invest in an e-reader. There are several negative features of the device. Due
to their expense and oft extensive libraries, e-readers are frequently subject
to theft. This becomes a major problem for the student who houses all of his or
her reading materials on the single device. Damage to the device is also a concern.
Dropping a printed text or spilling liquid on a traditional textbook does not
typically render the book useless. However, doing so to an e-reader could very
well destroy the device. This can be a serious problem relative to younger
students.
Overall, I believe the e-reader will continue to
shape many classrooms with its predominantly positive attributes. The future of
the devices is bright. For use in schools, e-reader companies are currently
developing capabilities for electronic flashcards, pronunciation glossaries,
embedded videos, and collaborative note-taking. Tablet-style e-readers will
also offer the opportunity for teachers to communicate with their students
during class through their devices with interactive charts, maps, and other
visual information.
As a teacher with an e-reader, I highly recommend
the use of the device for the classroom. And if your school does not move in
that direction, I can also recommend e-readers for personal use by students and
teachers alike. The greatest benefit I have encountered while using my e-reader
has been the instant access. So, when you finish the first book in The Hunger Games series, you can
instantly download the next book onto your e-reader. I am not aware of any
bookstore open at 3 AM, but my e-reader bookstore certainly is!
Information about e-readers taken from EDUCAUSE's March 2010 article: 7 Things You Should Know about E-Readers .
Being a techo-fiend and having some experience with eReaders, I would agree with the pros and cons you've listed. For personal reading, I think the choice to use an eReader entirely depends on reader preference. There is NO way to get an eReader to smell like a book - and I am most certainly one of -those- who can appreciate the physicality of a bound book. There are some books, particularly for younger generations, that depend fully on the tactile aesthetics of the book itself. However, for others like us who will be working in classrooms ranging from 6-12th grade, the eReader would provide a more manageable option for carting around books. I can imagine two scenarios with using eReaders in the classroom: 1.) Students have their own individual eReader that they may use at home and bring to school. This option obviously appeals to almost every negative aspect of using an eReader in the classroom. Students might break, lose, or otherwise compromise their eReader. I would have to assume there would be a procedure in place to hold students accountable for their eReader. Students would have to be trained in its use and care before being issued the device. In my high school, all students were issued laptops for academic use that they could take home and use throughout the year. They would return these computers after the school year and check it out again for the next year. Although I went to a private boarding school where this process seemed to be much more manageable, it still presented the same risks. 2.) Teachers have a classroom set or the capability to check out eReaders for classroom use only. This option would most definitely be more appealing than taking the risk of allowing students to take eReaders home.
ReplyDeleteSo my verdict? Yes. Give them eReaders, but don't depend on them for every reading. Give their backs a break and have a classroom set so they don't have to drag books back and forth from home.
Jennelle,
DeleteI completely agree with you that e-readers don't offer the same feeling as an actual book. I am as in love with the feel of the soft edges of new pages against my fingertips, the smell of glue behind an old book's binding, and the look of dozens of books stacked in height order on my bookshelf as the next bibliophile. With this in mind, I have not forsaken printed sources for my e-reader. Nor, in my opinion, do I think that schools should abandon printed texts for electronic ones. I think your breakdown of e-reader usage in the classroom is spot on. The mixture of printed and electronic sources is the best of both worlds and will hopefully satisfy any fellow bibliophiles or techno-fiends.
Molly & Jennelle,
ReplyDeleteI think you both make excellent points in your analysis of the pros and cons of the e-reader. I think that definitely they can be helpful and less of a burden when students are able to have their own. However, I also liked your idea about keeping the book at home and using the e-reader at school. I’m not sure how the students could transfer notes back and forth if they use the highlight tool and take notes on one or the other though without writing it down somewhere like a notebook. I also love reading both e-readers and books too, but there’s just something about having the whole collection of a series in its physical form on your bookshelf. I think there is also a function on the e-readers that allows you to highlight and look up the definition to unknown words in the text, using the web browser, which I think is really cool as well. I think for the younger children, these readers provide a more interactive experience with the material than a traditional print book does. They also have children’s books that the device reads aloud straight from the e-reader, so even if they want to read a more difficult book, they can still enjoy being read to and also independently reading along.
Molly,
ReplyDeleteI am also a huge fan of the e-reader. I have a dream that one day every student will have an e-reader. You may be wondering why is this my dream, well I believe that the e-reader has the ability to be the ultimate knowledge storage bin. If students were given access to textbooks on their e-reader they could keep all of the textbooks and readings they have used from each grade level (more specifically middle and high school). If students had all of their textbooks from every year of school, teachers could have students refer back to previous materials. For example, say you are teaching 8th grade civics and you want students to think back to the American Revolution (which they learned last year) so that you can go more in depth on the formation of the Constitution you could have students refer back to their readings from last year to refresh their memory. Also, students could keep the various review games from previous years on their e-readers and refer back to them at any time to remind them of the topic. In addition to the e-reader being a knowledge storage bin, I think it is important that students get used to reading material in various forms so that they can be better prepared for what is to come in college. If students were to be exposed to and have access to an e-reader they would feel more comfortable with using online readings.
Go team e-reader!!