Charger Life
E-Readers in SchoolWednesday, February 15, 2012 By Jared McKinney
Within the past two years electronic books, or e-Readers, have become increasingly popular. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) more 12 million e-Readers were sold in 2010. Amazon reported just last month that they were selling over one million Kindles per week for three weeks straight. With e-Readers flying off the “shelves” and more teens using them than ever before, the question arises should they be allowed in the classroom? Even though it is educational it is technically still an electronic device. Most e-Readers are capable of connecting to Wi-Fi, having 3G capabilities, and newer models of the Kindle have app capability. So should schools allow students to have them out during class, or should they be banned like cell phones? Maybe schools should embrace this new technology and possibly convert to an e-Reader school. E-readers have many pros benefiting student learning but there are also cons that could possibly hinder it. E-Readers have several features that could benefit student reading and learning. Sometimes while reading, students encounter a word that they are unfamiliar with. Instead of stopping to look it up just skip over the word and move on. With e-Readers you are able to instantly look up the word right within the book itself. This little feature it could possibly expand students’ vocabulary and allow them to have a deeper understanding of the book they are reading. Another feature that could improve learning is being able to take notes within the book and find them immediately later on. Students would be able to jot down thoughts or insights about the book while reading at home and then be able to discuss them during class the next day. Other benefits include that they are much lighter than books and textbooks, they are environmentally friendly, and they provide access to thousands of books, some free or fairly cheap. On Amazon’s site, the company boasts about the features of its new Kindle Fire including, “Movies, apps, games, music, reading and more, plus Amazon's revolutionary, cloud-accelerated web browser.” This poses the question of what student would really being doing while they are supposed to be reading. Watching movies or listening to music would be very obvious to teachers so students would be less likely to use those features in class. There is the possibility of playing games, searching the web, getting on Facebook or Twitter, or reading magazines during class time. Should these electronic devices be allowed within the classroom, or should they be treated like a cell phone and iPods? This integration of e-readers into schools might be arriving to our school sooner than you think. In 2008 Danville High School’s teachers and parents began researching new learning options for students. They began looking into programs where each student was given a laptop, netbook, iPad, or tablet. During the 2009-2010 school year a small group of classes tested their new programs with netbooks but found that it had many limitations. In fall of 2010 the group began looking into other devices and possible ways to pay for them. They then selected the iPad for their Digital Instruction Initiative after a “Request for Proposal, testing, and input from teachers, the school corporation, and the community. They were also awarded a technology bond and a Classroom Innovation Grant from the state’s Department of Education. At the beginning of this school year each student at the Danville High School was given an Apple iPad to be use for the entire school year. The school was very prepared before handing out iPads to all students creating an Acceptable Use Policy, Student/Parent Guide for use of the iPad and even setting up an entire room as the Support Center open to students during their 1st, 2nd, and 4th period class. When students receive their iPads at the beginning of the year it come preloaded with iBooks, Goodreader, Keynote, Google Mobile, Pages, and other apps specific to individual classes. According to their policy students may not add or delete apps while it is in use during the school year. The cost of the iPad is included in the book fees. If students lose or damage their iPads they must report it to the administration immediately. They will then be required to pay the $100 deductible for the replacement of the iPad. If it happens again the student will then have to pay the full $500 to replace it. It is also up to the student to care for their iPad and make sure that it is charged for each school day. As e-Readers become more popular and newer models develop, the usage of them in the classroom will increase. The best thing to do currently is for teachers to create and enforce their own rule for the usage of e-Readers. Right now there may not be much of a need for one in a science or history class but could be very useful in English. E-Readers are the future of books, and it is only a matter of time before they creep their way into the classroom and make books and textbooks obsolete. Sources: www.idc.com di.danville.k12.in.us/ |