Advantages of Ebook Readers

One of the biggest developments of technology in recent years has been the development of ebook readers or ereaders. These include a wide variety of devices including; the Nook developed by Barnes and Noble, numerous variations of the Kindle, including one marketed by Amazon.com, and the Sony Reader. Although these three brands are popular a wide variety of ebook readers are available, this link provides a list of them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_e-book_readers. However, these new ebook readers are not just for entertainment, they could easily be put to use in the classroom as well. In fact some universities have already started running pilot programs to incorporate ebook readers in courses rather than using traditional textbooks. For instance, in the Fall of 2009, Princeton University ran a pilot ebook reader program to determine their effectiveness for students and to reduce the amount of paper used to print documents by students. You can learn more about this program and its conclusions at the following link: http://www.princeton.edu/ereaderpilot/index.xml. Unfortunately, much of the focus about using ereaders in education, have focused on their usefulness in the college settings, such as in the video below, but they ignore the usefulness ereaders could provide for Kindergarten through Twelfth grade students.



Many ebook readers provide a number of advantages for K-12 students that traditional textbooks lack. The following list includes just a few of the many advantages ebook readers provide.

-Many ebook readers include a Read To Me Feature, this aspect would be excellent for all students to help them dual code the material, by using both verbal and auditory skills. This Read To Me Feature would also be beneficial for students who suffer from learning disabilities or dyslexia where being able to hear the material works better or for physical disabilities such as low vision and would not require any expensive extra technology used by only a few students. -We could eliminate some health problems, although most people assume only college students carry a lot of heavy books, which lead to back problems, high school textbooks have become increasingly heavy over the years, especially as more content is added to them.

-It is an excellent use of storage and can help keep students organized. With a storage space for at least 1500 books in most ebook readers, students could keep not just textbooks but also term papers, documents used in class, including grading rubrics and worksheets, and even novels to read for fun.

-Students are more familiar with technology. Unlike most digital immigrants, digital natives, who we know have grown up with technology are far more willing to try new technology and are more comfortable with such technology. Allowing them to use ebook readers would allow schools to play to students strengths rather than forcing them to use out of date and poorly designed textbooks that were written by and for people who were not born in the digital age.

-Finally we need to remember the biggest issue COST. Although most would assume ebook readers would cost more, mainly because they are a newer technology and the fact that they may still have some bugs to work out. In reality though most ebook readers are relatively cheap, only between $150 and $400 for most ereaders. When you compare that to the cost of just the 5 or 6 textbooks a student might need in a single year could easily go up to $400 or $500 dollars a year and if new books are purchased every 3 to 5 years, such cost can easily spiral out of control.

The ebook reader would greatly reduce not just the economic cost for schools and students but would save thousands of trees each year, which would make the world a better place for everyone. Clearly the many advantages of ebook readers need to be considered at all levels of education and how beneficial they could be for all students.

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43602175@N06/4070018782/