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April 15, 2001
Getting a Read on E-Books (cont'd)
The E-Book Dream
E-Book Experiments
The E-Book Dream
E-books are digitized versions of books that can be read on a desktop, laptop, handheld device, or a dedicated e-book reader (sometimes called "e-books" themselves, but we'll call them e-book readers here for clarity).
From an educator's perspective, e-books can help eliminate outdated information. Instead of waiting years until new print editions are adopted-the current textbook adoption cycle averages six to eight years-students and teachers could download materials updated regularly by publishers.
E-books also might save schools money in the long run because publishers will, in theory, pass on savings in production, shipping, and storage costs to schools. Plus, schools would no longer have to spend extra dollars to replace worn and tattered books. Another benefit that e-books provide, one that parents and students are very concerned about of late, is relief from carrying a heavy book bag.
But the vision for e-books extends far beyond this. At the core of the dream is how digital content, along with the device that houses it, can change the teaching and learning experience.
For one, an electronic medium opens up possibilities to transform how content is organized and presented. Through advanced search capabilities, integrated reference and testing tools, and hyperlinks to relevant Web sites, e-textbooks can offer an interactive experience impossible with their print counterparts. Mark Ellington, a fifth-grade teacher in Indianapolis, has been considering the applications e-books could have for his classroom. "In science class, I could see potential in giving students an e-book that lays out the questions, theories, or properties being studied, combined with charts, diagrams, and Web links that connect students to more information," he says. In addition, teachers envision opportunities to add their own material into the mix, digitizing and downloading worksheets and study guides.
Educators also point out other benefits. For instance, electronic books can be a boon to kids with disabilities. "For students who have difficulty reading text because of a learning disability, electronic text combined with a talking word processor is an obvious advantage," says Adam Krass, an assistive technology specialist who uses e-text and talking word processing software with his students in Bergen County, N.J.
E-Book Experiments
A few schools have already forged ahead. In September 1999, in the first e-book pilot in a K-12 environment, 29 fourth-graders at Resurrection Catholic School in Dayton, Ohio, traded their regular textbooks for e-book readers loaded with digitized content. It was a big technological leap for the school, which had just installed its first computer lab that summer.
Throughout the year, students used their Rocket eBook readers (then licensed by Franklin Electronic Publishers) for a wide variety of applications. They read electronic versions of children's literature (like Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz and Hansel and Gretel) downloaded to the devices via a PC. Excerpts from their social studies and spelling textbooks, as well as science labs their teacher had found on the Web, were also used. As students read, they could refer to a built-in dictionary. Another significant use was for materials the teacher, Pamela Thomas, had created herself, such as spelling and multiple-choice tests.
"Many people were skeptical about their impact-would it just be a novelty?" says Eric Walusis, president of Searchlight, the company that funded the pilot and provided the school with the equipment and training. "We found that kids were as interested in them on the last day as they were on the first day. They used them as an extension of their tool set."
Since the Resurrection School experiment, there have been a small number of pilot studies in additional schools across the country. Searchlight went on to start another e-book program at a parochial school on the south side of Chicago. Austin Middle School, part of the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District in Texas, also embarked on a pilot with 150 electronic book readers from another company, Softbook.
The goal was that students would access newspapers, literature, textbooks, and current magazines through the devices.
Recently, educators and companies have been investigating the potential of handheld computers, in particular Pocket PC devices, as a hardware solution for reading e-books and other digitized content. At River Hill High School in Clarksville, Md., Rick Robb's ninth-grade students are testing out Compaq iPAQs as part of a pilot study by Mindsurf Networks, which provided the devices and the infrastructure to have them wirelessly networked.
Robb downloads e-books (he finds public domain titles through the University of Virginia) to the devices, but he also uses them in several other ways. He "beams" his students homework, and they beam completed assignments back to him. Wireless connectivity means students have e-mail accounts, which has come in handy for group work and outside collaboration. In addition, from his laptop Robb can watch students take tests on their devices in real time, and give them immediate feedback. (He even sets the alarms on the handhelds to warn students when they have 15 minutes left on the test!)
These schools have found exciting new learning possibilities with e-books and the technology that goes along with them, but they report obstacles as well.
The E-Book Reality > > >
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