The Kindle Fire as an Educational Tablet? response

The fourth article I chose to read for my EXPAND project was about the use of the Kindle Fire as an educational tablet. The article was very interesting when considering higher learning. Jeff Bezos revealed the tablet as a competitor of the Ipad and predicted that it would be extremely popular in education based upon its cheaper price tag of $199. However, the author of the article states, "I was skeptical as I felt as though there were a lot of things--the focus on Amazon book store content, privacy questions about its Silk browser, problems that libraries in particular have had administering their Kindle accounts, for example--that I thought would make K12 schools less than thrilled about adopting them."

Her sentiments remain true of most reviews I personally have read about the use of the Kindle Fire in a classroom or even library setting. However, her article then shifts the focus on higher education use. At a college level the competitive price remains great because most students cannot justify the amount of money needed for an Ipad on top of the purchase of a laptop for school. Also they do not have to depend upon the school to purchase the technology for them. However, this pricing still does not compete at the level they need because the savings for the actual tablet doesn't change the lack of savings on the actual digital textbooks.  But Watters points out that college students don' seem to be adopting digital textbooks the same way they were 3 years ago. Many state that the difficulty in taking notes, sharing books, and lack of cost savings deter them from purchasing and utilizing an Amazon Kindle Fire.

Amazon has started to target more of these consumer desires by developing Kindle Textbook Rental programs and allowing members of Amazon prime an Overdrive account. These efforts continue to strive for a higher place on the e-book market, but Kindle Fires lack the specificity for the educational market that the Ipad's possess. Watters concludes by stating, " I still think lots of college students will opt for the new Amazon tablet. Nonetheless, let's not fool ourselves into thinking that that will make the Kindle Fire an educational tablet."

Since I have never used the Kindle Fire tablet myself and have no real background in its educational value, I somewhat am hesitant to completely agree with the author of this article. I think that her points are well substantiated and she seems to have a real grasp on what the Kindle Fire lacks, but I would have liked to see more information on the benefits of using the Kindle Fire in the classroom. Her information was helpful to consider as I venture out into the field and perhaps will one day have to make the choice of what kind of mLearning device to use. I do have to say that after the majority of what I have heard I still side with Apple although the Ipads are more expensive the apps that I have discovered while taking our course has made me appreciate their place in a classroom. As for the Kindle Fire, I think I will have to do some more research.