Will Kindle Change Education? article response

The third article I chose to read was published by Scholastic Administrators and was followed by the heading, "E-book reader advances are pushing printed textbooks closer to extinction." This heading caught my attention very quickly because while I enjoy the new technology of the tablets, I pray that we never cease to have an actual book to hold while reading our favorite story. However, the reality remains that the invention of Kindles, Nooks, and Ipads has changed the way we use books in education.

The article discusses how Chris Edwards, a teacher at Fishers High School, in Indiana utilizes Amazon Kindles in his classroom. Edwards states, "I see it as an update, not simply of the book, but of the library." This frame of mind is widespread around the country. Many educators see the potential of having handheld e-readers for their students.

The article continues by discussing the benefits of classroom Kindles with the assertion that allowing e-readers in the classroom with produce higher literacy and availability of texts. Daniel Witz says, "For the longest time, distribution of reading materials has been highly inefficient in getting the right material to the right student at the right moment." With the use of Kindles students can hold around 1500 books and can download copies of the books they need without having to wait for their teacher to have a physical copy or for the library to receive the book.

Another feature the article highlights as a significant help to the classroom is the text to speech feature. Using this feature of the Kindle students with vision problems, language barriers or lack of reading fluency can face their challenges with confidence. Chastity Pick is cited in the article saying, "...the Kindle's audio function could be invaluable for special needs students...kids who need to hear as much as see."

All of these benefits are greatly in favor of using Kindles and other handheld learning devices, however, many schools face significant hurdles before incorporating them into their school system. The article particularly speaks out about the cost hurdle. Kindles cost around $299. Therefore, purchasing enough even for just one classroom of 30 students would be a significant cost for a school system on a budget.

Overall, I have to agree with the majority of the information presented in the article. I never would give up the mountains of hardback and paperbound pages of the stories I love at home for a Kindle version. However, for my classroom that is an entirely different story. I would love to have the resource of Kindle or Nook or especially and Ipad. They do allow mLearning to occur in and out of school as well as provide so many features that a simple textbook cannot. If schools can figure out a way to invest the money into the tools I am certain that children would be more apt to taking ownership for their own learning and growth and be engaged by the material. I know that if I were in their shoes, I would be excited for the opportunity!