Saturday, February 25, 2012

Kindle and Digital Textbooks

Dear Classmates:

“Shifting the Landscape: Learning and Leading with Technology” by Gen Bull and Marth Sites introduced Google’s mission to systematize books into a digital library, meanwhile shifting the way we learn and teach. The article emphasized strongly on the disadvantages and advantages of a Kindle to read digital textbooks. Companies such as Amazon and Sony also distribute the Kindle for readers to purchase. One of the key features in the Kindle is the text-to-speech option that allows readers to listen to the text while reading. The authors persuade their readers to use Kindle and digital textbooks by explaining the leisure, benefits, and efficiencies of Kindle and digital textbooks.
            Digital textbooks open many doors to future students and educators by expanding the resources available throughout the internet. It is amazing how students and educators can access to over 50,000 digital textbooks through Google digital library. I can utilize digital textbooks in my classroom via different types of technology such as laptops, Promethean Board, and projector.  One of my most favorite is the use of Promethean Board. Students can write digitally on any information displayed without permanently altering the content. They can easily erase mistakes and add shapes, colors, and lines to any area on the board. For example, when reading about science, students can easily circle or highlight the terms that are displayed on the digital textbook to share with the classroom.
            The article’s conclusion stated the benefit of digital textbooks through the use of technology in the classroom. Another benefit of having digital textbooks versus traditional books is the amount of saved space in the classroom. The author ended the article by describing the phase of digital textbooks using the word incunabula, the beginning of digital textbooks.
Using NET-S, the article fit into standard 3 section d: Teachers model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning. The reason why this article fit perfectly into NET-S standard 3, section d is because of the use of digital textbooks in the classroom. The most important aspect of digital textbooks towards learning is that teachers are able to model technology usage for students to follow and learn.

Nhu Y 

APA Reference:
Bull, G. & Sites, M. (2009). Digital Libraries: Shifting the Landscape. Learning and Leading with Technology , 37(1), 12-13. Retrieved from: http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200908?pg=34&pm=2&fs=1#pg14

1 comment:

  1. Nhu Y,

    The Kindle seems like a great tool to use for digital textbooks. My favorite feature that you mentioned is the text-to-speech option. This is great for young kids just learning to read, students with a learning disability, or visually impaired students. It seems like the Kindle offers a lot of great features for the digital textbooks and I wonder how they compare to other tablets and e-readers.

    -Marisa Gorczynski

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