eConfused about eBooks
I’ll be honest: I feel like I have two back-burner issues that need to come to the front burner pronto: really digging into Common Core Standards and eBooks.
I have lots of mixed feelings about eBooks. First, they don’t offer elementary students a real equivalent yet. We can still get better differentiated non-fiction through print books than eBooks — and in color. And since our young students still tend to drop books in puddles, the reduced cost of a print book versus a digital reader makes sense.
But right now, circulating a Kindle with a Junie B. Jones book on it for $135 versus the paperback for $4 is hard to justify. For my high school colleagues, things may be different, but most elementary schools just can’t justify going digibook yet. Just getting e-readers to look progressive seems to appeal more to our vanity than to a real need. Granted, eBooks offer options for young students that print books don’t: adjusted font size, lighter weight (in most cases), and readaloud options. But I rarely hear the assistive technology argument when eBooks come up in K-12 conversations. More, it’s a fear of being left behind or labeled a Luddite.
For me, it’s different from audio books, which offered all learners a new modality … it’s a variation on a current modality. I think. Though, like I said, my fingers pause a bit in typing this for fear of being a Luddite.
Even though the US Department of Education and the US Department of Justice warned against pilot or experimental studies with eBooks in schools because navigations adaptations for visually impaired students haven’t been fully developed, I’m afraid of being a Luddite.
I’ve used a Sony eBook Reader and recently “upgraded” to the baseline Kindle model, but I did it mostly because I can download advance reader copies (aka ARCs, galleys, prepublication copies) for free from NetGalley because I’m a librarian. (It’s not for circulation copies, but great for those who review books!) And I like it for travel — lightweight, lots of choices. NetGalley makes ereading work for me because I spend very little money BUYING books. NetGalley lets me get books for free. Free is how I read. Just ask my local public library, where I currently have 66 print books (hmmm) and one audio book out. I have yet to purchase a title for Kindle, and I probably won’t for the near future.
(Psst … sign up for Net Galley - it’s amazing!)
The New York Times article below hints that perhaps college students offer us an additional piece of the puzzle. This isn’t the first article that suggests that college students haven’t embraced digital textbooks as much as was anticipated. Give it a read.
And keep me posted with what you’re thinking about eBooks.
October 25th, 2010 at 8:29 am
There’s a difference in being a Luddite (someone who actively hates technology) and someone who is either just not an early adopter or is waiting for the standard. I didn’t buy a DVD player until most of the titles at my video rental place were on DVD and the player went for under $200. That’s when the format became standard enough for me.
We had a retrofit in our district in the last few years and instead of just VCRs in the classrooms, they now all have VCR/DVD players because we still use our old VHS tapes while we buy ore new titles on DVD. Probably by the time we have mostly DVDs everything will be streaming…
If eReaders make no sense for elementary, then that’s not being a Luddite. It’s being practical. As for college, I could see textbooks being online, but I couldn’t see all reading being online/eReader. I remember doing research and having a text, a concordance, a couple of bios and a couple of histories of the period open and flipping between all of them and their indexes. Yes, if they were online you could flip between tabs I suppose, but it wouldn’t be the same. Some things ARE better online. Some things ARE better in print.
Not using a certain technology does not make you a Luddite. You obviously embrace technology. Technologies are tools and you need the right ones for the right jobs. The technology of a colorful nonfiction book is perfect for elementary and a Kindle just isn’t right now.
October 25th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
For me, it’s about the money. I can request almost any book I want to read at the library, and have it delivered from anywhere else in the county so that I can pick it up at my local branch. Why do I have to spend money on downloading books?
October 25th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
I have been going back and forth on e-readers for a while now. I was able to gain some vision at the SLJ Summit and have some great ideas. I’m also excited about the Capstone Digital product (and some of its counterparts). However, there are still so many homes without computers, so until we can cross the digital divide . . . books still win
October 26th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
NetGalley is primarily meant as a place where those who review books can collect e-copies of them.
If you are interested in tracking down free books for your Kindle (or Nook) check out http://booksontheknob.blogspot.com/
October 27th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Im still sitting on the sidelines for this too. My fear is that as soon as I commit to a format, something else will become the preferred format for k12. That’s a huge investment for a slim budget. I keep remembering the kids at the SLJ Summit who flatly said NO to wanting their books on a digital reader. While it’s nice there are a few librarian pioneers piloting some ereaders, I’m just gonna sit it out a little longer. (Though I do think I want one for my own personal use. How can I judge something so harshly that I haven’t physically enjoyed. What a hypocrite I am to tell teachers they cannot develop a conceptual understanding for how hardware or software can impact their teaching context if they dont jump in and learn themselves first!)
November 5th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
In elementary schools we teach kids to read. Flood the kids with interesting materials they can’t resist. Krashen’s research proves it. Once the kids can read then move them to both print and etext. The kids that need eaudiobooks AND text are the ones having difficulty. I consider a lot of the elementary books are consumables to catch the kids and then send them out with the ereaders… I being simplistic here …but you get my drift.