Hi! Thanks for the question.
After doing some research on the topic of e-books in schools, the
primary uses and viability of such software and devices, not only for
K-12 but for education in general, are the following:
1. Saves schools and parents lots of money since textbooks are priced
higher.
2. E-books could be updated more instantly than a regular textbook.
3. Titles and topic searches are easier on E-books because of the
software used to drive the book.
4. Electronic highlighting and bookmaking.
5. Teachers could customize content according to the student needs.
The negative things about E-books right now is that it is harder to
read on a computer screen and the possible eye damages one could
suffer from prolong reading. But as technology improves this might be
a thing of the past. The above ideas were taken from the following
articles:
Ebooks in the Classroom by Wendy Butler of About.com
http://publishing.about.com/library/weekly/aa072200a.htm
Texas Board of Education: Paving the Way for Electronic Textbooks
Dr. Jack Christie
http://www.futureprint.kent.edu/articles/christie01.htm
In the next link, the following article describes a more immediate
problem with E-books is the different competing standards in software
which actually makes the book readable.
eBooks: A Battle for Standards by Paul Cesarini
http://flansburgh.english.purdue.edu/twi/essays/cesarini/cesarini1.html
In a recent survey the next article provides critical statistics and
figures on how students use e-books in the classroom.
Electronic Textbooks: A Pilot Study of Student E-Reading Habits
Dr. Eric J. Simon
http://www.futureprint.kent.edu/articles/simon01.htm
More and more school officials are also advocating such changes in the
classroom scenario not only because of the costs but also of the
advantages students would gain in learning. In fact the trends in
legislative frameworks are being slowly put into place to prepare for
the future.
"'Just as textbooks became fashionable 100 years ago, it is now time
for technology and telecommunications to become fashionable today," he
told an annual conference of Illinois school superintendents. "In
fact, it could be argued that the computer ought to be replacing the
textbook as a fundamental basic learning tool. I am an advocate of
that.'"
“One of them is economics. Schools spend $2.16 billion a year on
textbooks. But industry analysts routinely peg the potential school
market for hardware and software at roughly $4 billion a year.
Twenty-one of the 22 states in which textbooks are adopted for use
statewide permit state funds to be spent for electronic materials,
according to the Software Publishers Association.”
“Other trends in the larger society are at work as well. They include:
• The growing sophistication of computer software, particularly the
cd-rom format, which allows text, video, sound, and photographs to be
stored on a single disc. The disc not only holds as much information
as a shelf of texts, but it often presents that information in
different ways, thereby accommodating students with a variety of
learning styles.
• The widespread development of telecommunications networks and
efforts on Capitol Hill and in state capitals to deregulate the
telecommunications industry that would open new markets for
publishers.
In Texas, for example, the legislature deregulated the industry and
won an agreement from telecommunications firms to pay $150 million
annually for 10 years into a fund to help wire schools.
The state already spends $100 million a year for hardware and software
compared with $150 million for textbooks, says Geoffrey Fletcher, the
Texas Education Agency's associate commissioner for curriculum,
assessment, and professional development, and a technology advocate.
If the federal government were to deregulate the industry, content
could be delivered into schools and homes simultaneously, Fletcher
says, with the larger market helping defray the cost of developing
electronic materials. Deregulation bills have passed in both the U.S.
House and Senate, but lawmakers have not yet met to hammer out a final
version.”
Reads Like a Book by Peter West
http://www.edweek.org/ew/1995/08tech.h15
UNESCO initiated a website called Story Plus wherein children and
parents could download interesting stories to encourage children to
read.
eBooks for Literacy: The Story of Story Plus
http://12.108.175.91/ebookweb/stories/storyReader$829
The Story Plus Website
http://www.storyplus.com/Home.asp
A more recent article this time provides a look on the future and
technology which are being developed for e-books at the moment.
“By the year 2006, there should be a significant growth of eBook
readers in the schools. Before the end of the decade, most major
higher educational institutions will be selling hardware devices and
content through university bookstores. By the year 2015, the new
generation of college graduates will be acquiring all academic,
professional, and leisure information electronically.”
“Before 2005, the new generation of LED devices will replace LCD
panels and offer screen resolutions in excess of 400 dpi. The hardware
devices will rival print on paper. As screen resolutions improve,
works of fiction will become more appealing to consumers.”
“By the year 2007 you should be able to download a restaurant guide,
language guide, and cultural works mid-flight while traveling abroad.
Before the end of the decade you should be able to download magazines
and newspapers while drinking your latte at the local Starbucks. By
the same year we should see no further development in mega bookstores.
Floor space will be reduced in the large outlets before the end of the
decade.”
“Congressional archives and government documents will begin
translation from printed works to electronic work before 2015.
Microsoft predicts the Library of Congress conversion will begin in
2015.”
Where are we headed with eBooks?
by Ted Padova (April 25, 2001)
http://www.planetebook.com/mainpage.asp?webpageid=110
Finally, after all the discussion in the articles above the viability
and importance of e-Books, the Internet and other related technologies
in K-12 classrooms are indeed obvious but still hinges on the
following factors.
1. Teacher Training
“Research shows that classroom technology has little effect on student
achievement unless teachers are technologically proficient, Riley
said.”
K12 School Tech. News Update
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/addserv/K12news/99-09/99-09-09/0000.html
2. Technology such as E-books is not an end in itself but must support
the whole educational goal of a particular institution whether it is
K-12 or any other level.
“Using technology in any classroom should be undertaken, not because
technology is crisp and bright and colorful (though those elements do
make technology fun), but because it helps us do what we do in a
better and more interactive way. In the methods class students use
eBooks and online bookstores because these technologies support the
larger instructional goal of helping prospective English language arts
teachers get at the knowing how of teaching and reading literature.”
Amazon, eBooks, and Teaching Texts: Getting to the "Knowing How" of
Reading Literature
BARBARA G. PACE
University of Florida
http://www.citejournal.org/vol1/iss4/currentissues/english/article1.htm
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Easterangel-ga |
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