The Integration of eBooks in Today’s Classroom

EDUC 504BLZ: Computers and Technology

Independent ProjectDavid Young

6/5/14

Please read Mary Blow’s article on eBooks titled “Using Digital Books in the Classroom,” and be prepared to discuss your thoughts on the issue.

The article can be found at the following URL:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2012/04/using-digital-books-classroom

Activity

MICHAEL HARTProject Gutenberg

Brief History

“1998: The first eBook readers appear in the market: The Softbook and Gemstar’s Rocket eBook Reader 

2007: Online book retailer Amazon.com releases the Kindle, made exclusively for the American market. The first lot of Kindles sells out in five and a half hours.

November 2009: Students of the private Canadian secondary school, Blyth Academy, are supplied with Sony Readers loaded with their textbooks. It is the first school in the world to do this.

April 2010 – The Apple iPad debuts, and the iBookstore sells half a million ebooks in less than a month.”

Retrieved from http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/a-brief-history-of-ebooks

Some Key Events

The eBook vs. The Printed Book

Let’s Weigh the Options

Advantages of the eBook

1.) TRAVEL PURPOSES: Can easily transport an e-Reader that will have access to many works, which is much lighter to carry than having each physical book.2.)STORAGE: Users of eBooks have more physical space and less clutter on their bookshelves.3.) PRICE: eBooks can be cheaper due to no-printing costs.4.) SPEED: Users have instant access to a whole vast collection of works. Relating it to the classroom, students can study works of literature and obtain new materials to fit their unit without “wait time” for the arrival of shipping textbooks.5.) FONT-ADJUSTMENT: Users can adjust the size of the text they read.

SOURCE:http://online-bookstores-review.toptenreviews.com/the-advantages-of-ebooks-versus-traditional-books.html

1.) Loss of the physical feel of turning a page2.) Loss of being able to pass book down to a friend3.) Potentially poor effect on eye-sight4.)* Potential hardware and software failure5.) * Reliability on battery life

Source for *:http://www.sunflowerbookfest.com/

disadvantages-of-e-books

Disadvantages of the eBook

1.) Navigation 2.) Preservation

3.) Anything else…?

Up for Discussion

Blow, M. (2012, April 26). Using Digital Books in the Classroom. . Retrieved June 4, 2014, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2012/04/using-digital-books-classroom

Disadvantages of E-books. (2013, May 25). Book and Reading RSS. Retrieved June 4, 2014, from http://www.sunflowerbookfest.com/disadvantages-of-e-books

Flood, A. (2011, September 8). Michael Hart, inventor of the ebook, dies aged 64. . Retrieved June 4, 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/sep/08/michael-hart-inventor-ebook- dies

Harness, J. (n.d.). The Advantages of eBooks Versus Traditional Books . TopTenREVIEWS. Retrieved June 4, 2014, from http://online-bookstores-review.toptenreviews.com/the-advantages-of- ebooks-versus-traditional-books.html

Kozlowski, M. (n.d.). A brief history of eBooks. Good EReader eBook and Digital Publishing News RSS. Retrieved June 4, 2014, from http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/a-brief- history-of-ebooks

References

Introduction to String Theory Schoolshttp://www.stringtheoryschools.com/#!/page_schools

World eBook Fairhttp://worldebookfair.com

Take-Away Value/ Application to Today & Continued Research