Which one hides the Kindle?
When Amazon released its second generation Kindle in February 2009, there was speculation that the enhancements in this new device would make it a natural for storing and accessing textbooks. But the limited number of textbooks and other instructional materials available in Kindle format made this seem like a pipe dream. Now, as the true impact of the recent fiscal crisis continues to make itself felt nationwide, there appears to be increased serious interest in schools making a switch to electronic textbooks or ebooks to save money.
Just this month, ABC News and several other news organizations reported on a document released on July 14 by the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). Titled “A Kindle in Every Backpack,” this report suggests that the government could purchase a Kindle or other ebook reading device for every student in the U.S. so that textbooks could be distributed and updated electronically and to enable teachers to customize instructions for students. The proposal still needs a lot of work, and the initial cost would be high ($9 billion the first four years), but members of the DLC predict that schools would save hundreds of millions of dollars in subsequent years.
Amazon is not the only business looking at this market. There are a number of ebook reading devices currently available as shown in this table. And there are websites like Shortcovers that allow users to purchase and download ebooks onto a variety of devices ranging from ebook readers to laptops, MP3 players and smartphones. In other words, it might be possible for students to shift to use of some electronic texts right away by using devices they already own!
With states scrambling to cover huge deficits, it may be time to serious consider ways this technology could be used to reduce costs and make sure students have access to up-to-date instructional materials in a variety of formats. What are the questions you would ask?
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Tags: ebooks
Great article! I sent an inquiry to Amazon offering to have our district pilot this about a year ago and the response was a polite decline. As tech leaders, how do we use our energies to accelerate this change process?
Devin Vodicka
Director–Curriculum & Instruction
Carlsbad Unified School District
Let’s do it now! Think of the paper and the back-breaking load of books we could avoid with having updatable text books on Kindle. Every text needed could be loaded onto one small Kindle. I’m all for it.
Students have it in their pockets! Our students carry around the technology capable of downloading material. Textbooks companies need to get on board. School districts could save money, and students could have access to textbooks on the go. How do we make this move? Do we talk to the developers of the technology devices, or do we talk to the textbook companies?
‘Kindling’ A Corporate Firestorm: In an age where being faster, sleeker, and more competitively priced rules the technology landscape, a governmental movement to ebooks causes pause from this reader. Can you imagine the firestorm that would follow a governmental announcement that bidding will begin on electronic delivery devices? A device that would placed in the hands of millions of students would certainly see a massive amount of wrangling, pleading, and deal-making from the various companies associated with devices such as the Kindle. From the wisp of smoke lofting from the suggestion of this post, a raging fire could and most certainly would blaze across the ebook industry. Hold on tight and get ready to feel the heat!
While textbook printers are sure to howl, the days of the twenty pound backpack are, thankfully, numbered. But why wait to fund a mass distribution of Kindles? I agree with Judy that kids are already carrying the technology in their pockets. They’re used to communication and entertainment on their handheld devices — iPhones, smartphones, iTouches — and studies tell us that they already spend more time on these devices than they do on their laptops — so let’s put ‘em to work. It’s technology that’s available to us right now.