Week 1 - Blog Posting #2 - Learning 2.0

The resource videos for this discussion do one main thing: beg teachers to integrate technology into their lessons. As more digital natives become teachers, principals, and parents, I suspect we'll find technology will become more naturally integrated into schools. Already this is beginning to happen.

Amazon's Kindle is a digital e-book reader. The unit's length and width is about the size of a standard book, and its depth is only 1/3 of an inch (about the same as most magazines). At 10.2 ounces it's lightweight, yet has the storage capacity to hold the text for up to 1,500 digital books. Universities such as Princeton and Arizona State have taken note of this device and others like it and recently started to incorporate e-textbooks as an option for their students.

The initial cost of purchasing a Kindle is $299 (or $489 for its larger cousin, the Kindle DX). This is a bit more expensive than many textbooks, but the Kindle leads to long-term savings in the end. E-textbooks are substantially cheaper than their printed counterparts (even once resale at the end of the semester is accounted for) and easier to acquire as they can be downloaded directly to the device.

The Kindle allows for the same notations one might make in a traditional textbook, including bookmarks, highlighting, and making notes in the "margins". It also allows users to use their textbooks in non-standard ways as well. One option is to highlight and clip key passages to make notes. One can export their notes to share or use in other applications. The Kindle also enables text-to-speech, which can make textbooks more accessible to hard-of-hearing students, as well as those who prefer auditory learning.

Finally, a major feature of the device is its weight. As it is only about 10 ounces, it is much lighter than even the lightest textbook. One could carry all the books they needed for their entire university career in a compact device that is convenient and weighs less than a pound. This may at first sound like a superficial concern, but it should be noted that students carrying heavily-loaded backpacks have been known to injure their backs from the weight.

Universities will likely jump on the e-textbook technology bandwagon first, as the fiscal burden will be on the students themselves and not the school. However, additional funding could make this technology available to public school students in the future, should taxpayers request it.

The Kindle is one of many unexpected ways technology can impact learning. It, like many other programs and devices, will unfortunately require initial additional spending from schools and/or parents, which, in the end, may be what slows or even stops the widespread adoption of this device by schools.