E books in the classroom - yes or no

Many people in and outside of education have wrestled with ebooks and whether or not they should be in the classroom. Some feel that students need to feel the paper. Others think they should be considered as a "green" replacement for textbooks and novels. As fellow educators how do you feel? do you use them now? how? Do you use Kindles or iPod iTouches, or do you use desktops? If you used them how would you want them to behave? Would there be interactivity? sound? Would you do all your reading from them and be comfortable? Would you want both the paperback book and an ebook? I am thinking of using them but before I make the investment I want to know how others are feel.

Tags: Kindle, e-book, ebooks, handheld, iTouch, intereactive, learning, literacy, literature, reading

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Permalink Reply by Jai Edathil on October 26, 2010 at 1:38pm

I think e-book in the classroom is a great idea, if the students can get one that can replace paper (meaning they can take notes, draw quick diagrams and send to the teacher for review, do their homework seamlessly and submit etc.) - but it is hard to find one perfect 2-way device, not just a one-way device like a kindle or an iPAD (mostly). Intel's classmate PC family of PCs and devices come the closest to this requirement. Intel is also building and supporting a complete eco-system of vendors that support these PCs world-wide.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer G on October 31, 2010 at 2:00am

I think the use of ebooks in the classroom would be great.It would allow students to have access to a multitude of books that they may not be able to get due to school funding. I actually think it would help students become more excited about reading by seeing books in a different format. I think regular books should be kept in the classroom as well just to have variety and to be available to those students who prefer traditional books.

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Permalink Reply by Joanne Kaminski on October 31, 2010 at 7:51am

I completely agree with you.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Martin on October 31, 2010 at 1:37pm

E-books are a good idea. I have used them for personal use, but all have had some cost associated with downloading them. If a school district is not going to pay for the downloads, that leaves that to the student or teacher. That could get quite expensive if all classes were taught using an e-book. Again, I am not against them, I love them. I think they do have their place in today's technological society and could be very useful.