It doesn’t feel like that long ago that e-book readers felt so new and exciting. I believe it was 2010 when I brough my first Kindle, and I felt so fancy having this cutting-edge technology! Today, the trend of reading books on e-book readers almost feels like it has quelled, in that after they were very popular, many people have gone back to reading print books, or even reading e-books on their smart phones. It wasn’t until I went through the new journey of trying to find all the accommodations that could help my daughter with her newly diagnosed dyslexia last year, that I began to think about how much more e-books can do for students. I am now learning even more about dyslexia, and struggling or reluctant readers in general. I found out that the e-book reader is more than just another device to access books. E-book readers are electronic mobile devices to read books or periodicals on. They also provide adjustable fonts and backgrounds, text-to-speech ability, ability to instantly look up words in a dictionary, and note taking and highlighting features. These are all features that can really help young, new readers, or students who are reluctant or struggling readers, and/or visual impaired students (Schugar, Schugar, & Smith, 2021).
(Imaged retrieved from Gurdal, C., & Maltis, M. (2019, November 7). Amazon’s Kindle for kids: 5 takeaways from an 8-year old reader (and his mom). USA Today. https://images.app.goo.gl/9CPHTahvTBkP6vdg9)
If you look at the R.A.T. model for understanding technology (replacement, amplification, transformation), you can see different ways that using an e-book reader in the classroom can fit into each category. E-book readers can serve as simply a different, digital means to the same instructional practices—meaning it can be just a different way for the students to read. E-book readers also amplify, by increasing efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity of same instructional practices. All the features that are adjustable to help students with their reading like fonts and backgrounds, text-to-speech ability, ability to instantly look up words in a dictionary, and note taking and highlighting features, can help amplify the reading experience for students. Transformation—teachers can use e-book readers to invent new instruction, learning, or curricula (Hughes, 2019). Think of the highlighting feature; Students can be told to focus on a lesson on say descriptive writing. They can highlight the passages they find to be the most descriptive. The feature then allows collaboration because each student can see how many people highlighted that same passage (Cleaver, 2015).
There are so many different ways teachers are using e-book readers in the classroom. Check out this article from WeAreTeachers.com on 10 ways to maximize student engagement with Ebooks.
https://www.weareteachers.com/10-tips-for-using-e-readers-in-the-classroom/ <%22>
And Reading Rockets, one of my favorite sites, has a very informative section on teaching with e-books. I highly recommend you check this out to understand more about how to make e-book reading more meaningful in your classroom.
https://www.readingrockets.org/article/teaching-interactive-picture-e-books-grades-k-6 <%22>
Today’s students are not as amazed by the concept of e-book readers as I was when they first came out, and in fact that are used to using phones, iPads, laptops and many other types of devices to read on. But let’s teach them about all the advantages available to them to use on an e-book reader, and make sure they are using these to aide their learning, in the classroom and at home.
References
Cleaver, S. (2015, January 7). 10 tips for using e-readers in the classroom. We are teachers.
Retrieved September 22, 2021, from
https://www.weareteachers.com/10-tips-for-using-e-readers-in-the-classroom/ <%22>
Gurdal, C., & Maltis, M. (2019, November 7). Amazon’s Kindle for kids: 5 takeaways from an 8-
year old reader (and his mom). USA Today. https://images.app.goo.gl/9CPHTahvTBkP6vdg9
Hughes, J.E. (2019). Replacement, amplification, and transformation: The R.A.T. model.
WordPress. Retrieved September 22, 2021, from https://web.archive.org/web/20190612101737/https://techedges.org/r-a-t-model/
Schugar, H., Schugar, J., & Smith C. (n.d.). Teaching with interactive picture e-books in grades k–
6. Reading Rockets. Retrieved September 22, 2021, from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/teaching-interactive-picture-e-books-grades-k-6 <%22>
Hey DeAnne,
I love my Kindle! I'm on my 4th one now and I still love it! One reason I like it better than reading on my IPad or phone is because I'm not distracted with every little thing that comes up on those! I have taught several children with dyslexia over the years. Year before last I had a little boy in 2nd grade who was severely dyslexic. Our school had just purchased books for the Sora app. The app can be downloaded from Apple apps or Google apps. We, as librarians, purchase ebooks for our school Sora library and then we partner with our public library so we are able to download books from there as well. …
A quick note to say that I really enjoyed your exploration of eReaders. Thanks also for sharing your personal journey learning about assistive technology for your daughter. eReaders and eBooks are something I'm deeply ambivalent about personally and professionally, but the assistive capabilities are hard to deny. Any discussion of technology benefits from hearing from folks with these kinds of experiences and provides a particular kind of expertise. Thanks again! - B. Lamb
DeAnne,
I love that you focused on e-book readers for this post! I recently purchased one to use at home, because I didn't want to spend the money on an iPad. I've found that I use it much more than I thought I would, and I like the different features included. I haven't thought about using them with students, and I understand your point that they tend to be underwhelmed by some of these devices with all they have access to. I like that they can focus specifically on reading while using this device, and I think they would enjoy the simplicity sometimes and wouldn't be distracted by too many other options. Thank you for sharing!
Elizabeth Ford
DeAnne,
I was so excited to see the title of your post this week! I was recently thinking about rotations to offer during my library lessons and was wondering whether something like Kindles would be a good addition. Our school is 1:1 with students in kindergarten through fifth grade having Chromebooks, and I know teachers utilize programs like Epic and Tumblebooks to allow students to read digitally. As those Chromebooks are used to classwork as well, I wonder if they might approach digital reading with a different mindset if it were on a device like Kindle. I also question whether or not the idea of having eReaders is one that I make because it is often described as the wa…
DeAnne,
I agree with many of your thoughts. I remember the Kindle and others when they were first introduced "being fancy" as you said. Many people purchased those e-books and began using them. But as time has gone by I am glad that books (the old kind) continue to be important and that there are still books on the shelves of the library and bookstores.
Thank you for your insight about e-books. You shared features about e-books that I did not realize existed. I can understand that changing the font and print could make a difference for a child with dyslexia. Other functions: dictionary, highlighting, special functions, etc. are options that I was not familiar, until you explained thi…