After sitting in class today, through our discussions, I started considering how technology can truly be used in the classroom. I took into account the many questions we are trying to answer on Wikispaces. Nevertheless, combining our reading questions with the topics discussed today in class, the question that keeps bouncing back and forth in my mind is how do you get students to actually read the book?
I recently bought the Motorola Droid through Verizon. In case you are unfamiliar with this phone, it’s essentially like the iPhone. It is centered around widgets and applications. On the phone there is an application called Aldiko Book Reader. Basically it’s a huge e-library. You can read and download thousands of books right onto your cell phone.
Also, I know that they also recently came out with a piece of technology strictly for reading books electronically. They’re called Digital Books or eBook Readers. I’ve seen them for sale at stores like Best Buy, as well as online.
How can these technologies assist in education or the classroom? Outside of school, students have their cell phones on them at every moment–even in school, they are attached to their phones. This could make reading an easier task. For students who have smart phones like the Droid or iPhone, if they download a book reading application (like Aldiko), this essentially means that they have their book (whatever book you, as a teacher, assign) with them wherever they go. I feel that this would help with the ongoing problem of “How do I get students to actually read the book?”
Everywhere you look, younger people are constantly on their cell phones. If you’re waiting in a doctor’s office or dentist’s office, most of the younger people around you are playing with their phones. What about before a class starts or after a class ends? Out of the pocket comes the cell phone.
Now, with the increase in technology, when students are bored, waiting in a doctor’s office, they could pull out their cell phone and read. The nuisance of carrying a physical book with them is no longer an issue. With their smart phone, it’s as if they have their book everywhere they go.
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February 4, 2010 at 10:52 pm
jessiebindrim
I myself have been waiting for them to just come up with something that combos all the present technology. I just didn’t think it’d come so soon! I still think the Kindle and all those new eBook devices were where textbooks are going because of their more realistic price and spreading popularity. I am completely opposed to them because nothing can top the feeling of cracking the spine of a good book but if it comes to not having to pay the hundreds of dollars for text books by subtracting the printing cost… then so be it! I wouldn’t mind not having to carry around all those pounds either!