Blog Entry # 2 "E-Books"

        It was interesting to examine different options for e-readers this week.  While I prefer to read from physical books, I think it is important, as teachers, to know what is available for students.  I tried to look at a variety of formats and a variety of types of texts.  

        I decided to read three books using the Kindle App and my Amazon Prime Account.  I read The Good Egg, a picture book by Jory John, The Frog and the Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel, and an excerpt from the chapter book The Unteachables by Gordon Korman.  All of the books were free with my Amazon Prime account.  I do wonder about the “free” access of these books if you do not have a yearly paid Prime account.

        The Good Egg and The Frog and the Toad are Friends did not provide a lot of interaction opportunities for the reader.  I could zoom in and out on the page, turn pages, and bookmark certain pages.  I could probably use this format for in class read alouds.  I am not sure how much more was offered as a digital version that would make it preferable to a print format.

        The Unteachables, however, offered more options for interaction.  It had an interactive Table of Contents that would allow students to click on specific chapters.  In addition, I was able to highlight text and attach notes to sections.  This would be pretty neat for older students, who were conducting research or preparing for a small group discussion.  When I highlighted text, I also had other ways I could interact with the text.   I could click on a search button that took me to either Google or Wikipedia.  There was also a dictionary component to help find word meanings.  In addition, if I clicked on the three dots at the top of the page, there were other cool links for students.  One was X-Ray which allowed me to see a snapshot of main characters and key vocabulary in the book with explanations.  I thought that this would be a great tool for students to use IF they were guided and provided with scaffolding to use appropriately.  

        I also downloaded an EPUB file of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the Project Gutenberg’s website.  When I went to open the download on my computer, it opened Apple Books.  I have never used this App before on my computer, but it was pretty neat!  Similar to the Kindle, I could highlight text while I was reading.  I could also add a note the text to explain why it was highlighted.  I could also search the web and Wikipedia for highlighted text.  In addition, you can highlight text, click on “Start Speaking,” and whatever is highlighted will be read aloud.  It is not the best quality sound – but it does offer this option.  This was a chapter book, so it would definitely need to be used with upper elementary and beyond.  

        I also read The Pied Piper of Hamelin on the International Children’s Digital Library.  I liked how many of the books on this site were antique.  Nevertheless, it was difficult to get a format on my device to read easily.  It seems like this website provides access to books, with no interaction.  The constant formatting that I needed to do to read the book distracted from my actual reading. 

        One app to support reading that I really liked was Epic.  I like that a teacher can establish a class account for this app.  The only thing that I think could be better is if the access continued beyond school hours.  Parents can pay an additional fee to have access, but it would be great to have these resources accessible without extra costs.  One of the features of Epic that I think really offers reading support is the way that certain books can be read aloud to students.  Different from other e-readers, it is an actual person reading the book.  Also, the words move as the person is reading so that a student can follow along.  I thought this would be great for new or struggling readers.  The fact that the reader reads with emotion also helps students see how certain sentences should be read.  I didn’t find any of the interaction options distracting for students.    

        Due to the fact that I teach secondary history, I think it would be great to use some of the functions the Kindle and Apple Books offered in terms of text interactions.  I often conducted discussion sections pertaining to different texts in my classes.  I would have students find their favorite quotes, passages they did not agree with, and one thing that they did not understand.  This would be a great digital way for students to keep track of what they wanted to share with the class. 

        With careful planning by the teacher, I think e-readers can be another positive tool to build digital literacy skills in our students.  Without careful planning, some of the e-readers and apps could actually be a greater distraction than teaching tool. 

        As I am writing this, my daughter is highlighting and annotating her online textbook to study for a quiz she has this week.   I am anxious to see how she interacted with the text!