eTextbooks. What's the big deal? Thomas Z. Freedman from The New Democratic Leadership Council thinks it's a very big deal. In Freedman's article "A Kindle in Every Backpack", he suggests just that, that in the near future we should be putting a kindle in every backpack. So, what's a kindle? Kindle is an electronic reading device that Amazon released last year. The newest kindle weighs 10.2 ounces and holds 1,500 books at any given moment. Users can get top newspapers, magazines, blogs, word or pdf files, and, of course, thousands of avaiable books. All of these previously paper-confinded materials can be downloaded within 60 seconds straight to the Kindle without any wires or computers. Pretty snazzy, right? So where does this come into play in the classroom? According to Freedman, Kindles would be a great resource for eTextbooks in every classroom in America. Freedman says, "eTextbooks can be cheaper, offer more timely and wide-ranging material, and be more convenient for kids. Teachers too will be able to use more up-to-date material, with more applications and tools available to them. Overall, the innovation has potential to unite sometimes warring constituencies—teachers, parents, and the business community—as well." eTextbooks provide opportunities for students to lighten their load (literally), save money, and design their own curriculum. Freedman claims that eTextbooks are perfect because they can be automatically updated and can be programed with extra help for students, including quizzes, highlighting functions, and progress worksheets.
Even with all these great extras, I'm still not sure how I feel about Kindles in the classroom. Don't get me wrong, I love the thought of a paperless classroom and lightening students loads, but I really love books. Being a English teacher has some draw-backs when it comes to technology. I would love to give each of my students every great work of literature for them to hold and smell and appreciate. Don't you love the smell of a good book? No? Maybe that's just me. But I can definitely see the upside to eTextbooks. I can see that it could be cost-efficient down the road; no useless, out-of-date textbooks lining the walls of the library. But on the other hand, I really don't like the idea of having to charge and recharge my books like I do my cellphone or my computer. I encourage all you teachers out there to read Mr. Freedman's article and decide for yourself if Kindles truly need to be in every backpack.
United States of America. A Kindle in Every Backpack. By Thomas Z. Freedman. The New Democratic Leadership Council, July 2009. Web. Jan. 2010. .
http://www.dlc.org/documents/DLC_Freedman_Kindle_0709.pdf
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