EduKindle

It is a commonplace now in tweets and posts about the experience of owning a Kindle that users find themselves reading more on the Kindle than they did before. That is certainly my story. I browse the Wall Street Journal every morning now, and currently have two novels going. The time I spend reading has jumped from 0-30 minutes per day before getting my Kindle to an average of 2 hours per day. Pretty significant.

Now we know that the major reason most 8th-graders are reading below grade level is that they don’t read enough. Researchers and experts tell us that “volume and diversity of reading” is what’s lacking for young readers today. It is both a diagnosis and a prescription. Kids need to read more, and a variety of texts, if they want to become proficient readers. Period.

So, if the Kindle has me reading more, and reading from a greater variety of texts, could it do the same for students?

Let’s start with why I am reading more. First, the Kindle economizes so many aspects of the reading experience. I have everything I am reading with me all the time. I can pull out the Kindle and read whatever moves me curled up in my big comfy chair, waiting in the dentist’s office, sipping a misto at Starbucks–you name it. I NEVER think anymore about what I want to take along to read at the pool or over lunch. I can pick up with any text at any time. Simple.

More importantly, I can follow my reading interests effortlessly. Adults forget how important choice and control is to their lives as readers. With the Kindle, I can sample any book I run across that looks interesting, with very few exceptions. And then, if I become engrossed, I just buy the book on the fly and keep on reading. (See my earlier post on The Power of the Sample here.)

In addition, I can read that text in any format I like. I like being able to make the font size larger, and that is certainly one of the reasons I am reading more. One largely unexplored and infrequently addressed element in the reading equation is the physical apprehension of text. These days, when I pick up a print book with a small font size, a struggle begins. In fact, small font size in print or on the web makes the words jump around a bit for me. I lose my place more easily. But when I crank the Kindle up to font size #4, or even to a bold and satisfying #5 in low light or late in the day, my eyes just relax and start gobbling up the text.

So, are these elements that might contribute to students reading more, if they had a Kindle to read on? Stay posted for the next update on that very topic.

After fretting a bit about the limitations that the Kindle License and Terms of Use may place on educational applications, I found some other spots in the document that don’t ring true. Take the section on “Your Conduct”:

Your Conduct. You agree you will use the wireless connectivity provided by Amazon only in connection with Services Amazon provides for the Device. You may not use the wireless connectivity for any other purpose.

Not sure I follow. Amazon created a “Basic Web Browser” that can access the Internet from the Kindle. Clumsy, yes. Slow, most definitely. Wide open, seems to be… So, what could I do on the Internet with a browser and a keypad that violates these terms?

I am going to follow Jeff Bezos and his definition of the Kindle as a “frictionless experience,” one that facilitates rather than restricts more and more reading. Maybe I will download some Uncle Remus to the Kindle so I can more closely study the meaning of all this talk about a briar patch.

This is a great book for educators, full of stories about how to get your message across in ways that people will remember. The book is full of terrific examples from the classroom, and offers a great discussion starter for teacher book groups or professional development through books, something that Education Week recently reported as a growing trend. You can download the Introduction and Index for free; the Introduction covers all of the key “sticking techniques” elaborated in the rest of the book. What is also cool is that individual chapters are also available for the Kindle for $2.39 each, and the whole book for the typical $9.99. The Introduction alone is worth the read.

Great piece on NPR with Rob Pegoraro from the Washinton Post, who takes the Kindle to the pool and compares the Kindle’s durability to a cell phone. Those definitely go to the pool, and sometimes, in. He doubts the Kindle would survive immersion, and so do I.

But with the drop test in mind, I think that the Kindle would likely survive well in the classroom. Students actually have a good track record of taking care of materials and equipment that is valuable and that they value. The Wifi is the most likely problem with the Kindle in class.

Library Journal has been tracking a story that involves libraries lending “loaded” Kindles to their patrons. At the heart of the matter is the question, Is it OK to lend a Kindle? The article cites an Amazon spokesperson:

Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener told LJ that a loan of a Kindle without content is OK, but sharing a device loaded with content “with a wide group of people would not be in line with the terms of use.”

Maybe with the use of works in the public domain from Mark Twain, Shakespeare, and James Fennimore Cooper, schools will remain immune to this “retail only” approach that Amazon is apparently taking. Is it possible to to unleash a revolution, with strings attached?

Another Kindle first, courtesy of Len Edgerly and his dad. They do an impromptu review of the Kindle from their perch in the waiting room in Biddeford ME. Recorded on Utterz–clean, cool interface. Check it out here.

Nice post by Matt Asay at CNet:

No, what I really like about the Kindle is the reading experience. It’s wonderful. The only thing missing is a backlight for reading in low-light conditions, but it’s already better than reading a physical book because the screen is comforting to view and the weight/feel of the product is exceptional.

Couldn’t agree more. Yes, you can check your email on the Kindle. Yes, you can check the weather on your Kindle. Yes, you can post to your blog on the Kindle. But I experience what Jeff Bezos once said they were trying to produce with the Kindle: a frictionless reading experience.