My name is Will DeLamater and I have lived with my Kindle since March of 2008. That’s me to the left in June 2009 with my new Kindle DX. As an English major in college and a high school English teacher for many years before joining the publishing industry, I find this device a real “game changer.” Through my explorations of the device from an educator’s perspective, I hope to add something to the growing body of expertise regarding the Kindle.
EduKindle is designed to provide you with information and tools that will enhance your Kindle experience, especially for school executives, teaching professionals, school board members–anyone with an interest in teaching and learning with support from the Kindle.
NEW! I recently created a professional networking site for Kindle-interested educators called Kindle Educators Group. Please check it out and join in if it kindles your interest!
You can contact me at willd at edukindle |dot| com.
If you are interested in joining our mailing list, please submit your email below. 
Hello,
I’m developing a novel idea for the Kindle and I’m having trouble finding anyone at Amazon to speak with about the idea. Do you have any suggestions as to who I should speak to — any people who work on Kindle projects/development?
My best,
Stephen P. Williams
cipres@earthlink.net
Great web site, Will. How did you develop for the Kindle? I can’t find an SDK.
Thanks,
JuneB
Our school is in the beginning phases of considering purchasing Kindles for our middle school and high school. Any information such as justifications, uses, schools in Illinois already using them would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Kathy Parker
Can A Low-Cost Version Of Kindle Help Literacy In Developing Countries? I am doing research on this topic and wanted to see your thoughts on it.
Thanks for the plug, Will! After some good responses, we are now going to let our 8th graders take home the Kindles they are using in their Lang/Lit classes. I ordered extra thick cases for them. We also have a Kindle Checkout Form ready for parents and students to sign. The excitement is overwhelming for the Kindles! I will be elaborating a bit more as to how the teachers are using them in their classrooms. We are also long-range planning for the upcoming school year! Possibly a “Cadillac” Kindle plan? It’s in the works! I will keep you posted.
Tiffany Wheeler is our RTI teacher. These are her comments about using the Kindle with her students:
RTI students enjoy using the Kindles. Mrs. Parker and I developed a list of Reluctant Reader Titles for the students. Some students have commented they like to use the dictionary feature. I have had some students develop their own vocabulary list for each chapter. Questioning while you read is a skill many RTI students need to developed, so I have as asked students to type “I wonder questions in the footnotes.” That is an advantage to a kindle students are a little more motivated to demonstrate thinking while reading instead of using the paper pencil method. This ability to listen to chapters has appealed to some students and it has surprised me to see how many students enlarge the font to a variety of sizes. I’m wondering if this feature is helpful for students with reading weaknesses. The seventh graders are really enjoying “Getting Air”. All students are very motivated to read the novels.
Mark Giertz is our 7th Grade Language/Literature teacher. These are his thoughts on the Kindle.
I have been using my Kindles for silent reading now for about 4 weeks now and the students have been like flies coming in and out of my room before school and after school to read what’s next in their story. Many students are finding the Kindle quicker than a regular book and are excited about the access the Kindle has to books of their choice.
Steve Novario is our 8th Grade Language/Literature teacher. Here are his comments.
My name is Steve Novario and teach eighth grade. I chose the 6 highest GPA’s in each of my three sections to use the Kindles first. They love them. There are a few drawbacks that are being addressed. Each of the three students on each Kindle have to read a different book if they are to go to their previous location. Also, I don’t give tons of time to read during the day. Because of that fact, we are starting a check-out system.
Submitted by Kathy Parker, Librarian @ Seneca Grade School
Starting what seems to be the daunting task of reviewing our “no electronics in the classroom” policy around eReaders. We are not ready to move in the direction of classroom sets, but some of our students will be acquiring this technology option soon. I want to be able to allow eReaders in the classroom, but first must ask our district to revise its electronics policy. Also, we currently use the Columbia Reader’s Workshop strategy of having students log time/page number for both in-class and out of class independent reading, as well as use sticky notes to practice reading strategies.
What pitfalls, if any, should I worry about having eReaders for individual reading in the classroom? Does having an eReader allow for a student to be more easily off-task and “fake” reading?
Any insights would be appreciated.
Carrye, you might want to check out the group of Kindle educators over at the Ning (edukindle.ning.com). Kathy Parker in Seneca IL is actually reporting results with their students and Kindles in the middle school this year. As for your question, an ereader is one of the least connected devices out there. Just trying to navigate the internet on the Kindle is like watching ice melt and would fall far below your students’ requirements for browsing. None of the other currently available readers, like the Sony, even have internet connections. I think you would find students more on task, not less.
I’m curious about the path of least resistence from e-Journals (scholarly stuff) onto kindle. I know PDF is smart on DX since the multi-column format is readable. And there are websites to convert PDF-to-Word as well, but that is a manual process to go from website to download PDF to convert to load to kindle. Calibre will also convert for kindle use, but for others who have figured out the path of least resistance, I’d like to know what works best.
Is there a keyboard in the newly reduced Nook for 149? What are some of the feature drawbacks of the cheapest nook compared to the Kindle for 189?..It appeared as though the Nook for 149 lacked a keyboard. Am I right?
Hi there–am helping a school for disadvantaged children develop a literacy program and think the kindles would be a great fit if we were able to present a fully-thought-out plan that we could execute. I’m interested to learn if anyone is aware if Amazon has a procurement/purchasing program for the kindles for schools/educators? Also, what has been your experience using some of the “free books” online sites? Thanks!
Hello, I would like to talk to you. My school decided to get every student a kindle. I am looking for ways to use a Kindle in my classroom.
Thank you so much for the article about getting Kindles ready for the classroom. I am about ready to get 10 for my English class for a pilot program….Does anyone know if you can scan poems or short stories, download them into your computer and then download them into your Kindle? I’m trying to develop a unit with a mix of literature. Please let me know whether that’s possible or not…..Lastly, this site looks much fuller than a few weeks ago….Congrats!
I am a mother of a 9 year old, 3rd grader who is an avid reader, reading at a 4.5-6.2 range and averages 25 pts a week. She is quickly running out of books at her New Douglas, IL school library. Her father and I were thinking about getting her a Kindle for her birthday to suplement the accessability.
I have been very dissapointed to find no partnership (ie. app or lending program) between the AR program and the Kindle e-book. I would think that such a partnership would be an ideal and neccessary tool for all school age kids who are actively involved in improving their AR score.
Can you give me any information on this subject?
Hi Amy, Amazon did announce that it will offer library lending through public libraries and Overdrive sometime this fall. Although this doesn’t provide direct integration with AR, you could compare the lists of age-appropriate books to find those with AR quizzes. Hope this helps, Will