EduKindle

Kindlepedia has been a remarkable success since we launched it at the beginning of June.  Since then, hundreds of readers have requested articles in pristine Mobipocket format, perfect for reading on the Kindle, and, by the beginning of August, we topped 1,000 articles served. The list of created articles reads like a roadmap of the human mind–just see the Wordle I made from the topics folks selected above, courtesy of www.wordle.net.

This week I created a “partner” site for EduKindle called Kindle Educators Group. The idea is to build a discussion around ideas and experiences related to the use and/or potential use of the Kindle ereader in the classroom and as a “learning appliance” (see my post on this topic here).

This forum is built on the popular “Ning” software that many educators are already using. A great example of what a Ning can become is Jim Burke’s English Companion Ning for ELA teachers. Jim has attracted over 5,000 members in just a few months, demonstrating how effective this kind of professional community building can be for folks trying to improve their teaching and their kids’ learning.

You can post to your own blog at the site, start a discussion, add an event, comment on colleagues’ posts, and much more. I just started a discussion on what people think about the potential of the Kindle to improve struggling students’ reading skills.

Poor Anne of Cleves. Or should I say, lucky Anne of Cleves?

This historical character, played by Joss Stone on Showtime’s The Tudors, is one of the most enigmatic of Henry’s wives. She acts as a kind of historical pivot on which Protestantism, international politics, the changing character of Henry VIII, and the ineffabilities of male-female attraction swivel on the television show and in the history books.

Despite a brief appearance, Tudors creator Michael Hirst gives her a couple of classic lines. One captures the dilemma faced by every girl who came Henry’s way: “If I fail to please the King, will he kill me?” And then, with regards to the marital bed, she cites Henry’s relentlessly unhealing leg wound as a bit of a downer in the foreplay department: “It stinks, no?” ‘Nuff said.

So, if you are interested in this woman who went from the King’s wife to the “King’s beloved Sister,” and would like to read about her on your Kindle, head on over to the Tudors download page and drag the article to the documents folder on your Kindle.

And that’s it for another season of the Tudors. Given the speed with which they dispatched Cromwell last night, it looks like one more season will do it!

Joe Wikert has a great post about the reaction of a student to the use of a Kindle in the classroom.  We would like to hear stories about educational uses of the Kindle here as well!  Lee Ann has started using her Kindle with students in her high school classroom and will be reporting her updates here.

What stands out in thinking about Kindles as educational devices has to do with the way in which the Kindle stimulates people young and old to read more.  The most respected educational researchers tell us that more reading is the key to improved reading skills.  One nationally recognized educator and high school English teacher pointed out to this writer that “the world is a tough place if you can’t read.”

So, if the Kindle means more reading, then the Kindle means better reading.  Do you agree?

Much research highlighted in the past few years indicates the importance of time spent reading as the key factor in reading improvement for students.  One path the debate has taken concerns the amount of reading that kids do on the web.  The New York Times addressed this factor in a recent article.

However, as Lee Ann points out in her comment to a post on this site:

Stephen Krashen (The Power of Reading) has said that access to books is the variable that most impacts students’ reading time, so I would imagine that have an entire library on a Kindle would certainly increase how much students read. Books at their fingertips is always my goal for students and Kindles would accomplish that and much more than what I can supply per table top in the classroom.

If we look at access to books as the key, research clearly states the more the better:

In examining the average 2005 math scores of 12th graders who lived in homes with fewer than 10 books, an analysis of federal Education Department statistics found that those students scored much lower than those who lived in homes with more than 100 books. Although some of those results could be attributed to income gaps, Mr. Iyengar noted that students who lived in homes with more than 100 books but whose parents only completed high school scored higher on math tests than those students whose parents held college degrees (and were therefore likely to earn higher incomes) but who lived in homes with fewer than 10 books.

Of course, this research addresses a number of factors through this single metric: homes in which books are valued usually contain more books.  But the practical outcome of this factor is that kids in homes which value books are exposed to more books, and hence have more opportunity to read.

So, if we sent kids home everyday with a Kindle loaded with 100 books (or more, since the Kindle has capacity for more), would we start to chip away at the impact of homes having too few books for kids to become better readers?

Not an idle question, especially if one of those books were Stephanie Meyers’ wildly popular Twilight.  It’s on my Kindle (and it cost me $6.03)…