Update: Want to clean up your Kindle Fire? Click HERE. It is a fine, bright Saturday morning and I think that today I will clean up my Kindle. What I mean is, clean up all the content that has been chewing up space in the onboard memory. I knew it was time when I recently…
Kindle’s Impact on Student Reading
Is Kindle the perfect learning appliance?
by Will DeLamater
The devices that we use to access content are getting smaller and smaller. One could make the case that the iPod Touch and the iPhone are in fact small pocket computers, and one wouldn’t be far from the truth. (The coming update to the iPhone operating system promises to allow, among other things, the ability…
Why Educators Should Mourn the Departure of the SD Chip Slot from the Kindle 2
by Will DeLamater
Can’t find the expansion slot for additional memory on your Kindle 2? That’s because there isn’t one. And, as I have indicated in earlier posts, that’s not a good deal for educators. This change seems to be part of the “closing” of the Kindle, where a sleek form factor trumps functionality. If the Kindle is…
The Logic of the Kindle
by Will DeLamater
Someone said “Why would I want to carry another device just to read a book?” I guess they missed the fact that they were already carrying a device just to read a book, and that would be the book itself…
Book Selection for Kindle Loan Program at NCSU
by Will DeLamater
One interesting feature of the Kindle loaner program at North Carolina State University is the way that books are selected for download to the 18 Kindles that are available for checkout. Patrons (including students and faculty) recommend titles through an online submission form (see screen shot) that is then vetted by library staff. More from…
Student Kindle Comment from the Twitterverse
by Will DeLamater
A recent tweet: Theres nothing better for a boring class than a Kindle : D Not exactly what we had in mind for the Kindle in education…(but it works for me!)
Kindle “Second Wave” Puts Device in Teachers’ Hands
by Will DeLamater
A school district in Utah has recognized the “simple market forces” that make the Kindle a viable alternative to print text today. A recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune details the purchase of 147 Kindles for teachers to work with so they can familiarize themselves and uncover ways to promote literacy using the device:…
Kindle Classroom Excitement
by Will DeLamater
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…
Does Research Support Kindle Use to Improve Student Reading Scores?
by Will DeLamater
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…
Kindle Font Size and Student Reading
by Will DeLamater
The ability to read a book, a newspaper, whatever, at a congenial font size is part of what makes the Kindle such a pleasure to use. The demographics of older readers with aging eyes like my own make this a strong incentive to get involved with electronic (and configurable) text. But what about students? Research…