The ebook has the potential to transform the way students use books as a learning tool. While cost is prohibitive right now, in the future each student could have a virtual library in their hands with access to almost any book. One of the most popular formats right now is the Kindle.

Open Education describes the features of the latest Kindle, the Kindle 2.

To get a sense of the basics, we turn back to the latest version of the Kindle. The device features the ability to display a wealth of different document styles and formats. As one would expect, the Kindle 2 provides access to and readily displays books, newspapers, and magazines. However, the latest version also displays a vast array of other document formats: Microsoft Word, PDF, HTML, TXT, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PRC and MOBI files. Therefore the Kindle now has the potential to be a document repository and full-fledged library.

Perhaps an even more exciting option, albeit still in its infancy as a polished product, is that the Kindle 2 can turn a traditional book into an audiobook. There is still much work to be done before the device can be considered a perfect swap for the audio created by a soothing and polished human voice, but the device offers an amazing step forward in the overall reading process.

As proponents tout, one can use the Kindle as an ebook reader on a train or airplane just as you could pull out a book to read. But then later, the earbuds can be connected and you can continue to read (as in listen to the audio production) as you walk through the station or airport.

Of course, the new ereader means that no book has to be printed and therefore there is no such thing as a truly finished product. The ereader concept certainly makes nonfiction works more practical as updates can be easily uploaded to ensure that the book available for purchase always represents the latest edition.

A less expensive ebook reader alternative is the free Kindle application on the iPod Touch. The iPod Touch costs about $199 and can access the Amazon library of ebooks if a WiFi connection is available. While most books cost $9.99, there are also many free ebooks available through the free Stanza application. Many classic titles such as Alice in Wonderland or Romeo and Juliet are not copyrighted and available for free through Stanza and on free ebook sites like Project Gutenberg, which has 28,000 free ebooks.

You can see the full article, The Future of Books and Authors in the Digital Age at Open Education.

Photo by Richard Masoner

Steve Young, a chief technology officer at the Judson school district used a brilliant networking technique to provide 2,283 additional computer seats with 781 CPUs, and saved the district over $1 million.

According to TechLearning.com:

The NComputing x300 solution that Young used is a modified thin client that virtualizes the host OS and shares the host’s resources. It is installed via a PCI card into the host machine, and up to three terminals can be connected to each PCI card. Young decided to focus NComputing x300 deployment into three areas: elementary schools, middle schools and library student stations.

So basically Young setup four computer stations for each Windows PC or Mac (the article doesn’t specify which one Young used). This is a great idea that could save many schools a lot of money if it was widely implemented. Not only does it save money in hardware costs, but Young was also able to cut energy costs per seat by 73%! Judson ISD was one of the first districts in the nation to receive the CoSN’s Green Computing Certification.

To learn more see:

Judson ISD Green Computing Initiative

NComputing Homepage

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As the summer approaches some lucky students will be assigned summer reading. I say lucky because not all students are intellectually stimulated during the summer hiatus from school. They might be assigned classic literature like The Hobbit or Alice in Wonderland. In the past you would might have to request a hold from your local library or purchase the book from a book store. However, now with the magic of the internet, you can access many classic books for free through sites like Project Gutenburg. If you have an iPod touch, which is basically a hand held computer, you can use programs like Stanza, Wattpad or the Kindle app to turn your iPod into an ebook reader.

Wattpad
This ebook reader application for iPod touch gives you free access to 100,000 titles including Frankenstein, War of the Worlds, Romeo and Juliet, Alice in Wonderland, The Adventures of Sherlock Homes, and many more. It even automatically scrolls the pages for you at whatever speed you set it to.

Stanza
Probably the best iPod application for free books. It gives you access to several sites with free ebook downloads like Project Gutenburg and Manyreads.net and the application lets you download the ebooks straight from these sites and start reading immediately.

Kindle App
You can get many ebooks for free using this app like The Three Musketeers, but it is mostly geared to selling books which are typically $9.99. You can also sample virtually any book which is like being in a virtual bookstore.

Wolfram Alpha is a new online computational engine that can solve virtually any math problem that a student could have. Instead of returning a set of web pages like Google, a search on Wolfram Alpha returns a set of data. For instance a student who is working on the problem integral of sin(x)cos(x)dx, can enter this into Wolfram Alpha and it will spit out a solution, including alternate forms and graphs.

Teachers may fear that students will simply breeze through their homework by typing in the problems into Wolfram Alpha and copying the answers. This is definitely a possibility, but on the positive site Wolfram Alpha can help a student who wants to check their work.

As a research tool, it can provide several useful applications for students. For instance one can enter “earthquake” and the results will show the data for earthquakes for the last 24 hours or last 2 months. Enter in “life expectancy US, Sweden, Japan” and it will compare average life expectancies. Or enter “gdp of france” and it will produce a graph that charts GDP over time.

Wolfram Alpha was created by famous scientist Stephen Wolfram with the goal to “make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone”. They want to make it possible for anyone to be able to compute anything.

Wolfram Alpha is an innovative tool that can change how people research for objective information. It takes some time to get used to because it is not Google, but once you learn how to use it, it can be a very powerful tool for finding information or solving problems. In the future, I think the ability to find information using the internet will be a very valuable skill, so students should be encouraged to experiment with it. To show students a demonstration of how to use Wolfram Alpha go to www.wolframalpha.com/screencast/introducingwolframalpha.html.

An article at Tallahassee.com titled “School districts turning to Twitter to speed up communications” discusses how school districts are using the social networking tool to communicate with parents and students.

According to the article:

Some technology experts say Twitter is worth considering in the education world since it can lead to other opportunities to reach parents and students.

Leon and Taylor county school districts are now “tweeting,” which refers to posting short alerts, on happenings that range from board meeting reminders to kudos when schools and students get noted recognition.

Other Florida school districts, such as Broward and Volusia, are also using Twitter to get their message to parents, students and anyone who’s interested.

It is good to see schools embracing the latest internet technology to improve communications. Twitter has become a household name, partly through the press it has gotten in the mainstream media. Oprah recently had a show about Twitter and Ashton Kutcher created some buzz by reaching over 1 million followers.

Twitter is useful to school administrators because it can distribute a message, almost instantaneously, to everyone that is subscribed to receive updates. Unlike email, Twitter updates are public and can be received as a text message. Since nearly everyone has a cell phone, it can reach people where ever they are which can have many useful applications.

For instance, if the principal of a school had a Twitter account, he could quickly communicate to teachers and students at the school during an emergency situation.

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The Kindle 2 is a really great tool for learning, although the price ($359 for a Kindle 2) may be restrictive. The Kindle is the best e-book reader currently on the market, mainly because of it’s ability to wirelessly access the Amazon store for free from virtually anywhere. In about a minute you can download a digital book to your Kindle which are usually cheaper than the paperback copy. There are several other useful features that make it one of the best learning tools available, if your school can afford it.

Browse previews of virtually any book

Most books that were recently published are available at the Kindle store. One of the cool features of having a Kindle is that it is like having a book store in your hand. The Amazon store lets you preview the first chapter or the first dozen or so pages of any book that is available.

Holds 3,500 books

Instead of carrying around heavy books, having a digital copy can be pretty convenient. It is nice to be able to access your entire library.

Text books will be available

The new DX version of the Kindle has a 9.7 inch display, which makes it easier to read textbooks. According to The Times Online,

“Three textbook publishers – Pearson, Cengage Learning and John Wiley & Sons, which between them publish 60 per cent of all higher-education textbooks – have agreed to sell books on the device.”

This may or may not save students or schools money depending on the cost of the digital copies compared to the hard back editions.

Free Classics

You can get lots of free classics books on your Kindle. I recently downloaded The Three Musketeers for free. There are some available at the Kindle store but you can also Google “Free Kindle Books”.

Free Internet

One of the best features on the Kindle is the “experimental” internet browser. Although, Amazon could get rid of this feature at anytime since it is advertised as “experimental” it seems unlikely that they would without a significant consumer backlash. This feature is great for browsing text sites and works virtually anywhere where a cellphone would work.

Upload Documents

You can email documents to Amazon, which will convert and upload them to your Kindle for a small fee, or you can do this yourself. If you convert the text to a .txt you can upload it from your computer to your Kindle.

At $359, it may be smarter to invest in a netbook which can cost less than $300. Nevertheless, it is a great educational tool if it can be put in the hands of students.

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The state of Virgina has implemented a pilot program to use a math video game called DimensionM, which uses 3-D graphics and math orientated missions, to teach algebra. In 2008, the University of Central Florida conducted a study of students who played the game and concluded that it improved students’ understanding and significantly raise test scores.

According to eSchool News:

Students in the experimental groups who played Tabula Digita video games over an 18-week period scored significantly higher (in some cases, twice as high) on district benchmark tests than students in the control group who did not play video games, researchers said.

Also, four out of five teachers (and all 15 students) who were interviewed reported that students’ math understanding and skills improved as a result of playing the educational video games.

Often video games are given a bad name, but they also have the potential to increase learning if used in an educational way. I have heard anecdotes of schools in Japan issuing the Nintendo DS to students and there are many educational games available on the iPod touch that can exercise the mind or improve vocabulary. One of the reasons that video games can help learning is that it is fun and engaging for students. Also, games often have specific goals that must be accomplished to win, which can motivate students to keep trying until they successfully solve problems. This can build student’s resiliency when they can’t solve a problem on the first try, which author Malcom Gladwell argues is an important component of educational performance. Gladwell argues in the book Outliers, that one of the main reasons Asian students score better in math tests is because they have been ingrained with the habit to keep trying, a trait that is generally less present in American students. It seems that video games may not rot the brain after all.

photo by hiperia3d

A post at the  Digital Education blog describes a district in San Diego that is using virtual courses to supplement traditional classes and provide courses that aren’t available.

A couple of days ago I met with a San Diego school official to get a demonstration of the district’s new virtual school, iHigh. So far, 200 students are taking courses, and 30 are doing so full-time, through iHigh. The district gives each student a Netbook with a built-in Internet card that allows them to access the online campus and courses at their own pace. They are in touch with teachers electronically after an in-person orientation. The teachers make assignments, review the students’ work, and monitor their progress through the portal.

Virtual courses can be a good tool to challenge students to learn how to learn on their own, which can prepare students for college or the new digital workplace where more people work virtually. I like that it allows students to go at their own pace, which can be rewarding and motivating by helping students see the progress they are making. It can also be helpful to students who have difficulty in a traditional classroom settings. It also makes it possible for one instructor to be able to teach thousands of students at a time, for instance if the instructor records the video of a lecture, it can be viewed by thousands or millions of students at little additional cost. This could help make higher education more affordable by lowering the cost to access great teachers. The downside may be that if students take all their classes virtually they may not have the opportunity to build people skills that are also important to have in the work world and in life.

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