E-Readers in the Classroom?

I decided to blog about an article I read about digital readers and how using these e-readers can impact the classroom. The author claims, “E-books have the potential to unveil an array of new teaching and learning possibilities as traditional and new literacy skills are integrated in meaningful ways” (Larson, 2010).   This article discusses the findings of a study on the use of e-readers in the classroom and how it influenced students are readers. The study was conducted on two second graders, one was an avid reader and the other one described as herself as someone who doesn’t read as fast. Both students read the story Friendship According to Humphrey on the Kindles and both students were observed for 45 minutes daily as they were reading. One of the findings of this study was the use of e-readers such as the Kindle “promoted new literacies practices and extends connections between readers and text,” (Larson 2010). More specifically, the students who used the Kindle in the study were more engaged as readers and were given more control then when reading printed text. In addition, there were give categories of response notes the author noted from the students’ notes: understanding of the story, personal meaning making, questioning, answering, and response to text features. The author concluded digital reading devices could provide students and teachers the support they need in the classroom.

I thought the author of this article made an interesting claim about the use of e-readers in the classrom, especially since technology is already playing an important part in the classroom. Although I do see the advantages, not to mention the perks, of using digital readers in the classroom, I can’t imagine how much it would cost. We never used e-readers in my classroom (and I don’t think anyone has yet in my school) but we do use other online resources and display it on the Promethean board. One of my favorite sites to go to for story read out loud is Story Online. Although is not as cool as having individual e-readers, it’s cheap and accessible. Students can listen to the story and view the pictures of the story. It’s like watching a video of the book! My kids love listening to the stories on the Promethean board because they can all see the pictures of the story at the same time on the big screen and not have to wait for me to move the book around to show it to them.

I am intrigued to try out an e-reader myself and if I do happen to get one for myself in the near future, it would be interesting to see how students will respond if I were to use it as one of my literacy centers.

Larson, L. (2010) Digital readers: The next chapter in e-book reading and response. The Reading Teacher, (64(1). 15-22. DOI:10.1598/RT.64.1.2