Device Rental

I think that something like this makes a great bridge for allowing one-to-one computing and being able to put an ebook device into everyone's hands. This seems like a kind of adaptation on the bring your own device option that seems to being successful. The cost to update school systems may be too much for them to be able to do in the current economy. Large schools systems have often been working or a rotation basis for their schools, but this means that every school that gets technology is getting something different than last year's and it means that you can't implement district wide policy as some schools just are not there yet. And by the time they are the first schools have such old tech that they need to be updated.  Options like implementing a buy/rental program and bring-your-own-device create workable options for schools to start integrating today's ebook technology today, and not sometime in the next few years.


Calif. school to require students to have iPads
A California high school will require all students to provide their own iPads or rent them through the school beginning in the next academic year. Students will use the devices -- which cost $20 a month -- in class and at home. Officials say the curriculum will be compatible with all versions of the iPad to allow families to provide older models they might already own. The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) (5/24)

Saving Money with E-Textbooks

I think that schools will (at least for the most part) be going digital with their textbooks, if only for the costs.
A big meeting was held about digital textbooks into U.S. classrooms by the FCC and the Department of Education, included everyone from Apple to Intel to McGraw-Hill was in attendance.  Their finding were that doing so could save about $60 per student per year - something that could be a nice summative savings. I equate this to how Pres. J. Carter "found" so much oil, by having us use less such as by increased gas mileage.  I know that 60$ doesn't sound like much, although trying to get a 60$/student increase today would seem impossible, but remember how many students that there are and then start adding the years.

In my district if we could that would mean:

60 $/student

200,000 students in my school district

=12,000,000 $saving/year

At a school were the state just told us we had to cut 6 million dollars, a 12 million savings in a year, would be a great thing. Then we expand that as there are more than 49 million students in PK12 education in the U.S.,  so that $60 a student per year adds up real money — about $3 billion. I know that out of the whole budget that may not be much, but if it is economically helpful refinance a house because the interest rate has dropped by at least 1.5% then a savings of 2% sounds good to me.

One problem that I think of though when I read about such summits is who is there representing the open source textbooks? There is where I think that that 2% can increase, but we have the ongoing issues of no book reps. The national open textbook movement is growing, from CK12 flexbooks that came out of California to other states now starting to create their own digital textbooks.  To see if using Open Textbooks (even the print versions) there is the Open Textbook Cost Savings Calculator at http://opencontent.org/calculator/.

How much would schools save with a national switch to digital texts?
An analysis from the Federal Communications Commission shows that a switch to digital textbooks in every classroom could save schools $3 billion per year nationwide. Based on a number of assumptions related to the cost of technology in the future, officials believe going digital will save $60 per student per year -- or about 2% of annual spending per student. All Things D (3/29)

Art Project Part IV

Continuing the ebooks in classic art series. Today I'm adding Matthias Stomer's Annunciazione (1700) with a Sony Reader and Pierre Auguste Renior's Two Girls Reading (1890) a Nook Touch.

Revisionist?

Ebooks and Memory

I was just reading a couple of articles about how people seem to be having a harder time remembering content when reading from an ebook device. Some of the anecdotal and other research seems shows it is hard to retain facts and information when reading an e-book – there were issues of remembering elements such as characters from the stories. One scientist put this down as being an issue of screen size - that it is easier to remember from large than small - that this would have a notable impact when reading from a cell phone. Another reason put forth was that the effect may be associated by how ebooks provide fewer spatial landmarks than print.

 I do think that the spatial element could be impactful along with the screen size. I do wonder though about some of the other “studys” – if students are learning the device as well as learning content you have to contend with cognitive load.  For many it will take a good amount of time to become as familiar with etext reading as they are with printed text. I now always think back to Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, and his supposition that it takes about 10,000 hours of focused work to become expert at something. I know that when I started reading books on handhelds, cell phones and such that it took practice to get used to a new format. My suggestion for all new ereaders is that they start with a book that they have already read and like - and re-read it again with their device. That way they have less of a cognitive impact - they don't have to learn about using the device while they are trying to learn the content of what they are reading - also if they like the book it can provide a positive experience memory/emotion while reading. People forget just how long it took to get comfortable reading print - for most it is just something that you do, you don't remember how much work it took to get to where you are now.







Time Healthland 3/14/2012 http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/14/do-e-books-impair-memory/?xid=newsletter-healthland
Smart Planet | Smart Takes 3/18/2012: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/are-e-books-bad-for-long-term-memory/24360  

I can't find my kindle, but I've got my notes

Recently I misplaced my Kindle with its keyboard. This had the textbook that I'm using with the class that I'm teaching and I had been highlighting points to use in class, making "margin" notes, etc. and then I couldnt find my device - if this had been a regular book this would have ment me starting over again. Instead, I just opened it up on my iPad and used that with my class instead of my Kindle. Lesson saved!

This experience exemplifies some of the big changes available through digital book access as compaired to printed paper. I now regularly carry an entire book collection with me, and I have access to my notes and other annotations that I make with all my devices -as long as I remember to sync them.

How will school change if you have access to any class' textbook for the rest of your life. Can't remember a fact, there it is, can't remember a rule - just pull it up. Left your book at home, just pull it up on your smart phone.

Now, if they would just add an app like the "where's my phone" for e-readers so I'll never misplace my book device again, then I could be happy.

Read an Ebook Week - March 4-10

It is that time of year again, ebook week. If you read my work then you are most likely already an ebook reader. So this week take some time to share your experiences and encourage others to remember that digital reading is still reading. Some points that I always like to share include:
*No difference in how your brain sees digital ink as compared to paper print.
*Over 5 million books available online for free.
*Younger kids prefer reading on a device over paper.

Digital Text Playbook

The U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski have released the "Digital Textbook Playbook" on transitioning to digital texts. The Playbook is organized into four sections that are designed to follow the timeline/issues that schools need to address when making a transition from primarily paper print to mostly digital resources:

• Making the Transition to Digital Learning
• School districts need dedicated and shared leadership, careful planning, and teacher and community engagement to create a successful digital learning environment.
• Connectivity at School
• The key to delivering sufficient connectivity is estimating current and future demand at the district, school, and classroom level. This will ensure that schools have enough bandwidth to serve their student body, faculty, and staff.
• Connectivity Beyond the School Gates
• To accomplish truly ubiquitous digital learning, students must be able to connect beyond the school walls. This can be achieved through a combination of mobile broadband, community connectivity, and home broadband access.
• Device Perspectives
• A true digital textbook is an interactive set of learning content and tools accessed via a laptop, tablet, or other advanced device. Perspectives of key users should be considered: in particular, students, teachers, and parents.

So now we now also have a federal push to digital texts, with the goal of students using electronic textbooks by 2015.  One of the big pluses that I see in the switch to digital textbooks is that this could be the first real technology integration that ends up costing less money by integrating technology than by not. With the number of school systems, state organizations, and private foundations out there creating public domain textbooks, it can be a real cost savings to add a single technology device for a student to use to access all their textbooks (hopefully that can all be gotten for free).

Get the playbook at: http://transition.fcc.gov/files/Digital_Textbook_Playbook.pdf