eBook News

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?

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...

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...

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.