With devices like the Kindle (from Amazon) and the Nook (from Barnes and Noble) there is a growing trend towards electronic books. Some have been fearful of the end of beloved paper books and some are hopeful (as a father expressed to me today) of the end of heavy backpacks! You may lean towards either perspective but the reality is that e-book readers are becoming more and more prevalent, and adoption seems to be unaffected by age groups.

We can only assume that the technology will get better, faster and cheaper – it’s a trend amongst all technologies. That being said, as schools we need publishers to find ways to utilize these new devices so that our students can benefit from them. We will stay focused on evaluating these devices to see if they have practical implications for our students.

I thought that this video from Mobile Art in Japan presented a compelling argument for hybrid-electronic-paper books:

Are you using e-book readers in your school? What about personally? What kind of impact do you think they can have for reading and learning?

photo by Enrique Dans, used under Creative Commons License

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The Future of Books: Electronic?