Team 2_2

E-Books in the Classroom

Introduction Technology is constantly changing the way that teachers teach and students think. In turn, this also changes the dynamic of the classroom. Change can be difficult to overcome, especially when it involves incorporating new forms of technology. One specific challenge when working in an English classroom is the transition from regular books to E-books. The best way for teachers to make use of these impressive new forms of literature is to use them in the classroom and encourage their students as well as themselves and other teachers to use them also. The first E-books emerged in the late nineties, but big publishing companies didn't take notice of them until 2001. Since then, they have came a long way. We can now access these e-books on our computers, tablets, Kindles, and phones. Using e-books in the English classroom has many advantages and disadvantages, and yet the future of the E-book remains promising as technology is becoming more and more relevent in the way today's students learn and communicate.

What is an E-book? E-books are an electronic version of a printed book. These can be downloaded on computers, tablets, or phones. They are designed to read in this electronic format. They give students the benefits of a computer, the portability of a phone, and the same intellectual benefits of a standard book. Using whichever device a student prefers, or is available to them, they are able to download thousands of books as long as they are available for electronic use.

E-books allow students to look up vocabulary words within the text by simply clicking on the word. They are able to save their place within the work by digitally marking the page. They are also able to keep all of their books on one device rather than carrying around a separate book for each class.

E-book readers, such as Nooks and Kindles, are a common option among students and readers. They utilize the more typical LCD screens found in notebook computers and tablets in order to provide additional functionality beyond just reading e-books such as Web browsing a viewing multimedia content. (Webopedia, 2013).

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History of E-books

==== The first use of e-books was through Project Gutenberg, which was launched by Michael S. Hart in 1971. Project Gutenberg is a digital library that is still used today. The very first document put into digital form for Project Gutenberg was the Declaration of Independence (Falconer, 2011). Booksellers were reluctant, at first, because they feared that books being available on the internet would have a negative impact on their industry. However, many booksellers began to adjust to the digital age of books and found that being able to sell their books online in E-book format can be very beneficial to them as they can put an excerpt of the book online and sell it to anyone in the world. It didn't take long for many other digital libraries to be on the web and change the way people access books, newspapers, and magazines. Libraries also began to function differently as they could catalog the books they had in print online and help people find any book they didn't have available on the internet. Authors quickly caught on to the phenomenon and began to self-publish their works online. This way, they could get their work out to a huge spectrum of readers as well as potential publishers (Lebert, 2009). This has all led up to E-books being used in classrooms. As the world began to take notice of the usefulness of digitalizing reading, schools did, too. E-books are now taking over the role of textbooks in the classroom as the picture below demonstrates. ====

(Fossum, 2012)

While E-books have proven their usefulness in a classroom setting, there are still some issues keeping them from being available to all students. The first issue is that E-books are expensive. There have been several different models used by schools to keep the cost down. Most school districts can’t afford to provide every student with an E-book, so many of them have a number of E-book devices available for checkout at the library. This is still expensive and usually proves to be more expensive than schools expect because technology fails. The school will probably need to pay for technical support of some kind and cannot predict how often they will have to replace devices (Springen, 2013). Some schools try to cut costs by buying devices that only show black and white images. This, however, limits the devices’ uses because many science texts include images that demonstrate a concept using colorful graphs and models. Another issue is that there are still titles that aren’t available on e-book. Students looking for a specific title may not be able to find it in any version other than print (Simon, 2012).

Advantages of E-books in the Classroom

e-books have digital features that allow students to experience literature in a way that is more engaging, instructive, and enjoyable than printed books. E storybooks, such as the one pictured below, help children who are learning to read by facilitating four aspects of reading development: oral language, phonological awareness, print awareness, and alphabet knowledge. E storybooks also help to facilitate interactive opportunities that increase engagement with the story. Engagement with literary content is directly related to the child’s literary outcomes. For more experienced students, dictionary features in e-books allow students to quickly pull up a definition of a word, rather than having to page through a dictionary. This feature also helps students with comprehension of the content because of the better understanding of the vocabulary in the text.Compared to the price of printed books, which can subjected to a lot of punishment from students, e-books are less expensive.

(Subblue, 2011)

Disadvantages of E-books in the Classroom

Although e-books are beneficial in the classroom, there are a few disadvantages that t eachers using them might face. Digital animation features that stimulate interactive engagement might actually backfire if the animations aren’t relevant or if they are distractive from the original storyline. Educators should consider the content and function of e-storybook features before assigning books to young readers. Another disadvantage is that some of the e-readers that e-books are viewed on can cause eyestrain. Particularly, bright LCD screens like those used on iPads and other tablets can cause dry irritated eyes, or headaches. Other tablets without bright backlights are easier on the reader.

Conclusion

E-books and E-Readers have a bright future in English classrooms. These technological advances allow us as teachers to broaden our teaching capabilities by allowing students to obtain many different forms of literature on one portable device. It also helps enhance a student’s knowledge because of the quick access to the web when vocabulary is too difficult or when there are references within the text are unclear to the student. They will ensure that all students and teachers are on the same page and are receiving the same benefits from the literature because all learning tools are at their fingertips. When schools are given proper funds that allow this type of learning and there are even more of them available for download E-books will become a successful tool.

(Financial Times, 2013)

References


 * "Subblue." Riverside Museum •. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.**


 * Moody, A. K. (2010, November). Using Electronic Books in the Classroom to Enhance Emergent Literacy Skills in Young Children. Journal of Literacy and Technology, 11(4).**


 * Bilton, N. (2010, February 12). Do E-Readers cause Eye Strain? New York Times.**


 * "E-book Reader." Webopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.**


 * "E-books Fail the Classroom Test." Financial Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.**


 * Falconer, Joel. "The 40-year history of ebooks, illustrated." The Next Web. N.p., 17 Mar. 2011. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. .**

===**Fossum, Mike. EBooks Are Beginning to Replace Textbooks in the Classroom. 2012. WebProNews. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. **===

===**Springen, Karen. "E. It’s Complicated. How Two Schools are Riding the Transition to Ebooks." The Digital Shift. School Library Journal, n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2013. .**===