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Digital Reader: Using E-books in K-12 Education
The rapidly increasing availability and low cost of e-book technology make it perfect for schools and educators looking to expand their resources for readers. This book introduces the unique features that have established e-books as a powerful, effective learning tool for all grade levels and for students with special needs. It includes descriptions and illustrations of the most popular e-book formats and programs, as well as dozens of practical ideas for using e-books for reading instruction, personal productivity, and curricular enrichment. Brimming with interactive lesson ideas, teaching tips, and online resources, this book is a must-have for teachers in all content areas as well as library media specialists. FEATURES
Descriptions of the most popular and affordable e-book devices, software, and content for educators
Guidelines for accessing free digital library resources available on the Web and for creating your own e-books using basic software tools
Strategies for using the annotation, reference, and hyper text capabilities of electronic text to promote active reading
Comprehensive index Also Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms - ISBN 1564842339
Interactive K-12 Lessons That Work - ISBN 1564842517 The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is the trusted source for professional development, knowledge generation, advocacy and leadership for innovation. ISTE is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and teacher education. Home of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET), and ISTE's annual conference (formerly known as the National Educational Computing Conference, or NECC), ISTE represents more than 100,000 professionals worldwide. We support our members with information, networking opportunities, and guidance as they face the challenge of transforming education. Some of the areas in which we publish
-Web. 2.0 in the classroom-RSS, podcasts, and more
-National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)
-Professional development for educators and administrators
-Integrating technology into the classroom and curriculum
-Safe practices for the Internet and technology
-Educational technology for parents
Descriptions of the most popular and affordable e-book devices, software, and content for educators
Guidelines for accessing free digital library resources available on the Web and for creating your own e-books using basic software tools
Strategies for using the annotation, reference, and hyper text capabilities of electronic text to promote active reading
Comprehensive index Also Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms - ISBN 1564842339
Interactive K-12 Lessons That Work - ISBN 1564842517 The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is the trusted source for professional development, knowledge generation, advocacy and leadership for innovation. ISTE is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and teacher education. Home of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET), and ISTE's annual conference (formerly known as the National Educational Computing Conference, or NECC), ISTE represents more than 100,000 professionals worldwide. We support our members with information, networking opportunities, and guidance as they face the challenge of transforming education. Some of the areas in which we publish
-Web. 2.0 in the classroom-RSS, podcasts, and more
-National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)
-Professional development for educators and administrators
-Integrating technology into the classroom and curriculum
-Safe practices for the Internet and technology
-Educational technology for parents
162 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2005
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June 28, 2011
The Digital Reader: Using E-books in K-12 Education
By Terrance W. Cavanaugh
Electronic readers have come a long way in a very short time. Today when we think of e-readers devices such as the Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble's Nook and the iPad come to mind. We may also use an app on our smart phone to read an e-book, but it is not the particular device that is important to the use of digital media in the classroom. Computers, video recorders and audio recorders may also be used to view and listen to the electronic books. The book The Digital Reader by Terrance W. Cavanaugh published in 2006 does not mention the latest digital readers by Amazon and Barnes and Noble because they had not been released at the time of publication but it does give the reader a good view of what an e-book is.
The e-book is defined in various ways. It has been described as any material presenting text through a digital method, but also includes such items as books on tape, so it can also be considered any presentation of a book using modern technology. Another definition is that an e-book is a digital file, but not limited to just text, that is displayed on some form of computer or electronic device. According to Adobe Systems Incorporated (2002), e-books are digital reading materials that you view on a desktop or notebook computer, or on a dedicated portable device. E-books then are textual documents that have been converted and “published” in an electronic format that are displayed on e-book readers, devices, or computers using e-book software programs. (Cavanaugh, 2006, pg. 13)
The book does not devote a lot of its pages to the discussion of the devices used but it does give an overview of the then current devices and formats. In many ways keeping this portion of the book limited keeps it from being grossly out of date. Instead the book focusing on the educational uses of the e-books and digital readers, which brings me to the thing I liked most about the book: the way it was written. When I thought f having to read and discuss a text book I cringed as text books tend to be dry and long winded. I have found few that actually kept my interest all the way through. The Digital Reader: Using E-books in K-12 Education was not a page turner like a good suspense novel but as a text, in which I was gathering information, it kept my attention and continually gave me solid ideas for use in the classroom.
What stood out to me most in this book is that it truly is written for educators, not as a text book to try and decipher meaning that translates to use in the classroom, but as a collection of ideas for use of e-books and e-readers in education. It is written in a manner unique to teaching. It lists objectives like a teacher would for a lesson or unit plan:
Objectives of This Book
The objectives of this book are to provide educators, administrators, librarians, parents and anyone else with an interest in books and technology with:
* a functional understanding of e-books and their features
* the advantages of using e-book technology in presenting information
* the unique attributes of e-books that make the effective teaching tools and resources
* ways to apply e-books as personal productivity tools
* techniques for using e-books in classroom and professional settings
* e-book software and resources, such as online libraries
* suggestions for integrating e-book technology with other software applications to create educational resources
* information detailing the utility and flexibility of e-book technologies in meeting the needs of learners with various abilities, language backgrounds, and special needs
* sample e-books lessons, activities, and applications for a range of grade levels and content areas (Cavanaugh, 2006, pgs. 7-8)
The list of objectives stood out to me for the obvious reasons, it made a real life connection from the author to myself in that by giving the list of objectives, as I would to teach a lesson with my elementary students, the author gives me the objectives he is setting out to meet by writing this book. Cavanaugh continues to keep me engaged by keeping the writing simple and focused. Each section of the book is written concisely with out a lot of extraneous information. The author presents the information, gives examples of use for all of the levels of education from elementary up through high school and occasionally lesson ideas. Each selection (chapter) is ended with the author’s conclusion and a list of online resources, software and references that can be used with the information presented in the chapter. To me this follows the launch, explore, summarize format of a lesson plan, keeping me engaged in each section and clearly letting me know when it is time to move on.
One would think that a book titled “The Digital Reader: Using E-books in K-12 Education” would focus only on literacy uses for e-books and e-readers but Cavanaugh spreads his uses and ideas across the curriculum. He gives insight and examples of uses of e-books in Language Arts and Reading, Science, Mathematics, Foreign Language, Social Studies and other subjects like Physical Education and Art. He also offers suggestions on how to use the e-books with a variety of levels of resources:
CLASS DESIGN/ACTIVITIES
One Computer
Audio book listening station for individuals or whole class.
Presentation station for digital big books.
Download station for students to download e-book files onto personal storage media.
E-book print station for printing either partial or complete documents.
Reader’s workshop station for having a computer read aloud (using synchronized highlighting with text-to-speech).
Reading station for use by individuals; similar to classroom bookshelf for open reading time.
Research station for use by individuals or small groups.
Resource station for use by individuals as a reading support tool. For example, using enlarged text or text-to-speech capabilities (with headphones).
Centers with Two or More Computers
All the one-computer activities listed above as well as the following:
Literature circle stations for group work.
Reader’s theater(interpreting and orally presenting written text; see the description later in this chapter).
Whole Class or One-to-One Computing
All the one-computer and two-or- more computers activities listed above as well as the following:
Whole class reading stations where all students can follow along as a single book is read.
Sustained silent reading stations where each student selects a book for individual reading.(Cavanaugh, 2006, pg. 38)
After reading the chart above, my mind was put at ease. As a substitute teacher who works in multiple districts, I have seen that not all of them have the same level of technology. Being shown that the e-readers and e-books can be used in the various circumstances helped me to see that no matter where I end up teaching down the road there will be a viable use of the e-readers in any class design.
To focus on one passage that stands out for me in this book is difficult due to the way it is written. There are so many incredible ideas and insights through out the book that to choose one of them almost diminishes the others, so the passage I am going to write about is the author’s final conclusion, titled: “Fulfilling the Promise”
This book started with the phrase “a book is a book,” but by this point we should also state that “a book is a computer, is a handheld, is a file” and a computer can be a book, a book collection, or a library.”
In short, the look of the book has changed. Along with this change in books has come a change in students. Today’s students, sometimes called millenials, are technology users who have grown up and come of age with the Internet and reading text from a screen (Figure C.1). They see technology like the Internet as something that has always been available to them, with free and ubiquitous information that they can access at any time (Patrick, 2004).
In many situations, today’s students feel that the assignments given at school actually discourage them from using technology as much or as creatively as they would like (Levin & Arafeh, 2002). Integrating Internet and computer applications into reading activities can provide direction and effective integration of technology for student success. It was estimated in 2001 there were more than 20,000 free electronic versions of books, or e-books, available online (Project Gutenberg 2001), and the book numbers have been growing ever since. The books are there; the time has come to start using them.
Using e-book technology doesn’t have to be expensive. Most schools already have the computers and access necessary to integrate e-books into classrooms, computer labs, and media centers. Even purchasing devices costs approximately $100, and the average price of paperbacks is $4 with an educator’s discount. This means that the average teacher would break even by choosing to buy a handheld after loading 25 free e-books… (Cavanaugh, 2006, pg. 149)
Now of course handhelds and prices have changed since the publishing of this book, but the sentiment remains the same. It is time to start integrating e-books and e-readers into the classroom. To my mind it is simple: the evolution of technology and the way we convey information has changed, so should the way we teach it. I touched on the reason I chose to write about the conclusion above, but there is more to it than simply it was hard to choose. The author echoes my own sentiment on the subject. E-books and e-readers will be the future of the printed word, at least for some time to come, and just as the written word went from scrolls and parchments to the books printed by Gutenberg’s printing press, the change is inevitable. Why keep education in the last century when the capabilities are available and relatively inexpensive to obtain? Our students deserve better. The International Reading Association (IRA)
states that students have the right to:
* teachers who are skilled at using new literacies[sic] for teaching and learning;
* a curriculum that integrates these new literacies;
* instruction that develops these literacies for effective use;
* assessment practices in literacy that include electronic reading and writing;
* opportunities to learn safe and responsible use of information and communication technologies; and
* equal access to information and communication technology. (Cavanaugh, 2006, pgs. 35-36)
The e-books and e-readers don’t change the way we read but they can enhance it. The ability to highlight text, reread selections, bookmark pages, monitor student progress and even read aloud capabilities are available in many of the software programs available to read the e-books. Access to books or entire libraries is available at the click of a button. In the long run the cost of materials will be less than it is currently. Each year schools replace lost or worn out books in the classroom and libraries, this would no longer be the case as digital copies do not suffer from page wear and since the e-book can be stored in a central location and accessed from others it will not be lost. I think we are a few years away from each student carrying and e-reader to and from school but the potential is there to carry one reader for all subjects instead of five to ten heavy textbooks.
The implications of using E-readers and e-books in the classroom can be enormous if used properly. As mentioned previously, everything that one can do with a traditional paper book can be done with an e-book, but the e-books can offer more. The use of digital readers can entice the reluctant reader using five techniques described in the book. They can offer a wide variety of reading materials to the students, incorporate large print at the click of a button, engage multiple modalities by using the read aloud features, and synchronized highlighting, teach important vocabulary by using an interactive dictionary available in some of the software programs and by using pre-reading techniques set up by the teacher. E-books can be obtained for use with special need students as well. Teachers can obtain digital versions of text books for a student with special needs often through a request from the publisher. Picture books are also available for use in elementary classes and with foreign language or culture classes. As one can see, e-books and e-readers can be used with all aspects of education not just the literacy or English Language Arts classes. Ultimately this technological tree of knowledge will bear fruit for those who use it.
The theme of the book is simple and straight forward. The use of electronic book and e-readers is easy, effective and economical. It spans all areas of education and should be implemented where applicable. Not every single lesson can and should be taught with an e-reader at this time but there are many lessons that will be greatly enhanced by their use.
Reaction:
This will not be a book sold by me on Amazon at the end of this class. It will be kept with my education materials to gather ideas and strategies to assist my young learners in the area of reading and beyond. Although it is slightly out of date with the current technology the ideas and strategies offered by Cavanaugh still hold true. This year I actually had the opportunity to work with a teacher that received 8 new Nook books via a grant for her classroom. She had told me a few months later that the students were enamored with the e-readers. Currently she mainly used them as rewards for behavior and effort but had plans to learn more strategies for their use over the summer. I have already recommended this book to her as an excellent place to start as I would to anyone who is interested in integrating e-books and e-readers into their classroom.
At first I thought I would truly like to see an updated version of the book to incorporate some of the more modern advances in the e-readers but I fear it too would be out of date by the time it hit the shelf or the e-reader, besides the owners manuals will give me the resources I would need to find the tools available on the individual reader. I like the fact that the author chose not to focus the book on a specific e-book/e-reader technology as they are very different and it would be more difficult to translate the use if a school or district chose to purchase another system. To put it into on sentence: The Digital Reader: Using E-books in K-12 Education By Terrance W. Cavanaugh is a great resource for any teacher, administrator or parent interested in learning about the use of e-readers in education.
References:
Cavanaugh, T.W.(2006) . The Digital Reader: Using e-books in K-12 Education. Eugene, Oregon: International Society for Teaching in Education
By Terrance W. Cavanaugh
Electronic readers have come a long way in a very short time. Today when we think of e-readers devices such as the Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble's Nook and the iPad come to mind. We may also use an app on our smart phone to read an e-book, but it is not the particular device that is important to the use of digital media in the classroom. Computers, video recorders and audio recorders may also be used to view and listen to the electronic books. The book The Digital Reader by Terrance W. Cavanaugh published in 2006 does not mention the latest digital readers by Amazon and Barnes and Noble because they had not been released at the time of publication but it does give the reader a good view of what an e-book is.
The e-book is defined in various ways. It has been described as any material presenting text through a digital method, but also includes such items as books on tape, so it can also be considered any presentation of a book using modern technology. Another definition is that an e-book is a digital file, but not limited to just text, that is displayed on some form of computer or electronic device. According to Adobe Systems Incorporated (2002), e-books are digital reading materials that you view on a desktop or notebook computer, or on a dedicated portable device. E-books then are textual documents that have been converted and “published” in an electronic format that are displayed on e-book readers, devices, or computers using e-book software programs. (Cavanaugh, 2006, pg. 13)
The book does not devote a lot of its pages to the discussion of the devices used but it does give an overview of the then current devices and formats. In many ways keeping this portion of the book limited keeps it from being grossly out of date. Instead the book focusing on the educational uses of the e-books and digital readers, which brings me to the thing I liked most about the book: the way it was written. When I thought f having to read and discuss a text book I cringed as text books tend to be dry and long winded. I have found few that actually kept my interest all the way through. The Digital Reader: Using E-books in K-12 Education was not a page turner like a good suspense novel but as a text, in which I was gathering information, it kept my attention and continually gave me solid ideas for use in the classroom.
What stood out to me most in this book is that it truly is written for educators, not as a text book to try and decipher meaning that translates to use in the classroom, but as a collection of ideas for use of e-books and e-readers in education. It is written in a manner unique to teaching. It lists objectives like a teacher would for a lesson or unit plan:
Objectives of This Book
The objectives of this book are to provide educators, administrators, librarians, parents and anyone else with an interest in books and technology with:
* a functional understanding of e-books and their features
* the advantages of using e-book technology in presenting information
* the unique attributes of e-books that make the effective teaching tools and resources
* ways to apply e-books as personal productivity tools
* techniques for using e-books in classroom and professional settings
* e-book software and resources, such as online libraries
* suggestions for integrating e-book technology with other software applications to create educational resources
* information detailing the utility and flexibility of e-book technologies in meeting the needs of learners with various abilities, language backgrounds, and special needs
* sample e-books lessons, activities, and applications for a range of grade levels and content areas (Cavanaugh, 2006, pgs. 7-8)
The list of objectives stood out to me for the obvious reasons, it made a real life connection from the author to myself in that by giving the list of objectives, as I would to teach a lesson with my elementary students, the author gives me the objectives he is setting out to meet by writing this book. Cavanaugh continues to keep me engaged by keeping the writing simple and focused. Each section of the book is written concisely with out a lot of extraneous information. The author presents the information, gives examples of use for all of the levels of education from elementary up through high school and occasionally lesson ideas. Each selection (chapter) is ended with the author’s conclusion and a list of online resources, software and references that can be used with the information presented in the chapter. To me this follows the launch, explore, summarize format of a lesson plan, keeping me engaged in each section and clearly letting me know when it is time to move on.
One would think that a book titled “The Digital Reader: Using E-books in K-12 Education” would focus only on literacy uses for e-books and e-readers but Cavanaugh spreads his uses and ideas across the curriculum. He gives insight and examples of uses of e-books in Language Arts and Reading, Science, Mathematics, Foreign Language, Social Studies and other subjects like Physical Education and Art. He also offers suggestions on how to use the e-books with a variety of levels of resources:
CLASS DESIGN/ACTIVITIES
One Computer
Audio book listening station for individuals or whole class.
Presentation station for digital big books.
Download station for students to download e-book files onto personal storage media.
E-book print station for printing either partial or complete documents.
Reader’s workshop station for having a computer read aloud (using synchronized highlighting with text-to-speech).
Reading station for use by individuals; similar to classroom bookshelf for open reading time.
Research station for use by individuals or small groups.
Resource station for use by individuals as a reading support tool. For example, using enlarged text or text-to-speech capabilities (with headphones).
Centers with Two or More Computers
All the one-computer activities listed above as well as the following:
Literature circle stations for group work.
Reader’s theater(interpreting and orally presenting written text; see the description later in this chapter).
Whole Class or One-to-One Computing
All the one-computer and two-or- more computers activities listed above as well as the following:
Whole class reading stations where all students can follow along as a single book is read.
Sustained silent reading stations where each student selects a book for individual reading.(Cavanaugh, 2006, pg. 38)
After reading the chart above, my mind was put at ease. As a substitute teacher who works in multiple districts, I have seen that not all of them have the same level of technology. Being shown that the e-readers and e-books can be used in the various circumstances helped me to see that no matter where I end up teaching down the road there will be a viable use of the e-readers in any class design.
To focus on one passage that stands out for me in this book is difficult due to the way it is written. There are so many incredible ideas and insights through out the book that to choose one of them almost diminishes the others, so the passage I am going to write about is the author’s final conclusion, titled: “Fulfilling the Promise”
This book started with the phrase “a book is a book,” but by this point we should also state that “a book is a computer, is a handheld, is a file” and a computer can be a book, a book collection, or a library.”
In short, the look of the book has changed. Along with this change in books has come a change in students. Today’s students, sometimes called millenials, are technology users who have grown up and come of age with the Internet and reading text from a screen (Figure C.1). They see technology like the Internet as something that has always been available to them, with free and ubiquitous information that they can access at any time (Patrick, 2004).
In many situations, today’s students feel that the assignments given at school actually discourage them from using technology as much or as creatively as they would like (Levin & Arafeh, 2002). Integrating Internet and computer applications into reading activities can provide direction and effective integration of technology for student success. It was estimated in 2001 there were more than 20,000 free electronic versions of books, or e-books, available online (Project Gutenberg 2001), and the book numbers have been growing ever since. The books are there; the time has come to start using them.
Using e-book technology doesn’t have to be expensive. Most schools already have the computers and access necessary to integrate e-books into classrooms, computer labs, and media centers. Even purchasing devices costs approximately $100, and the average price of paperbacks is $4 with an educator’s discount. This means that the average teacher would break even by choosing to buy a handheld after loading 25 free e-books… (Cavanaugh, 2006, pg. 149)
Now of course handhelds and prices have changed since the publishing of this book, but the sentiment remains the same. It is time to start integrating e-books and e-readers into the classroom. To my mind it is simple: the evolution of technology and the way we convey information has changed, so should the way we teach it. I touched on the reason I chose to write about the conclusion above, but there is more to it than simply it was hard to choose. The author echoes my own sentiment on the subject. E-books and e-readers will be the future of the printed word, at least for some time to come, and just as the written word went from scrolls and parchments to the books printed by Gutenberg’s printing press, the change is inevitable. Why keep education in the last century when the capabilities are available and relatively inexpensive to obtain? Our students deserve better. The International Reading Association (IRA)
states that students have the right to:
* teachers who are skilled at using new literacies[sic] for teaching and learning;
* a curriculum that integrates these new literacies;
* instruction that develops these literacies for effective use;
* assessment practices in literacy that include electronic reading and writing;
* opportunities to learn safe and responsible use of information and communication technologies; and
* equal access to information and communication technology. (Cavanaugh, 2006, pgs. 35-36)
The e-books and e-readers don’t change the way we read but they can enhance it. The ability to highlight text, reread selections, bookmark pages, monitor student progress and even read aloud capabilities are available in many of the software programs available to read the e-books. Access to books or entire libraries is available at the click of a button. In the long run the cost of materials will be less than it is currently. Each year schools replace lost or worn out books in the classroom and libraries, this would no longer be the case as digital copies do not suffer from page wear and since the e-book can be stored in a central location and accessed from others it will not be lost. I think we are a few years away from each student carrying and e-reader to and from school but the potential is there to carry one reader for all subjects instead of five to ten heavy textbooks.
The implications of using E-readers and e-books in the classroom can be enormous if used properly. As mentioned previously, everything that one can do with a traditional paper book can be done with an e-book, but the e-books can offer more. The use of digital readers can entice the reluctant reader using five techniques described in the book. They can offer a wide variety of reading materials to the students, incorporate large print at the click of a button, engage multiple modalities by using the read aloud features, and synchronized highlighting, teach important vocabulary by using an interactive dictionary available in some of the software programs and by using pre-reading techniques set up by the teacher. E-books can be obtained for use with special need students as well. Teachers can obtain digital versions of text books for a student with special needs often through a request from the publisher. Picture books are also available for use in elementary classes and with foreign language or culture classes. As one can see, e-books and e-readers can be used with all aspects of education not just the literacy or English Language Arts classes. Ultimately this technological tree of knowledge will bear fruit for those who use it.
The theme of the book is simple and straight forward. The use of electronic book and e-readers is easy, effective and economical. It spans all areas of education and should be implemented where applicable. Not every single lesson can and should be taught with an e-reader at this time but there are many lessons that will be greatly enhanced by their use.
Reaction:
This will not be a book sold by me on Amazon at the end of this class. It will be kept with my education materials to gather ideas and strategies to assist my young learners in the area of reading and beyond. Although it is slightly out of date with the current technology the ideas and strategies offered by Cavanaugh still hold true. This year I actually had the opportunity to work with a teacher that received 8 new Nook books via a grant for her classroom. She had told me a few months later that the students were enamored with the e-readers. Currently she mainly used them as rewards for behavior and effort but had plans to learn more strategies for their use over the summer. I have already recommended this book to her as an excellent place to start as I would to anyone who is interested in integrating e-books and e-readers into their classroom.
At first I thought I would truly like to see an updated version of the book to incorporate some of the more modern advances in the e-readers but I fear it too would be out of date by the time it hit the shelf or the e-reader, besides the owners manuals will give me the resources I would need to find the tools available on the individual reader. I like the fact that the author chose not to focus the book on a specific e-book/e-reader technology as they are very different and it would be more difficult to translate the use if a school or district chose to purchase another system. To put it into on sentence: The Digital Reader: Using E-books in K-12 Education By Terrance W. Cavanaugh is a great resource for any teacher, administrator or parent interested in learning about the use of e-readers in education.
References:
Cavanaugh, T.W.(2006) . The Digital Reader: Using e-books in K-12 Education. Eugene, Oregon: International Society for Teaching in Education
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