TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Archive for the ‘K-12’ Category

By David Rothman

The more books in your home, the better your kids will fare in school. That’s the line in Freakonomics. And now Virginia Heffernan, the "Medium" columnist for the New York Times, is asking a related question about her son.

"Will Ben benefit if I load my Kindle with hundreds of books that he can’t see? Or does he need the spectacle of hard- and softcover dust magnets eliminating floor space in our small apartment to get the full ‘Freakonomics’ effect? I sadly suspect he needs the shelves and dust.

"Anyway, Ben doesn’t distinguish between my Kindle and a BlackBerry. My immersion in the Kindle is not (to him) an example of impressive role-model literacy. It’s Mom e-mailing, or texting, or for all he knows playing video games. In fact, the only time he describes what he and I do together as ‘reading’ is when we’re sitting with a clutch of pages bound between covers, open in front of us like a hymnal."

At odds with standard wisdom among moms and literacy experts

But wait. Ben is just three years old, and I wonder what would happen if the Kindle had a color screen and if Mom regularly read illustrated stories to him from the machine. Contradicting more than a few mothers and literacy experts, Freakonomics’ authors doubt that reading aloud to kids will boost their test scores. But wouldn’t this if nothing else associate the Kindle with The Joys of Reading? Meanwhile, yes, color laptops and tablets have been known to exist. The convertible OLPC machine can be both.

I also wonder if decorating the Heffernan apartment with pictures of scenes from books—in some cases, maybe illustrations downloaded from sources like Wikipedia, which reproduces this image from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland—would help get them on the minds of kids regardless of whether the books are electronic or paper.

The right books

Finally, as long as we’re comparing E and P, how about the touchy little question of how relevant the P or E books will be to the children? Shouldn’t that count, too, not just the sheer numbers of books?

Via E, parents and children can obtain a wide variety of free or low-cost books that match the kids’ interests. Shouldn’t that be a factor, too?

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By David Rothman

Barack Obama wants a huge investment in infrastructure here in the States—both the highway and electronic varieties. America’s broadband penetration would be improved. And every child could tap away at a computer.

In the rush to modernize, however, Obama and his team should also press for sufficient resources for:

1. E-books and other items for schools and libraries—and creation of more—while respecting the First Amendment and allowing for a robust private sector. That means money for books from traditional  publishers, as well as creation of wikis, blogs and the rest by teachers, with help from content experts. Textbook publishers might find new contracting opportunities here. Let’s remember all the obsolete textbooks still in use. In other areas, keep in mind the extent to which students can benefit from a wide variety of recreational reading items, including novels. Consider Norman Mailer’s wisdom on the benefits of linear narrative. Meanwhile, in this recession, let’s not forget the economies of e-books compared to paper.

2. Money for training of teachers and librarians to use the new technology—and maybe funds for student aides to help them out. Even many younger teachers are still baffled how to weave technology into their lessons. Librarians need training in e-book technology, as well as in Wikis and interbook linking. If the International Digital Publishing Forum won’t address the K-12-related  interbook and shared annotations issues, then maybe Washington can offer a little push for e-book standards for the non-disabled (current federal requirements include the disabled). Remember, the IDPF’s ePub format is itself a descendant of standards encouraged by the National Institute for Standards and Technology.

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