Demski, J. (2010) The device versus the book Campus Technology, May 1
Three universities (Princeton, Arizona State University, and Northwest Missouri State) pilot two e-readers (Kindle DX, Sony Reader), to see how well students could use them for studying. The results were at best mixed, and at worst negative. There were problems with annotation, ‘skimming’ and rapid search, and integration with other devices used for studying such as laptops, netbooks and mobile phones. The main advantages are the E Ink screen and long battery life.
My rating of this: e-books are still a work in progress for study purposes and although the iPad seems to be an important advance, even this has limitations for purely academic reading purposes (but then, will reading remain a dominant activity for studying in higher education?).
Dr. Tony Bates is the author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education. He has provided consulting services specializing in training in the planning and management of online learning and distance education, working with over 40 organizations in 25 countries. Tony is a Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network.
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Hi Tony 🙂
I was rather intrigued by
“will reading remain a dominant activity for studying in higher education?”
Was this in reference to a specific teaching technology ? I still remain open minded about the iPad in Education discussion. Hopefully we should get to test things out when iPads arrive here sometime next month.
James