http://www.betanews.com/article/Universities-reject-Kindle-DX-as-a-textbook-replacement/1257968058
The article referenced above dives into an issue I have been preaching for at least a year. Colleges and Universities across the nation, or planet for that matter should form some type of system in which college students are required to buy an Amazon Kindle, and all books are then stored and subsequently viewed on this device.
Two colleges tested the idea, and they cite certain flaws as the reasons why the devices have not yet been adopted by the schools. The reasons are absolutely ludicrous in my opinion. The first flaw is the fact that authors do not like that the Kindle had a text-to-speech function. What this means is that all books could be read to you like an audio book. For a tired college student this feature would be fantastic. Imagine reading, and coming to the point where your eyes began to hurt, you could turn on the text-to-speech function and just listen for a while. Reviewing information you already read during your downtime could be easier with this function as well. How this is seen as a flaw blows my mind.
The second flaw stems from an equal rights debate. The issue at hand is treating the blind in an equal fashion as the rest of the students. The blind cannot use the kindle(they could listen to the previously mentioned text-to-speech function though) so this would cause inequality. I laughed when I first read this, then nearly spewed out a stream of expletives. I laughed because the argument is ridiculous, books in genteral have always put blind students at a disadvantage, because they have to get separate books with brail. The anger stemmed from the fact that nearly all college professors teach with Powerpoint presentations. Hence, slideshows in which you need to be able to see are used to teach on a daily basis. For those who do not use powerpoint, most lectures require a chalk board or dry erase board because very few professors solely lecture today. Therefore, college seems to be unequal minus the kindle, and the argument against it is flawed.
The Kindle could allow a campus to preach a more green approach to education. It would also allow students to carry EVERY book in what portable device. There would be no more discussion about students back problems stemming from heavy books being hauled upon their backs. Space which is ever so crucial in the 4x4 dorm that most students live in would also be saved. Best of all, the acquisition of books does not take weeks to come through the mail, and the painful trip to the bookstore can be avoided. All of the material could be gained instantly through the 3G network that every Kindle is hooked up to. Plus, almost every book you could want for leisure reading could also be acquired and stored on the Kindle. Finally, newspapers across the country are readily accessible through the Kindle. Students could have current events at their finger tips as soon as they wake up to take with them anywhere on campus.
The Kindle is not just a good idea for colleges, but instead it is the next logical step in making the education system in America and the world better. It is the Ipod of the reading industry, and hopefully its true potential will soon be realized in the education system.
Just a note, this is by no means a commercial for the Kindle. Any one of these portable reading devices would suffice.
A well written piece and point well taken TL. I especially liked your point about going green, this is something that Syracuse has been preaching the past few years, it is their goal by 2020 or so to be the greenest university in the nation.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with you that the objections posited in this article are ludicrous, I have some other issues with using the Kindle or other reading device as a textbook replacement. First of all, as someone in graduate school, many of the books that I need are not Kindle ready, and many of them are even out of print, this would make the process for students to obtain these books even longer and delay learning in the classroom. Especially in a discipline like history where so many of the "classic" works on certain subjects could be up to and exceeding one hundred years old, there is not a high demand for Amazon to put these texts on Kindle. In response to this, maybe the switch to electronic reading devices should be made on a department or school (not university wide) level. I can see why disciplines like the Sciences or Public Affairs would be receptive to this idea for the current events capabilities alone, but this technology may not be for every field.
On another level I have an issue with replacing textbooks with Kindles. In many ways I am a romantic and a sucker for nostalgia. There is something about taking a book off a shelf, opening it up, smelling the must, and thumbing through the pages that does it for me, and I don't think that can be replicated by digital readers.
Don't get me wrong, I think the Kindle is a great innovation and I would welcome one as part of my library, but I think it is a little hasty to be talking about this completely replacing books at this point in time.
Great post TL, really got me thinking, timely an very relevant, I will be curious to see where other people come out on this issue.