The possibility of incorporating electronic books into the classroom, to serve as an essential learning material is becoming increasingly likely as Langley continues to adapt new technologies. “It would be advantageous to have easy access to not only the in-class source, but also outside resources,” said 10th grade English teacher Ms. Weber.
The Kindle, an electronic book-reader, allows a reader to browse and download numerous pieces of literature, ranging from textbooks to newspapers. First released in 2007, Kindle has since been refined into three newer versions. Affiliated with Amazon.com and developed by Lab 126, Kindle is now a best selling product, used by a broad audience all over the United States.
Advantages to using an electronic medium such as a Kindle, would include fast access to texts, ability to view extensive amounts of literature, and overall expansion of teaching style. “E-books offer useful features, they’d be considerably lighter than textbooks and aren’t out of date,” said school librarian Ms. Ortiz.
However, there may be some downfalls to using this new form of technology as a learning tool, as stated by sophomore Amanda Lund. “I like the idea (of using a Kindle), but I also like to annotate while I’m reading.”
School librarian Mr. Clark had mixed feelings on the subject, stating that “I suppose it could make reading more enjoyable for some students, if that’s what they prefer, but I wouldn’t personally use it… converting everything in society to electronic medium is definitely making it harder to concentrate on one set of ideas or text—[it’s] damaging to the thought process.”