Over the summer, I wrote a proposal on DonorsChoose to get a Kindle for my classroom.
Why not, right? After all, I’ll try anything this year to get my students excited about reading. Even though I’m getting only one Kindle, I predict that my students will love playing around with it. No, it doesn’t have a touch screen or any fancy games, but that’s the whole point: It’s all about reading.
Disclosure: I own a Kindle, too, and I love it. It might be the main reason I am a voracious reader again after a long hiatus. (As a result of having a Kindle, I’m finding I read many more paperbacks and library books, too.)
In the classroom, I’m especially interested to see if the Kindle motivates students with reading disabilities. The Kindle’s text-to-speech is a much cheaper alternative than having to purchase an audio book to complement a paperback. Although the electronic voice does not match a human’s, the Kindle’s text-to-speech does follow along with the text, so a student won’t get lost.
I also appreciate the Kindle’s ability to change font size. There are many books that are inaccessible to students just because their typeface is too small. Larger letters may lead to more fluency and therefore more confidence.
I’ll let everyone know when I receive the Kindle and what effects it has on my students and their interest in reading. Until then, I’ll be figuring out logistics, like, Who gets it first? and, What if they buy a book with my credit card?
A post on EduKindle (http://diigo.com/0cd64) makes a good point that students can now share highlighted passages on Facebook and Twitter. Too bad those sites are blocked at many schools. This new functionality may make reading in schools more social and interactive. I hope Amazon will extend its sharing to other sites, like Edmodo.