Module One-Emerging Technology-Kindle

Watch this Commercial for Kindle.

In response to the article on emerging technology, written by Dr. Thornburg, I would like to add the Kindle 2. Although, there is an original Kindle and Kindle DX, my favorite is the Kindle 2 and that is the one I will be focusing on, not only because of the device, but because of the free application that can be downloaded to the computer.

The Kindle has been marketed by Amazon.com and can be found there, along with thousands of books, some of them free, that can be purchased and read via the Kindle or Kindle application for the computer. The Kindle 2 can hold up to 500 books on the actual device and it also stores all purchased titles in the Archives for you to retrieve at your leisure. Once you purchase a title, it never goes away unless you decide to delete it from your account.


I believe this device and the application for the computer is a great asset to our educational world. The weight of textbooks in children's backpacks alone, is enough to help us see that a solution is needed. The amount of information that is available, including free reference books, such as the thesaurus and dictionary, allow students to have all the necessary reading and writing tools at their fingertips, in one slim lightweight device. The appeal is great because it is a "gadget" to them.

The Kindle also allows the user to bookmark and create notes as they read within the text and this would help to reinforce comprehension. By simply clicking on a link, you can return to your notes and study or review your readings.

The problems I see with Kindle at this point, in regards to the educational environment, is the graphics are not of the best quality. I believe there are other ereaders that may have already improved their graphics, such as the newly introduced iPad, which has this feature and many more bells and whistles. I believe the expense of the Kindle is slowly reducing as new upgrades are marketed; however, the investment for schools may be such that textbooks would still be preferred. One good thing is that a purchased title may be placed on more than one device without charging an additional fee, so this would be great for adding the titles to both computers and devices.

The limited space needed for a Kindle with 500 titles is definitely an advantage. I have stacks of books and I am constantly looking for bookshelves to hold them. The downfall to this is that not all titles are available for the ereader. That is something that would have to be addressed in the marketing and educational world as well.

I see the cost of replacing damaged or lost Kindles as being a liability and they may need to be used within the classroom only under adult supervision.

The concept of the Kindle and other ereaders is a great innovation. I personally enjoy using mine. However, I still find that sometimes I would like to hold a book, especially if it is a recipe or a picture book. We have not quite reached the point where we can totally replace those actual hard copies of literature, but we are working on it.

See how the Amazon Kindle 2 weighs in against Sony's ereader.