Mrs. Trudden’s Tech Talk

I have finally been able to catch up on some much needed reading in some of my favorite blogs.  I stumbled across a post on Dangerously Irrelevant about digital copies of books.  With the invention of the Amazon Kindle and other Book Reading devices, they have changed the way we read books and gather information.  Now, as an avid reader of books in their traditional form, I simply enjoy the feel of a hardback in my hands while I’m reading.  I don’t know what it is but I love going into book stores, especially older ones with their shelves to the ceiling and huge wingback chairs to sit and lounge while getting lost in an author’s cast of characters. My favorite being Elliott Bay Books in Seattle.

Most recently, I considered getting a Kindle for use when I travel.  Usually when I go on trips, I devour 2-3 books therefore taking up space in my carry on bags.  When I saw the Kindle, I thought, “WOW!  I can take my books with me in a more compact form.”  But at $359 at Amazon.com, it’s a steep price tag for a few trips a year.

Now looks like the genius’ at Apple have designed an app that you can download for free that turns your iPhone/iPod Touch into your very own small version of a Kindle.  This would allow me to pack as many books as I would like, and the option to purchase more during my travels, fitting in my pocket.

Thinking back to education, what use does this pose for the classroom?  Instead of children lugging home textbooks in their backpacks, what if their textbooks were all on a device that can fit into their pocket?  What if books were on a device that would allow us to change the text size larger or smaller to fit the needs of students with vision impairments?  There is also a text to speech feature that can read your favorite books, newspapers, and magazines to you. The iPhone/iPod Touch also allow students to listen to podcasts and classroom lectures as well.

This poses some food for thought about the use of technology both in schools and outside it.  Devices like the iPhone and the iPod Touch are paving the way for children as digital citizens in our world.