ereader pilot

2011: ereader Pilot Suggestion

• One class set of Kindles
• (costs $3400)
• One willing teacher who will attempt to funnel as much course content (handouts and text) through the device as possible
• (cost: priceless)
• A course that offers an e-text option on a text we're currently looking at buying
• A class of students that are willing and able to take on the pilot-iness of something like this (it might not always work perfectly the first time)
• opportunities during and after the course to review technical and pedagogical issues around using the devices
• the final goal: a more accurate understanding of how ereaders as they currently exist might effectively fit into an educational framework

We're on the verge of a market change due to digital distribution, very similar to what happened in the music industry a decade ago. Just as music changed from a manufactured, industrial medium (CDs) to a digital, fluid medium (mp3s), text books (and books in general, but especially texts because of the ludicris overhead) will begin to 'leak' digitally.

As the means to access digital texts becomes more available, the medium will force a change in how distribution occurs. Because (like the music industry before them) the text book publishing industry has a huge industrial infrastructure they have to try and continually justify, they will not adapt to the new means of text transmission. Disruption is immanent and unavoidable.

http://temkblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/immanent-disruption.html

Future school

The Text Book Publishing Industry

"An Industry Ripe For Disruption"

• minimal paper use
• minimal environmental impact
• increased personal access to information
• learning opportunities not confined to what is happening within the walls of the school
• learning material updated constantly and always current
• student centered digital access reduces and/or eliminates vandalism of technology
• increased digital literacy in both students and teachers
• immediate access by all to shared virtual learning spaces that operate in visual, audial linguistic and mathematical contexts
• pushable content from teacher to student, student to teacher and student to student (focusing on collaborative learning)
• course content that recieved feedback from student inputs, allowing for intelligent delivery of lessons
• less focus on student location and more on rich interaction (less factory based time and location sensitive development of learning)

http://nextgeneduleaders.blogspot.com/2008/07/e-texts-and-free-texts-are-open.html

"Perhaps the reign of ten-pound and hundred-dollar textbooks finally is drawing to an end. Perhaps textbooks soon will go the way of handwritten letters and 8-track tapes."

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090821/0405445956.shtml

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090305/0104523999.shtml

all digital delivery

transitional device

"This certainly doesn't mean the end of the traditional textbook, but if the existing publishers follow the footsteps of other industries in trying to resist this disruption rather than adapt to it, expect plenty of angry stories about the evils of internet "piracy," with little recognition that piracy isn't the problem at all."

Technical

Basic ereader

Kindle

Media Device

ipad

6" Kindle

Cost: $139

CWDHS ereader Pilot Program

9.7" colour multi touch

multimedia cost: $499

Cost of labs at CW:

$518,000, also 8x more

inefficient electricity

consumption, much more

heat generated (raising A/C

costs in the summer)

also replaces lab PCs and

laptops - fully functional

media tool for creation and

consumption

9.7" Kindle

Cost: $379

My first go with a livescribe pen!

Financial

Ecological

Student Benefits

Modern mobile equipment much less energy intensive than copiers and other industrial scale paper generation tools

photocopying per year

Text costs

Weight of books

$1500 per class in

texts on average

Current materials

2010: $69694

Distinct classes

that run at CW:

120?

Paper use minimal

Access to updates/

additional material

access to web documents (periodicals, academic papers)

Text book investment:

approx $184,320

Electricity draw:

desktop: 150-300 watts

laptop: 40-60 watts

ipad: 20 watts

The Kno Tablet

15-20% attrition due

to breakage, wear and

updating

access to web based media production tools

(prezi, googledocs (coming soon at the Board

level, hundreds of others...)

Yearly update costs

at 20% = approx $37,000

Approx $107,000/yr

costs invested in paper

based learning

digital information doesn't wear out and is easily customizable, updatable and generally maleable

http://www.kno.com

goal: to fact find - there is a lot we don't know, like:

• how do ereaders hold up to adolescent abuse
• how flexible are our staff with delivering PDFs instead of handouts
• will students find them functional enough to become fluent in them
• will teachers be able to make effective use of some very limited but useful content
• does a Kindle meet our ereading needs?

"New Kindle leaves rivals farther back." - New York Times

"Amazon's newest Kindle is the best ebook-reading device on the market. It's better than the Apple iPad, the Barnes & Noble Nook, the various Sony readers…" - Fast Company

"Battery life is long enough for space shuttle missions." - Wired

"What's clear, however, is that if you're looking for a standalone e-reader (i.e., a portable replacement for physical books), this is the go-to, standard-setting device." - Engadget

"Its solid build quality, along with its improved design, integrated store, and cross-platform transportability… all add up to a winner that shoots to the head of the pack." - PC World

"Simply put, it's the best dedicated ebook reader you can buy… Amazon has managed to increase the contrast on the Kindle in a way that sets it above the Nook, Sony Readers, or any other dedicated ebook reader we've tested." - PC Magazine

Mechanics of the pilot program