I have previously posted about my belief that the Kindle has potential to be widely adopted in schools and by teachers. Here are two reasons why this may have some traction:
- Literacy rates are down and there are mandates (NCLB, for example) to raise literacy rates in schools across the country.
- The Kindle looks and feels like a toy (or video game; or really big i-pod). "Digital Natives" as young students are called are comfortable with gadgets. Make reading a game and hand them a gadget and they just might do it!
There are other reasons but these, I think, are significant enough. As to the point that a gadget "does not smell and feel like a real book" the counterargument would be that literacy precedes aesthetic preference.
One more point..the Kindle would need to be offered to Educators on a trial basis and the price point would need to drop below $100 for schools to buy significant quantities.
The best part is grants already exist to support both literacy gains AND adoption of technology. Oprah's endorsement can certainly be a step in the right direction.
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