The Kindle versus print
Cushing Academy is getting rid of its physical books. Now, books will only be available to students online through a Kindle reader. According to an article in the Boston Globe, James Tracy, Cushing Academy headmaster, views books as outdated technology, like a scroll before the book. People who are opposed to this move have expressed concerns about access– that each student must invest in a Kindle reader, and that not all books are available through the Kindle, a proprietary device. Other expressed concerns have included the durability of the equipment, as well as the comfort and ease of reading a novel on an e-reader. My view is that institutions of education should embrace new technologies and add them to the mix of learning tools to foster rich learning experiences. This would include piloting and testing their effectiveness and determining how pedagogy and research assistance fits in with such a device. Then, to partner with educational technology experts, librarians, engineers, students, and open-source experts to pilot related initiatives. Now, I do agree with Mr. Tracy that new technologies should be exploited. And I personally believe that e-readers will be the near-future norm for a student’s preferred learning device (over the mobile or laptop). However, until a robost e-reader device is available using open-source platforms and until more research and development has gone into designing teaching and learning experiences for e-readers, and until an institution has a comprehensive plan to provide research support through an e-reader, I would not get rid of the entire paper book collection.