BP24_01112011_E-books: A Fresh Alternative or The Devil's Plaything?

Standing outside in the cold on a dark January evening, my newly-met companion explained the superiority of paper books to an e-book reader: "I like the feel of a book in my hand. I like to smell the paper. I like to turn the pages."

Doesn't sound so quaint when you read it in a technology blog does it? Who are these people? Who is it that sits at home in the dark sniffing their books? Who gets a thrill hearing paper rustle? Ball State University has an idea who they are, based on a series of studies performed by graduate students in the university's school of education.

Those who prefer paper books to e-books are [drum roll]: people with little to no experience with e-books. Research subjects were tested on the speed and accuracy of look-up using an electronic dictionary. Those with the slowest times tended to be Baby Boomers, whose children were among the first to learn and produce using computers, while those with the fastest times tended to be those raised with the contemporary ubiquity of computer screens.

Those of us in the older generations (I am a Gen Xer) have sometimes adapted to the newly invented technologies of the new day, but the younger generations have known the cell phone, the internet, wireless access, online classes, the X-box, Wii, and other platforms as part of life, as things that have "always been there." They are what Marc Prensky accurately called Digital Natives. They speak the e-book language already, since they have already mastered the cell phone and smart phone, texting, e-mail (which is so 1999), social networking, Call of Duty 5, and the netbook.

Now here's the kicker: the Ball State study was completed before 2006. E-readers have made it into popular consumption, by way of the Kindle, the Kobo, the Sony e-Reader, the Nook, and others. Five years ago, we knew that students raised in the digital age were making the transition to e-readers with little difficulty. The past five years have seen the introduction of smart phones, affordable e-readers for consumers, the iPad, and more screens on more devices for young people to look at.

So, really. Go ahead and sniff the leaves between the covers, hold that hardcover in one hand until your elbow gets numb, revel at the sound of paper passing paper. For the rest, we'll carry a library with us at under half a pound, while your fancy hardcovers weigh two pounds per inch of paper.

BP23_01032011_Do New Things in New Ways

Regarding technology in the classroom in the 21st century, there are only three options:

1. To use new technologies to implement old assessments, projects, or assignments.
2. To use old technologies to implement new assessments, projects, or assignments.
3. To use new technologies to implement new assessments, projects, or assignments.

The recommended course of action is the last one, to implement new technologies in a new situation that reflects the learning styles and technology savvy of 21st century learners.

Consider these examples:

1. Mr. Barnes uses end-of-chapter review questions, quizzes, and tests to assess his students' understanding of historical periods in the United States. He has recently converted all of his questions, quizzes, and tests to online versions, using Moodle and GoogleDocs. His classroom is now virtually paper-free.
2. Mrs. Lammers has embraced project based learning, but her A.P. Statistics students still submit their work by pencil and paper, because Mrs. Lammers fears her students might cheat if given the chance to collaborate online.
3. Ms. Samil uses real-time data from NASA for her students' statistics project. The project findings are recorded using GoogleDocs spreadsheets, and the conclusions are presented in a Prezi, complete with photos of students participating in the project, taken on smartphones and uploaded to their student drive on the school server.

• Mr. Barnes is the classic example of using new tools to do old things. The learning activities have not changed; the pencil has been replaced by the keyboard. Has this changed the level of thinking in the classroom? While some students may be engaged by the opportunity to use the computers, the level of thinking required remains level.
• Many teachers fear that collaboration will become cheating. Mrs. Lammers thinks that requiring students to submit work with old tools (pencils, paper projects, etc.) will prevent that. The drawback here is that while the real world application done in Mrs. Lammers class is noteworthy, no publication is possible outside the classroom walls, and the document will fall victim to the recycling bin and disappear forever before long.
• Ms. Samil uses project based learning with a real world application and allows students to use tools they have grown up with. Ms. Samil is neither a GoogleDoc expert, nor a Prezi user, but knows her students can help each other figure out these tools where questions arise. Because both GoogleDocs and Prezi applications are shareable, these documents can be saved for student portfolios, published to the web, or retained for use later in college or in the student's personal life.