The list provided from the Gartner Group is confirmation that the tablet isn’t just a consumer device…it is being used by everyone in some of the most diverse circumstances. The argument for using it education should not be about when but about how we use this useful tool. More specifically the academy needs to start exploring the use of the tablet that goes beyond its obvious functionality as an e-reader.
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Archives For ereader
A National Association of College Stores Foundation survey conducted this past fall at 19 campuses nationwide reveals that 74% of students surveyed still prefer to use a printed textbook when taking a class. These results really shouldn’t be a surprise considering that at our present state of ereader development a digital textbook does not offer anything more than a traditional text. Furthermore, when you consider the limited annotation abilities of most ereaders, digital texts offer less than traditional texts.
With the release of the iPad and the explosive growth in the iPad App development community we may start to see progress soon on the development of dynamic and interactive tools necessary to provide a rich experience with digital texts.
R. David Lankes, director of the Information Institute of Syracuse, NY, laments over the fact that today’s batch of ereaders are limited gadgets that do very little to enhance the reading experience. He does acknowledge that he enjoys and readily uses ereaders of various sorts but is hopping for much more. He also points to the fact that collobration with the author other readers and other information is really where the future of ereaders should be.
We are on the cusp of something significant and perhaps with the release of the iPad we will start to scratch the potential of the future of reading and perhaps learning. We do have a long way to go but you have to start somewhere…
The Wall Street Journal has posted the above video that was developed by CourseSmart which reveals their vision of what Apple’s rumored tablet may be able to do.
Lots of questions:
- Will we see the Apple Tablet announced at CES in the next week or will Apple wait until the end of the month?
- How much of a lag will their be between the announcement of the device and its availablility?
- Will it be a closed platform?
- Will its focus be purely consumer and what will that mean for the academic environment?
- If announced who will Amazon, Sony, Microsoft and all the other ereader developers respond?
Looking forward to the next few weeks.
