Syracuse 611 Blog

On the second to last post for my eReader blog I have decided to focus on how eReaders may assist teachers, both in and outside the classroom. The primary focus here will be supporting English as a second language (ESL) readers. A topic of some interest here in El Paso where we have a large Spanish speaking and bilingual population. I have written many times about access to education and as we all know, our schools resources are primarily produced in English and resources for other languages may be limited. To me that is limiting access to education. An eReader can help. First, eReaders have many books for young readers that are published from other languages that allows young readers to engage with literature in a cost effective and simple way. Moreover, some eReaders have settings that operate the eReader in other languages, albeit that does not mean translating eBooks from one language to another, although there are some eReader apps that profess to do this on a word by word basis....

I am sure many of us have Amazon Prime. It is my wife’s studied shopping opinion that it is unparalleled in the value it provides to its subscribers. I, do not disagree. Having an Amazon Prime membership gives you access to nearly 3,000 free eBooks, comics, and magazines. Simply go to the Amazon Prime Reading Catalog. Another option for finding free eReading material on Amazon Prime is to go to “Best Sellers in Kindle Store” and then select “Top 100 Free.” Another great source of entertainment is Audible. While not exactly an eReader, it is the same concept, except the books are narrated. A monthly subscription costs about the same as a basic Netflix subscription. You get one free audiobook (of your choosing) per month. Moreover, Audible also has many free selections which you can enjoy including books, podcasts, articles, and magazines. All completely free with your membership.  Since both Kindle and Audible are part of Amazon, you can get the narration (Audible version) with the ...

Hello team, great to have you all back here for everything eReaders and eReading. To add to the already expansive list of benefits of eReaders, eBooks, and the like, another benefit of some eReaders are they are capable of augmented and virtual reality themselves or are compatible with applications that do it. For our younger audience, my four year old daughter as an example, I am able to order paperback books that are compatible with augmented reality applications providing an entirely different kind of pop-up book experience. I personally have only used this with amazon.com . For audiences of similar ages, https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/istory-world-s-first-3d-ebook-platform--3#/ you can find augmented reality eBooks. The iStory reader app is a really fun way for youngsters to engage with eBooks on your iPad / iPhone. Augmented Reality 3D viewers, like Augment, super-impose 3D models in your environment. For those of you who have read Tammy’s blog ( https://augmentedrealityinlea...

This week, I will highlight some more benefits of eReaders.  Most importantly, that you can get all the benefits (advantages) of an eReader without even getting one.  You simply need to download a free app on your smart device, such as the Kindle app.  Also, for those of us taking college courses you don’t need an app at all to access many eTextbooks.  You can simply rent or buy the eTextbook on the publisher’s site and access it there.  An example of this is Ormrod’s  Human Learning  at  Pearson.com  for $29.99.  You can access the book online or download it for use even when you cannot get online. You purchase your book at Pearson and access your book through the vitalsource app or  vitalsource.com . It has many of the same features as a traditional eReader such as read aloud, flashcards, and the ability to highlight, bookmark, and take notes. It also has a scratch book feature for notetaking, although this does not save across de...

There is a lot to chose from out there when it comes to eReaders so I pared down based on two selection criteria.  To me, when comparing eReaders there are only really two things that I truly consider: price and content.  First price.  The Kindle offers more options for price, but to compare devices with roughly the same specs, there is not much difference in price.  As far as content availability, Amazon has far more content available than the Nook and the content is less expensive on Amazon, so the Kindle is the clear winner there. Interested in other eReaders? https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/ Also, my opinion, but the user experience on the Kindle is far superior.  It has the ability to highlight, bookmark, take and export notes, a vocabulary builder and access to an online dictionary and WordWise.  Furthermore, you can see what popular highlights of other readers and if you highlight something the Kindle gives you the option to view additional info...

Most agree that reading is important.  Not all people may enjoy reading, but none the less agree on its importance.  I have not met a single [rational] parent who believes their child does not need to read well.  In fact, when asked, most adults report that reading is important to their success and many wish they were better or more frequent readers.  However, according to statista.com, the average American adult only reads 16.2 minutes a day and that total varies greatly socioeconomically.  Furthermore, CNBC reported earlier this year that 24% of Americans have not read a book in the past year, and the National Center for Educational Statistics estimates that 32 million Americans cannot read. Finally, according to goodreader.com, 33% of high school graduates never read a book again and 42% of college graduates never read another book after graduation.  So, why is this? Want to learn more about the importance of reading, check out this Tedtalk:  https:...