Connie Lippenholz

LS521, Su02

6/5/02

Article Critique #1

Once Upon a Time: Will e-books and schools live happily ever after?

Article source: Flanigan, R. L. (2001). Once Upon a Time: Will e-books and schools live happily ever after? Electronic School, March 2001. Retrieved June 5, 2002 from http://www.electronic-school.com/2001/03/0301toolsofthetrade.html

Will technology replace old-fashioned books? This article suggests that there are numerous advantages to using e-books in our schools:

• Electronic readers, weighing from "12oz to more than 2lbs" and holding "up to a dozen titles each" could eliminate overstuffed backpacks that can cause back strain.
• Students can underline or highlight important text, take notes and use e-dictionaries to look up unknown words.
• The font size can be individualized to meet the reader's needs.
• The ability to download what you want, when you want it, is appealing - the author sites an example of a last-minute book report that would not have been finished because the library was closed, but access to the e-books allowed the student to finish his work.
• "Publishers can revise materials without waiting for the next costly print run," and sound and video may soon follow.
• The author goes on to suggest that "some students who wouldn't normally be good readers are interested enough in the electronic parts of it to pick it up."

Considering these arguments for the use of e-books, what could possibly hold schools back? Two main concerns are brought forth... First, the affects of extended computer (or e-book) usage are unknown. Second, dropping an e-book reader can be a bit more costly than dropping a traditional book.

I think this article raises an extremely interesting concept. Students today are so much more technologically competent. So many kids are attached to their computers and video games. Why not put books into a format more accessible and interesting to students? I disagree with the president of the McGraw-Hill School Division, who feels that e-books will not replace old-fashioned books in his career or lifetime. At the rate technology is advancing on a daily, weekly, annual basis, I don't think this idea is so far-fetched!

Source: Flanigan,R. L. (2001). Once Upon a Time: Will e-books and schools live happily ever after? Electronic School, March 2001. Retrieved June 5, 2002 from http://www.electronic-school.com/2001/03/0301toolsofthetrade.html.

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