Any school libraries using Kindle?

DMJohns · 03-03-2009, 09:44 AM

I work in a high school library and we're considering a pilot of kindles to meet special collection requirements. For example, we might use them when we have 6 classes researching the cold war at the same time. The kindle versions of important books could be our "reference" collection. Anyone doing this? If yes, how is it working? Anyone trying this with another e-reader?

lilac_jive · 03-03-2009, 09:49 AM

I know Sony at one point had a contest for schools who wanted to get Readers for their library. Actually, the 505s might be better than the Kindle since you can't buy from the device (which, if I know kids at all, will probably happen). Plus they're cheaper.

zelda_pinwheel · 03-03-2009, 09:58 AM

i've heard of a couple of experiments of this type, mostly in Europe (if memory serves, there were two schools in France, one in Nantes and one in Strasbourg --but i could be wrong-- and i think another in Germany maybe). However i don't remember hearing any follow-up stories once the programs were in place ; maybe they are waiting to do an evaluation at the end of a specific test period.

i did a quick search and came up with a few articles that might get you started :
Winthrop University
a Dutch school experiments with the iRex iLiad
a very old article about Carnegie Mellon experimenting with tablet pcs
and a few threads about speculation and research into educational use.

i couldn't find the thread about the french school program but i'll keep looking and post here if i stumble across it.

i definitely think this is an excellent idea and education is an area where i could see reading devices being a huge advantage both for schools and for students ; but there are kinks to be worked out (and for younger students you might want to wait for the expected new devices with flexible and therefore far sturdier screens).

DMJohns · 03-03-2009, 01:14 PM

Thanks so much. I've been talking to students who are very,very,very enthusiastic. Wonder whether Amazon would make a donation? hmmm

I'm making a folder and will share anything I find.

KindleKat · 03-03-2009, 01:18 PM

I just graduated last year from college, but it would have been so awesome if i could have gotten some books on my kindle

Slow_hand · 03-04-2009, 05:37 AM

I work in a Library in Baltimore (academic-research). We don't use Kindles but I heard a Library down by DC tried it. Never heard any feedback though.

It is nice to work in a place where everybody knows what a Kindle is.

ahall · 03-04-2009, 07:21 PM

We are interested in using Kindles in a local high school to enhance literacy skills for underperforming students. I have made several attempts to contact Amazon to discuss the possibilities of partnering on this project.

The phone numbers I have found and the emails I have sent so far have been dead ends.

Does anyone have any leads for me on how to get in touch with anyone in an education division of Amazon?

Arcella Hall

DMJohns · 03-05-2009, 01:12 PM

So the more I read in this forum, the more excited I get. Am I correct that the following would work?

1. buy books on cold war, world war I, Australia, etc for kindles

2. store unused titles on pc; upload needed titles for the duration of the project

Without buying one of these (or Sony Reader, which I'm starting to research), it's hard to figure out the logistics.

TIA
Donna

DMJohns · 03-06-2009, 07:44 AM

Arcela--

I've had no luck as well. If they have an educational branch, they sure are concealing it well! I'll let you know if I find anything.

Donna

BookishDreamer · 03-06-2009, 09:48 AM

Did you know there's a Librarian social group on MR? There's been very little activity on it, but you might be the right group of people to give it a new life.

Dreamer

VAFishman · 03-06-2009, 04:38 PM

In a similar vein to the library question, I've wondered if anyone is doing research looking at the Kindle or other e-readers as course tools. There are a number of software companies (like Blackboard) that offer online course management software. Anybody thinking about a place for Kindles and other readers as a platform for coursework? I've seen some reports about using mobile phones as input devices in electronic classrooms. Seems that the 'notation' function on the Kindle might lend itself to some type of collaborative critical analyses of written works. For the Kindle, maybe the tough issue is how to share work between users.

zelda_pinwheel · 03-10-2009, 04:14 PM

i FINALLY found the article about the school experiment in france ! completely by accident, as i stumbled across a reference to it in a different post. it's an article on Bookeen's blog, not mr, which is why it took me so long... you can read about it here :
http://bookeen.blogspot.com/2008/04/...y-library.html

S.Canton · 03-10-2009, 07:52 PM

Thanks for posting the article, it's quite interesting. I can see schools moving to ebook readers to cut costs, and also for the sake of efficiency and logistics; it's just a logical progression.

ChaseKR · 03-11-2009, 10:54 PM

There's no way in hell that public high schools (at least here in the states) can afford Kindles or even just maintaining e-book libraries. If my school were to begin an "e-library", though, I'd definitely volunteer to help with it. It's not too difficult to use Calibre with NAS, right?

RickyMaveety · 03-11-2009, 11:09 PM

I agree that it's a great idea. However, I doubt that you will get any support from Amazon, and the Kindle probably is not the best bet for this.

You would be largely tied to using only those texts that Amazon chose to make available, further, if any of the students were to place "illegal material," and by that I mean DRM protected content that was not intended for the Kindle, on the Kindle, then the school might be held liable. And, yes, Amazon can and, according to the license agreement, has the right to download information through Whispernet regarding the content stored on the device.

So, while I think it's a great idea for students to be introduced to ebooks, and to learn to use them as a learning tool .... it doesn't appear that Amazon sees the Kindle as anything more than a way for them to make more money.

03-03-2009, 09:44 AM	#1
DMJohns Libraries4Teens Advocate Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Massachusetts Device: none	Any school libraries using Kindle? I work in a high school library and we're considering a pilot of kindles to meet special collection requirements. For example, we might use them when we have 6 classes researching the cold war at the same time. The kindle versions of important books could be our "reference" collection. Anyone doing this? If yes, how is it working? Anyone trying this with another e-reader?

03-04-2009, 07:21 PM	#7
ahall Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: none	Kindles in Schools Pilot Project We are interested in using Kindles in a local high school to enhance literacy skills for underperforming students. I have made several attempts to contact Amazon to discuss the possibilities of partnering on this project. The phone numbers I have found and the emails I have sent so far have been dead ends. Does anyone have any leads for me on how to get in touch with anyone in an education division of Amazon? Arcella Hall

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03-03-2009, 09:49 AM	#2
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	I know Sony at one point had a contest for schools who wanted to get Readers for their library. Actually, the 505s might be better than the Kindle since you can't buy from the device (which, if I know kids at all, will probably happen). Plus they're cheaper.

03-03-2009, 09:58 AM	#3
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	i've heard of a couple of experiments of this type, mostly in Europe (if memory serves, there were two schools in France, one in Nantes and one in Strasbourg --but i could be wrong-- and i think another in Germany maybe). However i don't remember hearing any follow-up stories once the programs were in place ; maybe they are waiting to do an evaluation at the end of a specific test period. i did a quick search and came up with a few articles that might get you started : Winthrop University a Dutch school experiments with the iRex iLiad a very old article about Carnegie Mellon experimenting with tablet pcs and a few threads about speculation and research into educational use. i couldn't find the thread about the french school program but i'll keep looking and post here if i stumble across it. i definitely think this is an excellent idea and education is an area where i could see reading devices being a huge advantage both for schools and for students ; but there are kinks to be worked out (and for younger students you might want to wait for the expected new devices with flexible and therefore far sturdier screens).

03-03-2009, 01:14 PM	#4
DMJohns Libraries4Teens Advocate Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Massachusetts Device: none	Thanks so much. I've been talking to students who are very,very,very enthusiastic. Wonder whether Amazon would make a donation? hmmm I'm making a folder and will share anything I find.

03-03-2009, 01:18 PM	#5
KindleKat Connoisseur Posts: 99 Karma: 29 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kindle	I just graduated last year from college, but it would have been so awesome if i could have gotten some books on my kindle

03-04-2009, 05:37 AM	#6
Slow_hand Groupie Posts: 190 Karma: 326 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Baltimore Device: Amazon Kindle 2	I work in a Library in Baltimore (academic-research). We don't use Kindles but I heard a Library down by DC tried it. Never heard any feedback though. It is nice to work in a place where everybody knows what a Kindle is.

03-05-2009, 01:12 PM	#8
DMJohns Libraries4Teens Advocate Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Massachusetts Device: none	So the more I read in this forum, the more excited I get. Am I correct that the following would work? 1. buy books on cold war, world war I, Australia, etc for kindles 2. store unused titles on pc; upload needed titles for the duration of the project Without buying one of these (or Sony Reader, which I'm starting to research), it's hard to figure out the logistics. TIA Donna

03-06-2009, 07:44 AM	#9
DMJohns Libraries4Teens Advocate Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Massachusetts Device: none	Arcela-- I've had no luck as well. If they have an educational branch, they sure are concealing it well! I'll let you know if I find anything. Donna

03-06-2009, 09:48 AM	#10
BookishDreamer Cultural Artist Posts: 1,128 Karma: 12829 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Georgia Device: Sony 505, Kindle 2	Did you know there's a Librarian social group on MR? There's been very little activity on it, but you might be the right group of people to give it a new life. Dreamer

03-06-2009, 04:38 PM	#11
VAFishman Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 2	In a similar vein to the library question, I've wondered if anyone is doing research looking at the Kindle or other e-readers as course tools. There are a number of software companies (like Blackboard) that offer online course management software. Anybody thinking about a place for Kindles and other readers as a platform for coursework? I've seen some reports about using mobile phones as input devices in electronic classrooms. Seems that the 'notation' function on the Kindle might lend itself to some type of collaborative critical analyses of written works. For the Kindle, maybe the tough issue is how to share work between users.

03-10-2009, 04:14 PM	#12
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	i FINALLY found the article about the school experiment in france ! completely by accident, as i stumbled across a reference to it in a different post. it's an article on Bookeen's blog, not mr, which is why it took me so long... you can read about it here : http://bookeen.blogspot.com/2008/04/...y-library.html

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03-10-2009, 07:52 PM	#13
S.Canton Groupie Posts: 174 Karma: 12 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Kindle 2	Thanks for posting the article, it's quite interesting. I can see schools moving to ebook readers to cut costs, and also for the sake of efficiency and logistics; it's just a logical progression.

03-11-2009, 10:54 PM	#14
ChaseKR Connoisseur Posts: 85 Karma: 12 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 4 Touch, iPad 1 3G	There's no way in hell that public high schools (at least here in the states) can afford Kindles or even just maintaining e-book libraries. If my school were to begin an "e-library", though, I'd definitely volunteer to help with it. It's not too difficult to use Calibre with NAS, right?

03-11-2009, 11:09 PM	#15
RickyMaveety Holy S**T!!! Posts: 5,213 Karma: 108401 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: San Diego, California!! Device: Kindle and iPad	I agree that it's a great idea. However, I doubt that you will get any support from Amazon, and the Kindle probably is not the best bet for this. You would be largely tied to using only those texts that Amazon chose to make available, further, if any of the students were to place "illegal material," and by that I mean DRM protected content that was not intended for the Kindle, on the Kindle, then the school might be held liable. And, yes, Amazon can and, according to the license agreement, has the right to download information through Whispernet regarding the content stored on the device. So, while I think it's a great idea for students to be introduced to ebooks, and to learn to use them as a learning tool .... it doesn't appear that Amazon sees the Kindle as anything more than a way for them to make more money.