Journal 2

E Is for Explosion
Summary: The journal discusses the emerging E-readers, E-textbooks, E-content, E-learning, and as described by the journal E-everything. The explosion of all of the new emerging technology is discussed, pros and cons. The article mentions that the impact of technology mentioned for the past 25 years is beginning to happen in 2010. This has to do with the availability of the many e-readers and the iPad. The article further lists and describes the innovative companies that are part of the new etextbook, econtent, and digital learning in cyberspace. Some mentioned are:
Discovery Education
Shmoop
CourseSmart
Zinio
CengageBrain
Taylor & Francis
eCampus
Wikibooks
OverDrive
Copia
Complete Curriculum
Lastly, the article compared the advantages and disadvantages of Ebooks vs. printed books.

Reflection: I think the new eReaders and iPad can have a great impact in education if used for reading purposes. I see students carrying around backpacks that weigh half their body mass. The eReader or iPad would take care of that problem, and be easier on students backs. Also, it means less money spent by money strapped schools. The upfront costs would be more but the money saved on paper books will add up to a savings overtime. Also, many of the classic books are available for free for all to read. When educational companies begin publishing their educational books in digital form they also tend to add videos, notes, and other educational benefits to students. Also, many of the newly emerging webpages available on the iPad or the app for the company available on the iPad have interactivity learning available for students. Students who need that hands-on learning have more options available with the new webpages provided by educational companies. Some of the other benefits that I see of using an eReader or iPad are its portability. It is much smaller than a book and students will be more willing to carry it around an have all of their books and information available in a few clicks, making them more likely to read if they have time available. One area that will be influenced in a positive direction are students with reading or other disabilities. These students can have the book read to them while they follow along or if their is a vision issue the readers are backlit better for seeing or the book can be read aloud to the reader (with the iPad). ESL readers who are learning English or students learning a new language may benefit from the ability of the eReader and iPad to translate languages. One of the downsides is that since the technology is changing so fast, the technology may expire or not work with the latest release. Of course, not all books are available on the current technologies and one downfall of the iPad is that most of the apps available now are not available on the iPad, yet. Lets face it some people like the smell and feel of a book. Those people will always want the printed copy of the book.