Week 9 / Thing 22: eBooks and Audio eBooks

I'll start by saying that I read really, really, really fast, and I love the feel of a new book, especially a quality trade paperback. I love to feel the cover, flip the pages, even smell the book. I don't love eBooks and audio books. . . yet.

When I lived in NC and SC and was driving back and forth on 3 hour trips, I often listened to a good audio book in the cassette player, and I loved the old NPR radio reader with Dick Estell (I just found out he's still reading --cool!). But at home, I read too fast. I've tried listening to CDs and Playaways, but find myself grabbing the book instead. Often this is because I'm trying to do something else while listening and my mind wanders to attend to the task and I tune out the reading.

That said, I think students enjoy listening to books. As an English teacher, I've read to kids of every age and ability. My AP kids in Charleston loved to be read to as much as my freshmen remedial classes. As for reading a book on the computer, sigh, I don't know. I don't enjoy reading more than a page or two. I try not to print out anything unless necessary, but I much prefer paper to electronic. Again, our students have grown up reading online and are much more used to it.

So I'm off to explore the world of audio and eBooks. My friend Teri Lesesne was on the Odyssey Award committee this past year and listens(ed) to a ton of books. She has many resources for audio books and more on her website, Professor Nana. I read her blog almost every day. It's listed on the side bar. Teri's powerpoint titled Why Listen, lists these reasons:
•Listening comprehension precedes reading comprehension
•Dialects are made easier
•Can help start the “movie” in the head
•Serves as model for oral fluency

She also lists some ways to use audio books:
•ESL/ELL students along with books in unabridged formats
•For reluctant readers paired or not but still unabridged
•For dyslexic or learning disabled readers paired with text
•For kids who are too busy to read
•For intergenerational use—family literacy
•For ADD and ADHD kids
•For adults, too

There's more if you're interested. It was good for me to review this ppt to remind myself of reasons and ways to use audio books. Teri backs up her assertions with research and anecdotal support.

As I browse the free ebook collections, I see that most of them are from the public domain which means for school purposes, they are mostly classics. This is good for those students who come wheeling in the library to check out a required book that's due tomorrow and all our copies are circulating. As I browsed, I see many of the titles that HS students often request. I downloaded the pdf of Walden just for fun and found myself wanting to either print it or go find my copy. By the way, I love Walden, so it wasn't because I was bored or not interested.

I also took a look at the ebooks available for sale. It seems that most titles are $9.99 for Kindle. Books for Sony's ebook reader cost more. Maybe I need to try an ebook reader, I like the idea of toting many books without all that bulk and heft! When I travel, I take lots of books (did I mention I read really fast?) and that can get quite heavy. I'm seriously thinking of purchasing a Kindle. Hmmnn.

I will promote both audio and ebooks to teachers and students. I think more and more titles including text books will be offered online and our students will be accessing text this way sooner than later.