Tech vs Tradition: Why You Should Bring eBooks Into Your Classroom
By Max Gayler
As the debate rages on and divides educators around the world, schools have to start making the decision. Do we look to the future and dive into the digital world of eBooks, or keep things traditional and order another box of paperbacks?
There's nothing to fear about the future. Here are our 6 reasons why you should introduce eBooks to your classroom...
Unlimited Copies
There's nothing quite as stressful as four children scrambling over each other as they share a single copy of Kensuke's Kingdom. It's something a lot of us remember but those days are long behind us. By using platforms like Fiction Express, eBooks are unlimited! No more tracking down the 30 copies you had, realising five have disappeared and having to break the class into reluctant pairs.
Speaking of sharing...
They Don't Wear Out
Missing pages, broken spines and pages held together by sellotape. We all love a well-travelled book, but they do have a lifespan. You can't tear the pages out of an eBook, right?
Word Glossaries
Certain eBook readers like Fiction Express come with a Word Glossary, which basically means if you don't understand a word, you can tap on it and there you have it, a perfect definition.
The average 6-year-old only knows 14,000 words, so there's no doubt a few words students won't understand in every book. The Word Glossary is an easy way to retain student focus and make sure their attention doesn't drift off.
Dictionaries are a bit old school, eh?
They Help Dyslexic Readers
Dyslexic readers can often feel left behind as they struggle to keep up with the pace of the natural readers in class. It can be a difficult obstacle to overcome but eBooks are doing a fantastic job of helping to ease dyslexic readers.
With eBooks, different font types and background colours can be experimented with to find what works best for each student. Not everybody reads in the same way and it's already been proven reading with a yellow or blue background helps even non-dyslexic readers with retaining information!
You Can Speak to the Author
There's nothing as inspiring for young readers as direct contact with an author. From school visits to handwritten letters, those words of encouragement from a professional can kickstart a lifelong love of reading.
eBooks have direct internet and media tie-ins and with platforms like Fiction Express, you're able to have direct contact with the author through social media and book forums!
They Have Better Results
In 2014, the National Literacy Trust looked into the usage of eBooks in 40 schools over the course of four months. They found that on average boys made 8.4 months of reading progress using them, and girls progressed 7.2 months.
There was also a 25% increase in boys reading daily! Since this study, many schools such as Essa Academy have produced incredible results by moving everything over to digital.
And most importantly...
You Can Save the World
Keep that carbon footprint down and stay away from paper. In America, they produce 2 billion books every year, which requires the wood from 32 million trees... Yikes!
