Guillermo Santamaria's List: Kindle

• I just have five Kindles, so the only way I can really utilize them is by setting the classroom up in stations. The students go to one of three stations and they have 10-15 minutes to complete whatever activity I have set up there and then we rotate. Normally, I use the Kindle Web feature because it is very easy for me to find a relevant current events topic that ties in with whatever we are studying.
• The reason I like to use the Kindles is because it is a constant reminder of one of the main themes of the class and that is that the compilation of human knowledge has been a key feature in world history
• The Kindle has not taken the place of my traditional book reading, but it has allowed me to do more reading. I don’t read history on it because I like to be able to flip back and forth with paper pages and make pen marks. Right now I have some nonfiction books on it and a couple of spy novels.

  • This is NOT really using the kindle for its intended purpose!!!
• Practically speaking, there is no way that any district 10 years from now is going to be able to resist buying a $200 Kindle for their students at the beginning of their 7th grade year and then simply buying textbook updates as the student progresses. The money saved and hassle avoided will be tremendous.

  • Won't the kindle become obselete?
• f I had a class set of Kindles with Internet access I would not, strictly speaking, need a textbook. I could simply access sites that have the historical information I’m looking for and use my state standards as a road map. Textbook companies will, of course, evolve with this.

  • You do not need kindles to do this!
• Students are, amazingly, pulling information out of thin air on command. I try to imagine what the ancient Greeks would have made of it.

  • This is the weakest feature of the kindle!!!

4 more annotations...

• Not very useful actually. How is this different than a regular books or an iPod Touch?? - Guillermo Santamaria on 2008-12-17
• This "reminder" is not enough reason for one to spend this amount. - Guillermo Santamaria on 2008-12-17