Kindles and the Kindle App in the Classroom by Zach Glowik

Kindles are a very useful tool for people who love to read. They are able to store dozens of books in a very compact space. It has a very large potential for helping students with their textbooks, personal reading books, and choice books in English classes. The Kindle App for iPads can also help with schools who may have already gone 1:1 or are planning on doing so.

Amazon has done much to try to make their products usable in a classroom environment. They have started a system of renting textbooks for much cheaper than it would be to buy them. This allows for higher-level students to cheaply access textbooks for specialized classes. Amazon also allows for the permanent purchase of said textbooks for lower-level classes. The logistics of using the Kindle would also be much easier to handle, as a school would not have to ship in dozens of bulky textbooks and storing them only to have them be outdated in a few years. Using Kindles would be easier to deal with and it would allow for schools to stay up to date with textbooks.

The Kindle App is also a useful tool for a school such as my own, which already has a cart full of iPads which students can access. The Kindle App allows for the purchase of books, magazines, etc. as well as viewing them. Now, personally, I enjoy the use of a Kindle rather than reading a book on an iPad, but both perform the same function. Also, both of these services would more easily allow for students to read a broader range of books in English classes, as they are not restricted by what their school has access to.

Overall, Amazon, with their device and their app, have done an excellent job of making their products usable by students and staff in schools everywhere.