ResourceBlog Article: BusinessWeek: E-Book Readers Bomb on College Campuses

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Thursday, 10th June 2010

BusinessWeek: E-Book Readers Bomb on College Campuses

Quite a headline.

We've posted about several Kindle tests at universities around the country that have not been very successful and this article focuses on the Kindle.

Of course, there are plenty of other e-Book readers out there (e.g. iPad, Nook, and many others). The Kindle is one thing but the headline of the article, what people see on Twitter, their RSS feed, or simply see as they flip pages in the print edition, makes one think this article reports on a variety of readers. Nope 95% Kindle. There are three short paragraphs about the iPad (and they're positive).

Article Focuses on Kindle DX Tests At:

+ U. of Washington / Foster School of Business
+ University of Virginia / Darden School of Business

From the Article:

It appears unlikely that the Amazon Kindle DX will be making a comeback in most college and graduate school classrooms this fall. Over the past few months, results from the pilot programs have trickled in, with most schools reporting that students were dissatisfied with the device as a classroom tool, and that many students had abandoned the Kindle just a few weeks into the experiment. At some schools, more than half the students surveyed said they wouldn't recommend the e-reader to friends for use in the classroom, citing the device's lack of flexibility, slow navigation within readings, and an inadequate file management system.

Issues with the Kindle for blind and visually disabled people are also mentioned.

[Clip]

Amazon is using feedback to improve the device's note taking and to introduce page numbers, Stephanie Mantello, a spokeswoman for Amazon, wrote in an e-mail. A Kindle scheduled for release this summer will have an audible menu system to help blind and vision-impaired users navigate, and the company plans a font twice the height and width of the largest now available.

[Clip]

Some business schools are already starting to use the iPad in the classroom. IMD business school in Switzerland announced this week that it has already started using the iPad in the classroom. The school piloted the iPad in an executive education program with Allianz Global Investors at the beginning of May, and feedback from the faculty, staff and students was "overwhelmingly postive," says IMD Professor Bettina Buchel. "I think this device will revolutionize executive education."

Access the Complete Article

Source: BusinessWeek

See Also: MIT’s Lewis Music Library Begins Lending iPad (with content and apps) to Students, Faculty, Staff
A couple of other schools also lending Kindles are mentioned.

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