• Guest Post by James Brighton

The future seems to already be with us, and has sprung upon many of us without us knowing. 10 years ago if someone had said you can get any book you have ever wanted on a one inch think tablet that you can hold in your hands, you would probably have laughed at them.  Nowadays it’s a realistic option, and with the advent of the various eBook readers around the globe you can hold thousands of books literally in your pocket - if you have a big enough one anyway!

Engaged learning with an eBook?

How does this benefit the reader though, and can it benefit children and people in the classroom?  There is no doubt that having those kind of resources literally at your finger tips will help hundreds, maybe even millions of people understand the world that is available if they begin to read books.  Having this kind of resources will also give people the opportunity to study books in a way that fits in in the age we live in.  I know from personal experience that in the classroom some people are completely turned off when a book is put in front of them, but if you give them a Kindle of an iPad with the same book available to them then they will be more engaged.  How many of you know children who are happy to play Xbox all day, but if you stick the latest childrens novel in front of them they laugh.  Give them an iPad with interaction within the story and I can guarantee it will be a different reaction, imagine a world where an encyclopaedia not only gives us words and pictures, but also videos, at the touch of a screen, in class.  The eBook reader can engage children and adults alike at different levels compared to the printed book.

Far more benefits than you’d think

Whilst it may be easier to engage children with an eBook reader, there are other things to consider as well, and benefits which are simply not available with the printed book.  For example, both you can your children can hold far more books than ever before in your house, no need to build a library when you can have thousands of books in your hand.  You can zoom in on a page, and I know myself that some children, despite what you say will literally bury their head into a book to be able to read it properly – the eBook reader can help.  Another exciting move is the ability to change the background colour, some people find reading black on white extremely hard, and in the classroom this could be a real benefit to help people learn and encourage their academic side.  There is no doubt that certain elements of the eBook reader are helpful in both a personal and educational sense, and they should not just be dismissed out of turn.

Overall it is clear the eBook readers can benefit you and also can benefit children that you work with.  Perhaps it wont is a standard for a few years yet, but the benefits eBook readers can bring to the classroom cannot be underestimated and one day perhaps everyone will learn to love to read once again.

Author Bio: This article is written by James who has a keen interest in eBook readers, and how they will change our lives. He is also interested in comparing ereaders-vs-tablets and how they offer different solutions.