Respond to each post below in a minimum of 50 words by drawing conclusion, asking a question, or offering additional resources on the topic.
Discussion Post 1
I put a lot of thought into this subject on weather switching students to digital books vs the traditional hard back/softback book. I have mixed feelings on the matter to be honest. There are pros and cons to each option. In reference to keeping hardcover books, I grew up in a time when I actually went to the library and checked out books and my school books was on printed and hard/soft covered and I feel I learned more this way. There is a feeling that you get when you go to a library and check out the book you want to read, the smell of the book, the ability to physically turn the the page, and even having the ability to fold down the corner of the book to remember your spot. I also feel that our founding fathers documents were written on plain paper and imagine the joy one would get by touching and reading some of the documents in the original form and to think of all the places these documents have been and then some. I know that is a little different than turning a school library to digital books empire but I just don’t agree. There are some things that need to stay the same. Lastly, keeping a library teaches children responsibility. I say this because when a student goes to the library to check out a book they make a commitment to return that book on a certain date and that right there teaches responsibility. I remember a time when I lost my school book and the school would not let me move onto the next grade until I either paid for the book or returned it. That right there is responsibility if you ask me.
Now to the pros and there are many pros to moving all the books to a digital platform. A student will be able to pay a fee for using the book and when the time is up the system automatically rescinds the book from its user. That makes for lesser missing books and it can save the school lots of money that way without having to pay for books that the student may have lost or ruined. The reading gave a great anecdote about the conversion: “With the advance of digital technologies, readers can access vast amounts of material through the use of computers, smartphones, tablets, and electronic books. In recent years, e-books and tablets have become especially important sources of reading material. By early 2012, 21 percent of adults had read a book using one of these devices, and of those who had read at least one book during the year, 28 percent had used an e-reader or a tablet for this purpose.”(Voliti, 2014). I love that passage because it shows the way we are headed with digital books. I can’t sit here and pretend that I don’t have a kindle and that I pick up a hardback book and read it becuase I don’t. I use to have a mini libary of some of my favoriate books, unfortuntualy over time they got lost and as sad as that was there was a comfort of knowing that I could buy them again and as long as I remember my user name and password I will never lose another book again.
Discussion Post 2
This is a great topic. I read once in a while if I can find a book that interest me but you don’t see many hard copy books around anymore if you don’t go to a library. Having books digital have made the access to reading especially what interest me easily available at any time. If I was a librarian at a elementary school I would love to have all my hard copy books replaced with digital ones. With kids checking books out they would be easier to transport and hard copied books can be damaged to easily. If you didn’t have all the books you would be able to have more room in the library to maybe have some extra computers or even a reading room inside the library. Another great reason for having digital books is that there’s kids who struggle reading or pronouncing words and being digital they book could actually read itself to you. However, this can also be negative (Volti, 2014). Students wont feel it’s as neccessary to learn to read if the book can read itself to you. I think it could also take the excitement from a little kid of picking up an actual book because everything would be on an online catalog. The biggest concern with digital books is you don’t recieve that sense of accomplishment while you’re reading it. I know from my kids experience as he’s reading new words and getting to turn the pages he feels a sense of pride and accomplishment every page he turns. Another big downfall for having digital books is the ability for kids to look up words by definition instead of thinking of the context of the word.