Trina Marmarelli, Instructional Technology Manager, Reed College Since 2009, Reed College has been exploring the potential of e-reader and tablet technology to enhance teaching and learning. Our pilot studies of the Amazon Kindle DX and the Apple iPad as platforms for reading, annotating, and referring to scholarly texts have shown us that when quick and easy markup and navigation are possible, electronic texts facilitate both comprehension and discussion. I will discuss our studies’ findings and our current investigation of emerging e-text developments.

1. Electronic Texts and Learning
Findings from two pilot studies
Trina Marmarelli, Reed College
NITLE Symposium, April 17, 2012

2. The trouble with paper

3. Fall 2009: the Kindle DX
• Three upper-division seminars: English
literature, French literature, political science
• 43 students
• Amazon e-books and electronic reserve
readings

4. Fall 2010: the iPad
• One upper-division political science seminar
• Seven students
• 161 electronic texts (all e-reserves)
• Over 3300 pages

5. Outside of class
• Portability
• Organization
• Reading
• Annotation

6. In class
• Preparation
• Organization
• Navigation
• Distraction

7. What’s missing
• Standard, optimized PDF formatting
• Better options for file management
• Integrated reference management
• Painless text input

8. Beyond paper replacement
• Faculty iPad program, 2010–present
• More whole-class pilots, fall 2012
• Better e-textbooks (?)

9. Inkling

10. Kno

11. Complications
• Comprehension
• Fragmentation
• Support

12. What works for us
• Starting small
• Ownership
• Communication

13. More information
http://www.reed.edu/cis/about/kindle_pilot/index.html
http://www.reed.edu/cis/about/ipad_pilot/index.html
marmaret@reed.edu