At CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment this week, I spoke on a panel regarding the use of wireless in the classroom, which is a hot topic in many technology sectors as the value of using wireless tools to enhance the relationship between educators and the educated is realized. I had hoped we could delve more deeply into the many challenges facing the education system and whether or not wireless technologies can be the answer, but as with many panel discussions, there simply wasn’t the time.

One evident challenge is the growing cost of educating students. According to the College Board, the average costs for books and supplies for private, four-year colleges in the U.S. for the 2008-9 academic year was $1054.00. This cost places quite a burden on students each year, or school districts if you are looking at K-12 textbook costs, so it is not surprising there has been a buzz regarding the use of eReaders in the classroom, which could ultimately result in the dramatic reduction or even the end of traditional textbooks.

The benefits are evident – lower textbook prices for students and schools, access to up-to-date information as textbooks are edited and a solution for the growing paper waste problem. With students and school districts being tasked with doing more with less, and still exceeding expectation, eReaders could be the answer that everyone has been looking for. This turns attention to whether a key e-reader demographic – students – will adopt the technology to read textbooks? According to Forrester research, there are about 5 million gadget-loving frequent book buyers who are the primary U.S. market for e-readers, but there are also 13 million college students in the U.S., which creates an instant market for e-reader vendors.

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As with many other eReader vendors, we are in the process of researching the usability of eReaders in the education sector by putting a variety of devices in the hands of college and university students in Europe. Here is a some insight into our current findings:

• According to students, the ability to add notes or highlight text is Students strongly preferred a larger screen that more closely resembles the size of a textbook.
• Students said that the readability, weight and size of eReaders are strong, but that battery life and the speed of turning pages need improvement.
• Students strongly preferred reading on an e-reader rather than a laptop / netbook.

So the next question on everyone’s minds is – where is the content coming from? As trials are completed and educational institutions learn how eReaders can be incorporated into the daily lives of students, textbook publishers will begin to migrate to a digital format to meet the growing need of adoption. eReaders pose an interesting benefit to educators as they provide a two-way, secure avenue to disseminate information to students. With the right wireless infrastructure in place, educators could send students chapters of books when needed, personalized packages of information, and exams could be taken and returned.

But there are many hurdles for this technology to jump before it becomes an integral part of the day-to-day lives of students. While schools will see the immediate benefits of the technology, the cost to implement the wireless infrastructure needed to realize the full value is expensive and may impede the roll out. In addition, students have used hard-copy textbooks for years, so there will be some that prefer this medium and may be resistant to the use of digital content. Lastly, publishers are just starting to understand the advantages of making electronic content available to schools and students.

With the implementation of any new technology into a specific sector, the adoption rate varies. The benefits of eReaders in the classroom, as far as we can see, may alleviate some of the challenges currently facing educational institutions. This is a hot topic and I’m sure there is still much more to come!

Hans Brons

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CEO
iRex Technologies