Are EBook Readers for Children A Good Idea?
Unless you have been in a concentration camp, you surely have witnessed the immense popularity of EBook Readers proliferating the market. The idea might seem a non-starter at first blush. Who wants to read from a computer screen when they can hold an actual book in their hands, smell the print, and experience the page turning excitement that only a paper book can provide?
As members of the old guard, we still think that people prefer the latter, but we are up against the realities here. EBook Readers are not terribly expensive for what they offer. You can order the titles that interest you and receive them instantly. You can carry hundreds of books with you at a time to accompany you during the long commutes and you can even search them easily to refresh yourself on an area of the book you are reading that might have gotten fuzzy.
Should Children Use EBook Readers?
To which we answer: why not? If the purpose of childhood is to practice for adulthood then children need to learn how to do two things well, besides use the potty – and these are to read and to write. Moreover, as with paper materials that tell of the fascinating tales related to us by Dick and Jane, it is never too early to learn.
It really is all a matter of from where we learn. Taken from the proper viewpoint, the books you used in the third grade were simply the latest technology available. Before that, parchment was in widespread use. Before parchment, stone tablets (the original “pad”) were all the rage, and before that – you get the point.
If EBook Readers are the latest technology to replace paper books, – well – paper books had to go some time, just as the EBook Readers will have to go some day. Today though, we think that we have made the case that children need to be as comfortable with EBook Readers as we were with paper books. It is an old story: out with the old …
The price of EBook Readers falls every day as companies compete to convince the public that their reader is the slickest product available. Once, the distinctions really were vast – but today inferior products are extinct by natural selection and the survivors all are of decent quality, even if one product might have a few more bells and whistles than another might.
Choosing The Best eBook Readers for Children
Most of the readers on the market target adults, and you might feel that appropriate as well, since adults do most of reading. Here too, a bit of perspective is in order. You might read better – but we challenge whether you read more. Children discover the world through writings, while you often feel as if you already have seen too much of it.
They read Harry Potter and The Hobbit and Spiderman comic books and their texts from school and just so much more material for which we give them little credit. Heck, they are even interested in the Bazooka Joe comics found in chewing gum. Yes, they DO read – a lot and we need to review access to children for these devices as critical to our future as are our children themselves.
Things will have to be done differently though. We grownups are attracted to sleek lines and futuristic styling, but children want designs that speak to the world that they know. A properly designed reader will get their attention though – no doubt about that. The problem is access.
Right now, The V. Reader Animated eBook System from V-TECH is the only real option available for EBook Readers designed especially for children. This means that it won’t be perfect, but truth to tell few children’s products are. Child consumers are not as demanding as adults are, and this represents to the manufacturer an opportunity to cut costs.
The unit design is fun and colorful, as it must be to get a child’s attention and it comes in either blue or pink so that your child has a choice. Naturally, this EBook Reader is far cheaper than adult readers like the Kindle or Nook are, but a huge downside is that the V. Reader EBook System requires it’s own cartridges for different books, and that can be somewhat expensive.
This is necessary, however. You cannot just pop in one of the EBook files from your Kindle into a child’s reader and expect your child to enjoy it. You need to have material that appeals to children. The range of activities include interactive typing on the QWERTY keyboard, looking up words in the dictionary, listening to stories read aloud, and playing reading games (and more). These activities ought to be very appealing indeed.
Of 81 reviews, 19 of them were below three stars at the time of this writing, and that is not bad for a child’s reader. The unit is of durable design, but there are parents who did complain that they got a defective unit. This would probably be unavoidable even for the highest quality reader, but for a children’s reader these few complaints represent high praise indeed!
Therefore, we see that EBook Readers for children are a very good idea. We have learned that EBook Readers are bona fide educational tools that can help to put your child ahead of the curve when they begin school, and help them to excel after they get there.
We discovered that we have a responsibility to make our children comfortable with technology, because technology will be an indispensable part of their lives – as it is in our own lives. Should we put EBook Readers in the crib with our children? We should absolutely – and the sooner – the better.
As for the Dick and Jane books – if anybody knows how the story turns out – please share.
Shop Smart & Prosper!
See This Product at Amazon: http://amzn.to/OD3pmG
Want to see other options? Try these links!
See Related Products at: http://bit.ly/16xPTqN
Shopping Center: http://sincereproductreviews.com/products/
No comments:
Post a Comment