It is my belief, therefore, that ebooks can be used from as early as the pre-school all the way to tertiary level. On Wednesday, the burden of the week was lifting and the creation of my very first ebook was perhaps the major source of pleasure. ( After... of course). Get your mind out of the gutter, after playing and reading with my children, of course. We discussed several benefits of ebooks and as delineated by many of my colleagues, ebooks can be useful in every area of reading.
What was interesting to me is the ease with which my six year old son was able to not only use the ebook but to create one for himself. We followed the six steps suggested by Aisha Wood-Jackson and at the end he was one proud and motivated boy. Imagine what would take place if this was implemented in all our learning institutions. Let's go forth and conquer!
Hi Kathine,
ReplyDeleteIsn't that amazing! Your six year old son creating his own ebook. Encourage him to create more ebooks for himself and his brother. Imagine how amazing it will be for our struggling readers and writers. I think we have found the answer to motivate struggling readers and writers. We must allow them to create their own ebooks. They will not only be having fun but most importantly they will be reading and writing and that's what we want them to do. Their self-esteem will also be boosted since they will be able to show their peers, parents and other interested persons on what they have created. We are in the technological age and we need to use these media to teach our children.
Hi Kathrine,
ReplyDeleteI was also able to have my ten year old son involve in the production of my eBook, in fact the book was about him. He helped me with the script and the illustrations. So, eBooks are not only a fun interactive teaching tool for all ages, it can also help a stressed mother spend some quality time with her son in a creative educational activity.
Hi Esther,
ReplyDeleteYou are right. This little boy,who was never motivated to read, was persuaded to leave the love his life, the television, for more than an hour, and engage in reading activity. Throughout the creation of the ebook, we were able to engage in some aspects of the fabulous five - Phonemic awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Comprehension and Vocabulary. The ebook is indeed a source of excitement for the emergent reader, the struggling reader and the challenged reader.
Hi Donna
ReplyDeleteYou verbalized my thoughts perfectly, that is, in addition to the many benefits of the ebook, it can even be used as a source of bonding for parent and child.
Imagine what would happen if we encouraged and trained every parent and child with the 'new laptops' to create and work with ebooks. What do you think would happen to the reading level in Trinidad and Tobago?
Last weekend I was at a resort in Tobago and I saw a woman with her daughter in the common room area. She was reading a magazine and her daughter, was laughing, clapping and repeating letter sounds and word chunks, as she was reading an Ebook, to my amazement and sheer delight. I found this so ironic, since only a few days ago, we were at the same table creating an alphabet ebook.
ReplyDeleteThis vision only reemphasized to me the importance of using Ebooks especially with my struggling readers. I was mesmerized by the amount of fun this four year old was having and her mother later shared this site with me www.starfall.com, a site that she often uses to obtain reading material for her two children, ages six and four.
Hi NJR
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, thank you! As you know I also have a four year old. I visited the site and it is absolutely delightful. Thank you so much for sharing.
NJR<
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing about Ebooks is that the child can develop them using their own style and taste and thats what would motivate them to want to read.
While I was creating my ebook I changed it so many time because I wanted something that would reflect not only my taste but moreso what the title of the book was about. i have still not yet completed it but will get there.
Hi Ingrid
ReplyDeleteYou go girl and like Amanda said in her 12th post, 'Perseverance wins' all the time.
Hi, Kathine,
ReplyDeleteI think we have hit upon a very good thing here, thanks to our lecturers. My kids are a bit a bit older than yours and they are considered fluent readers. They were also very captivated with my e-book, in fact even my dad who is himself an avid reader, went through my e-book and had many questions for me about it. It appears to me that e-books have appeal for all age groups and reading levels.