The iPad is not universally preferred as an eBook reader. There are those who strongly prefer the Kindle, or any reader with a digital ink display. While the iPad can be bright, most readers allow you to dial down the brightness, and provide "white on black" nightime reader settings.
Where the iPad shines is that it can be all the readers! iBooks was not the first reader, and is not neccesarily the best. Apple now offers iBooks as a free App Store download, and it does have the advantage of linking to your iTunes account for purchases. However, in a classroom context you need to ensure it is NOT linked to an account or that the account is locked!
You can easily obtain the free Kindle app, and this will then sync all of your Kindle books (if you also have a Kindle). However it can be used as a reader in its own right, and will link directly to the Amazon Kindle store. Again, it is vital with classroom machines to ensure that students cannot simply order a book with one click against your account!
One of the best independant readers I have found is Stanza. This has a nice interface, and unlike the Kindle and iBooks, has a "pinch and spread" finger gesture to change font size. It will also link directly to genuinely free book sources such as Feedbooks and Gutenberg.
For a change of approach, the Kobo app is interesting. This is based on the Kobo eBook reader (device) that was being pushed by Borders. It has a "game playing" approach so each new achievement (such as opening your first book) is recorded with a small celebration and an award on your personal Kobo page. While this sounds tempting to use in a classroom, I don't see how this would work if the device had multiple users. Perhaps save this one up for the parent who wants to purchase a device to encourage a reluctant reader.
Where the iPad shines is that it can be all the readers! iBooks was not the first reader, and is not neccesarily the best. Apple now offers iBooks as a free App Store download, and it does have the advantage of linking to your iTunes account for purchases. However, in a classroom context you need to ensure it is NOT linked to an account or that the account is locked!
You can easily obtain the free Kindle app, and this will then sync all of your Kindle books (if you also have a Kindle). However it can be used as a reader in its own right, and will link directly to the Amazon Kindle store. Again, it is vital with classroom machines to ensure that students cannot simply order a book with one click against your account!
One of the best independant readers I have found is Stanza. This has a nice interface, and unlike the Kindle and iBooks, has a "pinch and spread" finger gesture to change font size. It will also link directly to genuinely free book sources such as Feedbooks and Gutenberg.
For a change of approach, the Kobo app is interesting. This is based on the Kobo eBook reader (device) that was being pushed by Borders. It has a "game playing" approach so each new achievement (such as opening your first book) is recorded with a small celebration and an award on your personal Kobo page. While this sounds tempting to use in a classroom, I don't see how this would work if the device had multiple users. Perhaps save this one up for the parent who wants to purchase a device to encourage a reluctant reader.
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