Getting to Know Your Kindle

Getting to Know Your Kindle:
Device Features, Case
Studies, and Classroom Ideas

Agenda
•Kindle Device Overview
•Kindle Features for ELLs
–Text to speech
–Highlighting/ Annotation
–Dictionaries
•Organizing Kindle Content
–Content Resources Overview
–Updating and Indexing New Content Resources
(Creating Collections and Libraries)
•Case Studies from other Kindle Learning Projects
•Lesson Ideas
•Interim Collaboration Website
•Q&A

Kindle Device Overview

 Bottom View

Kindle Device Overview
5 Way Controller on Keyboard

Power Switch
To put your Kindle to sleep, slide and release the power switch; a full screen
image appears on the display.

•While your Kindle is asleep, other keys and buttons are locked so that you
don’t accidentally change the place in your reading.

•To turn your Kindle off, slide and hold the power switch for four seconds until
the screen goes blank and then release.

•To wake up or turn on your Kindle, slide and release the power switch again.

•If you have set up a device password, you will be prompted to enter the
password after turning on your Kindle or waking it from sleep.

•If your Kindle does not power on or is unresponsive during use, try resetting
the device by disconnecting your Kindle from any power source or USB
port, and then sliding and holding the power switch for 15 seconds before
releasing.

Navigating Kindle – Home Screen

Navigating Kindle
 THE APPLICATION
MENU
• You can display a menu
from any screen on your
Kindle.
• When you press the Menu
button, it displays choices
related to the screen you
are viewing.
• The sample screen shows
you the screen you would
typically see when you
press the Menu button from
within a book.

Navigating Kindle – Application Menu

Choice of Text Size,
Typeface, and Line Spacing
 In a book or periodical you are
currently reading, you can
change the text size, typeface,
and line spacing by pressing
the Text key, and using the 5-
way controller to choose the
size you prefer; then press the
5-way to select.
 The text changes to the new
settings. Repeat the same
steps to adjust the text to the
settings that are most
comfortable for you to read.
Text Key on Keyboard

Numbers, Punctuation

and Symbols
The number keys are
located at the top of
the keyboard. If you
need a punctuation
mark or a symbol that
is not shown, press
the Symbol key on the
bottom row of the
keyboard. You will
see a menu of
punctuation marks
and symbols.


Sort Features
By default, your content is sorted
by most recent first, meaning all
of the new items and the content
you are currently reading are at
the top. To change this option,
follow these steps:
 1. If you are not already on the
Home screen, press the Home
button.
 2. Move the 5-way up until the
Show and Sort Options are
underlined.
 3. Move the 5-way to the right to
see the Sort options
 4. Move the 5-way to underline
how you want the items sorted.
 5. Press the 5-way to select it.
The sort order on the Home
screen changes immediately.

Connecting to Wi-Fi
 Click on the home
icon to return you
back to the main
home screen:click on
the menu button and
the options seen in
the screen shot will
be displayed. Use the
5 way controller to
navigate to settings
and then click on
setting.

Connecting to Wi-Fi
 Use the 5 way
controller to
navigate to Wi-Fi
Settings and
once view is
underlined in
bold, select the
center button in
the 5 way
controller.

Connecting to Wi-Fi
 Find the associated
Wi-Fi network you
wish to connect with
and navigate with the
5 way controller until
your network is
highlighted and then
click on the center
button to accept.

Connecting to Wi-Fi

 If a password is
required, the
network will prompt
you to enter the
associated
password. Upon
inputting and
confirming
password, your
device will connect
to the Wi-Fi

 Agenda
 Kindle Device Overview
 Kindle Features for ELLs
 –Text to speech
 –Highlighting/Annotation
 –Dictionaries
 Organizing Kindle Content
 –Content Resources Overview
 –Updating and Indexing New Content Resources
(Creating Collections and Libraries)
 Case Studies from other Kindle Learning Projects
 Lesson Ideas
 Interim Collaboration Website
 Q&A

Text to Speech

 Your kindle can read aloud your books
(where allowed by the rights holder),
newspapers, magazines, blogs, and
personal documents with the kindle
experimental application Text-too-
speech.

Text to Speech- Turning On

Simply hold down the Sym button and Shift key
to start and press the keys again to stop.

Text to Speech- Modification
 Once text to speech is
enabled, you may
pause, change the speech
rate or change the
speaking voice. To modify
settings, simply click on
the text key and the
menu included in the
screen shot will be
displayed. Navigate
through the options using
the 5 way switch.

Text Key Symbol

Highlighting Text

 Step 1
 Move the cursor
next to the word
where you would
like to highlight text
using the 5 way
switch

Highlighting Text

Step 2
Using the right
arrow on the 5
switch, begin to
highlight your
chosen text.

Highlighting Text

Step 3
 Click on the done
button in the center
of the 5 way switch
to confirm. Notice
that your highlighted
text is now
underlined in grey.

Adding Notes to a Passage

Step 1
Move the cursor
next to the word
where you would
like to add a note
using the 5 way
switch


Step 2
Begin typing in the
keyboard to create
your note.


Step 3
Continue typing in
text and it will appear
in window. Once you
have completed your
note, simply navigate
with the 5 way switch
and click on save
note


Step 4
To view a note on a
page, simply use the
5 way switch and
highlight the
numbered footnote
and your note will
appear below.

 Agenda
 Kindle Device Overview
 Kindle Features for ELLs
 –Text to speech
 –Highlighting/Annotation
 –Dictionaries
 Organizing Kindle Content
 –Content Resources Overview
 –Updating and Indexing New Content
Resources (Creating Collections and
Libraries)
 Case Studies from other Kindle Learning
Projects
 Lesson Ideas
 Interim Collaboration Website
 Q&A

Collections

 Collections are used to
personalize the way you
organize your books,
personal documents, and
Audible books to make it
easier to find items.

 Case Study – iRead
(Ghana)

 iREAD involved the wireless distribution
of over 32,000 local and international
digital books using Kindle
 e-readers to 350 students and teachers at
six pilot schools in Ghana’s Eastern Region
between November 2010 and September
2011.

 Case Study – iRead (Ghana)
 Increased access to a number and variety of
books and other supplementary reading materials
read by the participants of the study
 •Improved student performance on standardized
tests of reading, writing, and English proficiency
among study participants
 •Reduced waiting periods in classrooms for
classroom material

 •Reduced net cost of production, translation, and
distribution of supplemental reading material

(Ghana)
 Kids learned to use e-readers quickly
even though 43 percent of them had never
used a computer before.
 Also, not surprisingly, they were quick to
discover “the multimedia aspects of the e-
reader, such as music and Internet
features.

(Ghana)
 Primary school students’ test scores
improved. The reading scores of primary-
school students who received e-readers
increased from 12.9 percent to 15.7
percent, depending on whether they got
additional reading support. That was an
improvement of 4.8 percent to 7.6
percent above the scores of kids in control
classrooms without e-readers.

(Ghana)
 Kids shared their e-readers with their
families and friends. Students got to
take their e-readers home at night and
many reported sharing the devices. Kids in
the study had an average of five
siblings, so “the e-reader’s reach potentially
extended to many people beyond the
device’s owner.” Some kids whose
parents were illiterate read to their
parents from their e-readers.

(Ghana)
 Increased access to books
 Increased enthusiasm towards reading
 Increased resources for teachers
 Increased technological skills
 Increased performance on standardized
scores at the primary level, especially
among primary students receiving OCE
interventions

(Ghana)
 Kindles break too easily. Worldreader had not
predicted how many Kindles would break: 243 out
of 600, or 40.5 percent. Each time an e-reader
broke, Worldreader sent it back to Amazon to
conduct “a post-mortem analysis.” Turns out
“fragile screens are the main weakness” and
Amazon is working on Kindles with reinforced
screens (at the same cost), which started
shipping to Ghana in October 2011.

Case Study – eReader Rivercrest (USA)
 Study conducted among low-reading-ability middle
school students in 6th, 7th, and 8th in Dallas, Texas
(USA).
 •The study took place in two reading improvement
classes in Rivercrest Middle School with a total of 199
students
 •Students were given the option to use Kindle e-readers
during their scheduled sustained silent reading time.
 •The devices were loaded with 25 books, including titles
like The Wizard of Oz and Black Beauty and ghost stories
and scary stories like Forever Neverland and They're
Coming for You: Scary Stories That Scream to Be Read.

 After two months, most of the students reported that
they had read one to four books during the sustained
silent reading period.
 •In the study, pre- and post-assessments using the
Motivation to Read Profile (tested by Gambrell, Palmer,
Codling, & Mazzoni, 1996) found significant gains in
students' attitudes about the value of reading and their
view of themselves as readers, especially among the
boys.
•One boy said he liked the e-reader because the book
he was reading was always available—he didn't have to
worry about someone else reading it or taking it out of
the classroom. Another boy pointed out that the e-reader
enabled him to read what he wanted without carrying
around a lot of books.


Responding to text is one way that students establish
comprehension and improve their skill in understanding,
predicting, and critically analyzing what they read.

•Larson (2009, 2010) observed students spontaneously
using the highlight feature of the Kindle called "My
Clippings" to leave personal notes and questions about what
they were reading.

•The study concluded that such features were a valuable
way for middle school students to demonstrate the reflection
that must accompany meaningful reading.

The Student Voices
•The e-reader has very good books.
•It’s cool because it's like a computer.
•I like the dictionary.
•It is easy to use.
•It helps me read faster.
•I like to read more now because the stories
are interesting to me.
• I better understand what I read.

•DC Public Schools piloted a program with Kindle eReaders in
two middle schools. The goal of this program was to explore
the impact of Kindle use on middle school students'
motivation to read.

•Pilot participants were from eighth-grade English inclusion
classes at Hart Middle School and Read 180 classes at Deal
Middle School. The information shared through this project
explores the advantages and challenges of using Kindles
in these education settings and gives potential users
general information about integrating this technology into
their instructional programs.


http://dc.gov/DCPS/Beyond+the+Classroom/Educational+Technology+&+Library+Services/eReader+Pilot+Program

Lesson Ideas
• Reading books with students and then asking
reading comprehension questions, with small
prizes for correct answers.
 Asking students to identify certain parts of
speech within the stories on their e-readers.
 Prompting students with open-ended higher
level inference questions. For example, students
are asked to predict what might happen
next, why a character may have acted a certain
way, etc.
 Writing responses to the books

Best Practices
 Establish a process for reporting and fixing broken devices
 Develop an asset management process/system
 Provide students with access to basic training on the kindle
 Ensure that students have access to reliable power sources
for re-charging devices
 Attempt to identify facilitates with access to Wi-Fi
 If possible, provide students with access to 1-2 notebooks
and pens/pencils.
 Provide students with specific lesson plan goals and develop
some form of an incentive system.
 Ensure that you have established regular meeting times with
students.
 Develop a communications plan with students.
 Determine feasibility of providing students with access to
headphones

Communication and Collaboration

Future Training Topics
 Accessing Kindle Store or other resources
and downloading them onto devices
 Sending documents to the Kindle utilizing
email
 Sharing notes electronically either via
wireless or through USB connection to a
computer
 Importing dictionaries

Contact Details

 Shawn Gross
 Skype ID: Shawn Gross
 Twitter: #knected
 Email: shawngross@digitalmillennial.com
 http://www.projectknect.org
 http://projectknect.blogspot.com
 http://www.youtube.com/user/DigitalMillenn
ial

Getting to Know Your Kindle

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