EBook Technology
and
Gifted Readers
Christine L. Weber
Department of Childhood Education
University of North Florida
cweber@unf.edu
Terence W. Cavanaugh
Department of Leadership, Counseling, and
Technology
University of North Florida
tcavanau@unf.edu
EBook Technology and Gifted
Readers
Abstract: The electronic book, or eBook, offers students,
teachers, and schools an additional medium or tool that
can support or enhance the reading experience. Essential
to preparing to use eBooks in educating gifted learners, as
with all books, is knowledge of the characteristics, abilities,
and interests of gifted readers and the wide variety of
eBook options available. This paper provides a rationale
and strategies for using eBook technology to promote
reading with gifted learners including underachieving gifted
readers and LD gifted readers. Information about online
digital libraries and reading list books available as eBooks
is provided.
EBooks
• Defined
– textual documents that
have been converted
and “published” in an
electronic format that
displays on eBook
readers, devices, or
computers using
eBook software
programs.
• Common Formats
– Text, Adobe Reader,
HTML, Flash, MS
Reader, Palm Reader,
Rocket
Characteristics of Gifted
Readers
• Often read earlier
• Tend to read independently soon after
teacher instruction
• Tend to be better readers requiring less
drill for mastery of skills
• Digest a large quantity of information
about a topic of interest
(Halsted 1990)
Facts About Gifted Readers
•
•
•
•
•
Gifted readers are skilled, flexible readers who
read often.
Gifted readers monitor their reading.
Linguistically rich texts are especially suited to
gifted readers.
Gifted readers use other strengths in response
to the particular demands of the text.
Gifted readers are passionate readers who find
books to love.
(Abilock 1999)
EBook Technology
Range
• Audiobook, storybook, “text” book, specialized
device (LeapPad)
Availability
• Public/School Libraries
• Online libraries
• Bookstores
Currently over 1 million eBooks
available online (for free)
Gifted Reader’s
Access to eBooks Provides
Access to a wide variety of books
encourages exposure to
• new and challenging information
• varied subjects
• areas of interest
• difficult vocabulary and concepts
• ideas and issues appropriate to their own
rate of learning
Example: Wizard of Oz
School/Classroom Library
1. Wizard of Oz
Project Gutenberg Online Library
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/b#a42
Online Library
1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
2. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
3. The Emerald City of Oz
4. Glinda of Oz
5. Little Wizard Stories of Oz
6. The Lost Princess of Oz
7. The Magic of Oz
8. The Marvelous Land Of Oz
9. Ozma of Oz
10. The Patchwork Girl of Oz
11. Rinkitink in Oz
12. The Road to Oz
13. The Scarecrow of Oz
14. Tik-Tok of Oz
15. The Tin Woodman of Oz
Accommodating Features EBooks
Provide for Gifted Readers
Using advanced eBook reader programs:
• adjustable text size
• highlighting
• bookmarking
• note taking
• interactive dictionaries
• reading aloud through
text-to-speech
• provide an avenue for
teachers to help gifted
readers grow
intellectually.
• create a greater
diversity in the
available reading
material, including
materials at a wide
range of readability
levels.
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/shakespeare/works/
Using EBooks with
Gifted Readers can:
Underachieving Gifted Readers
Effective Strategies
• Supportive strategies
• Intrinsic strategies
• Remedial strategies
Using eBooks
• Attractive technology
Scaffolding Techniques for Readers
who Might be Reluctant or Remedial
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Offer a Wide Range of
Reading Materials
Use Pre-Reading
Techniques
Incorporate Large-Print
Materials
Engage Multiple
Modalities
Teach Important
Vocabulary
West-Christy (2005)
• Online libraries
• Embed in “book”
• Variable text size
• Text-to-speech
• Interactive dictionaries
eBook techniques/applications
Using EBooks with
LD Gifted Readers
Reading Scaffolds
• text-to-speech feature
• synchronized highlighting
of the text being read
• highlight text sections
• note taking
• ability to create drawings
within the book
• interactive dictionaries
• instant translation to
another language
• text size
Online Libraries with Books
Appropriate for Gifted Readers
Elementary eBook libraries:
• Aesop's Fables: http://www.umass.edu/aesop/contents.html
• BookPals - performing artists for literacy in schools:
http://www.bookpals.net/storyline/
• byGosh.com: http://www.bygosh.com/
• Children's Books Online: the Rosetta Project, Inc:
www.childrensbooksonline.org
• International Children's Digital Library (ICDL): http://www.icdlbooks.org/
• Reader’s Theater Editions: http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE.html
• RIF Reading Planet:
http://www.rif.org/readingplanet/content/read_aloud_stories.mspx
• Stories to Read Online:
http://www.beenleigss.qld.edu.au/requested_sites/storiesontheweb/storieso
ntheweb.html
• StoryPlace Libraries (Elementary & Preschool):
http://www.storyplace.org/
• Tales of Wonder: http://www.darsie.net/talesofwonder/index.html
Online Libraries with Books
Appropriate for Gifted Readers
General and secondary eBook libraries:
• Baen Free Library: http://www.baen.com/library/
• Classic Book Library: http://classicbook.info/index.html
• Concordances of Great Books http://www.concordance.com/
• eBooks@Adeliade (University of Adelaide Library):
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au
• Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia Library:
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/
• Making of America (MOA): http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/
• Manybooks.net: http://www.manybooks.net/
• Page-by-Page Books: http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/
• USGS Books and Other Publications:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/products/books/index.html
• Wired for Books: http://www.wiredforbooks.org/
Sample Titles
(Project Gutenberg)
Elementary:
•
Rumpelstiltskin (from the Blue Fairy Book)
•
Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women
•
Burnett, Frances H. The Secret Garden
•
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. Tarzan of the Apes
•
Dodge, Mary Mapes. Hans Brinker
•
Doyle, A. Conan. The Adventures of
Sherlock Holmes
•
Grahame, Kenneth. Wind in the Willows
•
London, Jack. The Call of the Wild
•
London, Jack. White Fang
•
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Kidnapped
•
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island
•
Wyss, Johann. Swiss Family Robinson
•
Dumas, Alexandre. The Three Musketeers
•
Kipling, Rudyard. Captains Courageous
•
Verne, Jules. Journey to the Center of the
Earth
Secondary:
•
Brontes, Charlotte. Jane Eyre
•
Cather, Willa. My Antonia
•
Conrad, Joseph, Lord Jim
•
Dickens, Charles. Tale of Two Cities
•
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The House of Seven
Gables
•
Hudson, W. H. Green Mansions
•
Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt
•
Maugham, Somerset. Of Human Bondage
•
Riordon, William L. Plunkitt of Tammany
Hall
•
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest
•
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange
Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
•
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden
•
Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina
•
Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi
•
Wells, H. G. The Time Machine
•
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein
For more online books and libraries visit
http://www.drscavanaugh.org/ebooks/