Week #9 Thing #22

I have been impressed with the number of free or reduced prices for ebooks and the number of formats available. There is enough free material available to last a lifetime practically. I am amazed at some of the human voice recordings of some of the audio books. The computer generated are distracting and obnoxious to listen to them. I can see a great deal of value for ELL students with the audio books. They would gain a great deal listening to the book alone or while following along with a print version. I realize the audio books are also useful for those with limited time that use an audio book while driving or multi-tasking. I would be concerned that it might cut into our pool of readers. Perhaps the research has shown how it has strengthened the readers in the younger generations. The audio format may also be a springboard for the reluctant reader or those that are challenged by reading.Ebooks will never replace a print format in my mind because it is really hard to curl up with an exciting computer. Noe it may be more feasible if you can curl up with a PDA or an IPod. As long as snacks are available, the reading will go on. I was very surprised to see free ebooks written by Edgar rice Burroughs. His writing is a challenge to many of today's students, but he a=is a classic author that will build any student's reading abilities with practice. I used tread his books to my 7th grade reading classes as a treat. I started reading them at 5 or 6 years old. Never a dull moment. This is the greatest site to find free books: http://manybooks.net/