Apple and its iPad have the lion’s share of the educational market locked up, but Amazon and its Kindle Fire are giving administrators reason to pause before blindly ordering up tablets from Cupertino.
Amazon is offering 47 classic children’s books for 99 cents each. That is an impressive price cut from the typical $7.77 the book typically cost. Among the illustrated versions of classic tales are Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle," Rudyard Kipling's "How the Leopard Got His Spots," and Hans Christian Anderson's "The Emperor's New Clothes."
Adding to the books’ allure is the fact they come with musical accompaniment and narration from notable celebrities like Danny Glover and Robin Williams.
Whether or not this temporary price cut helps Amazon gain any educational market share is yet to be seen, and experts don’t expect it to. However, it at least provides administrators with a reason to consider the Fire before placing their Apple order.
I think most involved with education would agree that students need physical education—knowledge of diet, personal hygiene, and regular exercise (though, there has been efforts to cut back on this subject). In schools, there is an established physical education curriculum and time set aside for physical activity to coincide with academic study.
However, this is not good enough.
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The COVID pandemic caused k-12 teachers and higher education faculty to suddenly shift to using more technology, to teach virtually and remotely, to keep learning going in new ways. Educators were pushed out of their comfort zones, having to quickly learn new knowledge and skills.
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