By Suzanne Ma
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN EAST – An experiment that replaces textbooks with e-readers in some Pace University classrooms is underway this fall, revolutionizing the way students study and lightening what's usually a heavy textbook load.
Over 100 students and professors in publishing, nursing, marketing and biology courses have each been issued an Amazon Kindle DX, a wireless reading device that can store up to 3,500 books, periodicals and documents.
"I have long been a believer in the power of technology’s ability to affect and transform the pedagogical experience, " said Geoffrey Brackett, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Pace.
The Kindle DX is 1/3 of an inch thick, about the same size as a magazine.
"The shift from print to electronic information in higher education has been a long continuum," Brackett told DNAinfo.
Pace University and Amazon are sharing the cost of the Kindle and the downloads associated with university classes. At the end of the year, students will have the chance to purchase the e-reader from Pace at a discounted price.
The Kindle DX is bigger than the original Kindle, first released in 2007, and has been adapted for the academic setting boasting a bigger, 9.7-inch screen, a built-in PDF reader, and a free connection to the Internet through a wireless reader, allowing users to download books directly from Amazon's Web site.
But the device also comes with a hefty $489 price tag. There's also the added cost of downloading textbooks and reading materials onto the Kindle. Book prices can range from as low as $9.99 to several hundred dollars.
All 20 students in Manuela Soares' publishing class were issued the Kindle in September. Some said they enjoyed the Kindle DX's big screen that automatically rotates when you turn the device horizontally or vertically. The long battery life – which lasts several days without recharging – was also a major plus.
But for Master's publishing student Nanette Morges, the transition from book to e-reader was difficult at first.
"I had a love-hate relationship when I got the Kindle," Morges said. " I hated myself for buying it because I felt I was betraying what I love; the printed word, from newspapers to books to magazine, has always been so important in my life."
Jaclyn Stewart, a 26-year-old student in Soares' class said the act of taking down notes isn't as easy on the Kindle as it is on paper.
"It's a bit cumbersome," she said, as she used her fingertips to type annotations into the Kindle. But "just to have so much less weight to carry around all day is a big plus for me."
For Soares, a major sticking point was the lack of page numbers. To find a spot in the text, she must use a search function, which requires typing with the Kindle's small keyboard.
"I think it is important to recognize this for what it is, though — a pilot," Brackett said. "I have no doubt that the Kindle will play a role in the college setting, as will other devices. The text book will, I think, persist in some form for the foreseeable future, but I think its utilization will continue to drop."
Pace is one of seven American universities participating in the pilot project with Seattle-based Amazon.com. Kindles are also being used at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia, Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, Princeton University, Reed College, Pace University and University of Washington.
Plans to continue subsidizing Kindles in Pace classrooms have not yet been discussed, Brackett said.
