I’ve come across a few gadgets at conferences and workshops, but the one that takes the cake for me is the Playaway. The Playaway is a self contained MP3 player that comes with a preloaded digital audio book. It’s specs are simple, yet impressive. It looks no bigger than a deck of cards, its controls are on the flip side of the player and earphones come attached. The controls aren’t overwhelming, so its possible that the device can used by a 3rd grader with relative ease. Perhaps best of all, it nicely tackles the concept of universal design for learning.
The Playaway belongs in school libraries. Imagine being able to expose students to thier favorite novel in a portable and digital format. Imagine providing students with an option to listen to their book in the car, in their room or on the bus. We might be able to hook a whole new generation onto reading through osmosis.
The device is a far from being perfect, evidenced by its weak selection of titles. Currently, there are only around 30 different stories available for purchase. But, I know if I introduced it in my library tomorrow it would be the hottest item in circulation. It’s loan transaction list would top 500 pages by the end of the school year.
Products like this provide an exciting option for libraries.
I ran across a link to this blog post from the SLJ blog. I would like to add it to my bloglines account – but when I copy/paste the rss feed link I get a “no feeds were found” message. Can you help? Thanks. These “playaway” books look terrific. I think my kids might really get into them – except for the selection. I may try a few in September when I have money to spend again.
Comment by Jacquie Henry — February 26, 2006 @ 1:02 am |
As a middle school librarian, I am also excited by the possibilities. I was recently at a California School Library Association convention and attended a workshop on this technology. For an inexpensive alternative,
the presenter used a Creative Labs NOMAD MuVo MP3 player and subscribed to audible.com to download a book on each player.
Comment by Chris Sarantakis — November 22, 2006 @ 1:09 am |