What else?

Look up a word.

Highlight.

Make a note.

These are the top these features my student have used on their Nooks. I’ve seen these features help my students effectively interact with Life of Pi. But just as in our final class discussion of LOP--when I want my students to dig deeper--I find myself asking, “What else?”

What else can our Nooks do?

My students will soon be experimenting with two new features. I have no idea if they will work, but as this is new territory, why not keep pushing the boundaries?

1. “Sharing” to a Twitter feed. When selecting a passage from the text, the user may share the highlighted text to Twitter, Facebook, or email.  Others may view and comment on the posted excerpt.

I have set up a Twitter account for this purpose and will soon have students post an important excerpt form our new book, Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. I still need to work out a few technical details before having them try it.

2. Side-loading books from Overdrive. The Nook’s charging cord also functions as a USB cable. This will allow student to upload any free e-book in the e-pub format. Just yesterday I introduced our independent reading unit that requires students to select contemporary titles to read outside of class. In the past, they have checked these books out from our school and public libraries. These institutions now have Overdrive, which allows patrons to download books instead of checking them out the traditional way.

Once my students have tested these features, I will post an update revealing the results. I’m hopeful.