OverWorked Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 Hello, We've given money to buy e-readers (but no money for the e-books). We have to spend the money on e-reader hardware by 31-March. I looked into e-readers recently and concluded that they're just unmanageable. I feel I'm being forced into a corner and will end up with a white-elephant project - a stack of unused e-readers and a lot of grief for me and the librarian. I've ruled out Kindle because of the license. I don't know enough about Nook or Kobo. If you had to buy e-readers, what would you buy? I'd like to hear from anyone who's successfully using them in school. Thanks.
scotyboy56 Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 Why not instead of buying e-readers, buy some windows tablets that can be used for other things, and installCalibre onto them, which can be managed easily. Or just use the money to buy the books and put calibre or something similar onto your pcs/laptops/tablets you already have?
OverWorked Posted March 4, 2015 Author Posted March 4, 2015 It's only a small amount of money (not enough for even one Windows or Apple tablet) and we can't use it for the e-books - it has to be for e-reader hardware. Personally I can see this being a complete waste of time and money
synaesthesia Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 It is a waste of time and money. If anything, a couple of cheap android devices would be better value for money but without a clear use for them.... 2
JJonas Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 If you are buying ereaders but have no money for ebooks what are you putting on them?
LeMarchand Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 (edited) Why not instead of buying e-readers, buy some windows tablets that can be used for other things, and installCalibre onto them, which can be managed easily. Or just use the money to buy the books and put calibre or something similar onto your pcs/laptops/tablets you already have? It's only a small amount of money (not enough for even one Windows or Apple tablet) and we can't use it for the e-books - it has to be for e-reader hardware.( The LINX tablets are around £80, much the same as a low end eReader. Project Gutenberg has plenty of free ebooks that are out of copyright; this does limit you to early 20th century works at the latest for the main part. Edited March 4, 2015 by LeMarchand Clarity
OverWorked Posted March 4, 2015 Author Posted March 4, 2015 @JJonas: Exactly - I think the plan was to just get something now and get the e-books in the unlikely event of funding coming later. In the meantime the e-readers stay in their boxes, or get free classics put on them and I spend many hours of fun manually managing them.
OverWorked Posted March 4, 2015 Author Posted March 4, 2015 The LINX tablets are around £80, much the same as a low end eReader. Project Gutenberg has plenty of free ebooks that are out of copyright; this does limit you to early 20th century works at the latest for the main part. Thanks LeMarchand. I've had a quick look at the Ubuntu site. Is there a central management utility for these?
LeMarchand Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 Thanks LeMarchand. I've had a quick look at the Ubuntu site. Is there a central management utility for these? The LINX ones are Windows, so (assuming you're a Windows site) whatever you currently use. Apparently you will save yourself a world of (driver) pain if you make sure you get the Win Pro versions which not everyone stocks. I know Novatech supply them, and (as per the thread linked below) so do Insight. http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-chat/144940-windows-linx-tablet-viable-alternative-netbook.html 1
OverWorked Posted March 4, 2015 Author Posted March 4, 2015 The LINX ones are Windows, so (assuming you're a Windows site) whatever you currently use. Apparently you will save yourself a world of (driver) pain if you make sure you get the Win Pro versions which not everyone stocks. I know Novatech supply them, and (as per the thread linked below) so do Insight. http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-chat/144940-windows-linx-tablet-viable-alternative-netbook.html I've just ordered 4 10" Linx tablets edu bundle at a very low price. If they don't work out as e-readers, we can do something else with them. Thanks - I was about to give up with this project. Before today, my advice to the librarian was to forget it - now she's getting these.
LeMarchand Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 I've just ordered 4 10" Linx tablets edu bundle at a very low price. If they don't work out as e-readers, we can do something else with them. Oooh! Where from?
OverWorked Posted March 4, 2015 Author Posted March 4, 2015 Insight - my preferred supplier for this kind of thing. 1
GeekyPete Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 What Licence do you need for Kindle? We use kindle Fires and because they are android they can be used for other things too. They are a doddle to manage via Meraki MDM. We also use RM books but haven't bought any books yet, but it's good for the 1000 free classic novels. The English Dept love that they can see how many hours the kids are reading for. Another good thing with the Kindle fires is that they DON'T have a camera...
OverWorked Posted March 4, 2015 Author Posted March 4, 2015 As I understand it, e-books bought through Amazon are licensed for the user only. They don't have any license agreement (outside the US, yet) for school or organisation buying in bulk for multiple users.
plexer Posted March 5, 2015 Posted March 5, 2015 RM Books have apps for ios and android but also works with a web browser with chrome being the recommended one. Ben 2
RichCowell Posted March 5, 2015 Posted March 5, 2015 There are e-libraries you can buy into, or maybe link up with your local county library (as we've tried to do)... A decision was made here to buy 20 Kobo's, and they were chosen and bought without me knowing, so when they turned up we had a nightmare getting them to connect - without completely disabling the firewall for specific machines while they downloaded from the County library system... it couldn't be accessed on the device itself, the e-books have to be downloaded to a PC and transferred to the devices... the Kobos were allocated to specific students, so not for general use, but that meant all 20 students had to create their own Kobo accounts and manage them... In the end it was just wasting far too much time so I told them to send the Kobos home and let them sort them themselves... which most have done... I'd never recommend actual physical e-readers on a network for this reason... maybe it's just Kobos and others are better, but it's certainly put me off ever trying...
OverWorked Posted March 5, 2015 Author Posted March 5, 2015 Rich, Yep - that's exactly what I was trying to avoid. Someone here bought a few Kindles without me knowing. I wasted an hour or two trying to connect one to the network before deciding that it's just impossible. That was 6 month ago and they're still trying to sell them to the staff (unused and boxed).
RichCowell Posted March 5, 2015 Posted March 5, 2015 The whole thing's been a nightmare... I asked on here a while ago if anyone else had got Kobos in schools and no one replied at all... I think that just about sums it up... If they're determined to go ahead, I would recommend getting / trialling a few different types and testing them out... Another school I heard of got Sony ones, but their NM doesn't seem inclined to communicate so I don't know how they got on with them on the network...
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