School Literacy Drive

Headteacher in Kindle row launches new literacy drive. News

I read this article the other day and it links in well with the rants I seem to go on, about replacing books with technology. A headteacher wants to remove the books in the school library and fill it with kindles and iPads instead....hmmmmmm

1) Surely this is more expensive?

2) It can't be good for all the pupils' eyes?
                 (no pun intended)

However, I found this article interesting because it goes on to say that the headteacher is backing the importance of literacy by issuing a compulsory summer reading list to his students.Well I sincerely doubt he's going to loan out the kindles and iPads so surely this is a contradiciton of ideals? In the article he is quoted as saying "I don't care so much whether children read on a kindle or paper." So why go to the trouble of digitalising the school library? My guess......simply to look more flashy and get one up in the league tables perhaps as being a 'forward-thinking' school.

Take this whole technology vs. books issue out and the idea of encouraging each student to read 5 books in the 2 months they have off for summer is great. I feel the value of reading is often under appreciated and kids spending their free time by staring at screens has killed the imagination that books inspire. However issuing reading lists might seem more like a chore than an enjoyable past time as it should be. It would be best to encourage the students to have an input and choose for themselves what they would like to read, with the teachers simply suggesting some choices and showing them what kind of authors and books there are to discover.

Hopefully this literacy drive will be successful and more schools will follow suit. I'd like to hear of kids reading more books and something other than Harry Potter!