Newcastle Skills for Life Service Kindle Project Anna Brown – Skills for Life Coordinator Cathy Stark – Skills for Life Teacher

Action Research Project funded by JISC RSC Northern Trial e-book readers with adult literacy learners 3 groups of learners trialled the e-readers: Adults with dyslexia Adults working towards Entry Level 1 Adults working towards accreditation at Level 1 + 2

Using the Kindle Kindles were preloaded with a range of Quick Read books Tutors demonstrated how to use the Kindle and facilitated a written orientation exercise Feedback was collected through discussion and feedback questionnaires

Level 1 and 2 Adult Literacy Learners Used within an existing book group To develop reading skills such as increasing stamina, developing inference and prediction skills Kindles were used as an alternative medium

Dyslexia Group Emergent Readers Reading is a more individual activity Group participated in the Six Book Challenge event 57% learners have bought their own e-book readers Reading was completed in small groups Kindles were used to spot high frequency words, look at the role of capital letters and full stops

Findings Benefits Privacy Alter text: enlarge text, double line spacing… Built in dictionary Anti-glare screen Encouraged team work and peer support Text to speech facility Device is easy to hold Sharing the device with family members

Suggested Improvements Speech facility was too digital No page numbers to navigate the book during discussion A coloured or white button on the key board for orientation Ability to change the back ground colour of the screen

Extract from the Six Book Challenge Diary: “I enjoyed the Six Book Challenge, especially using the Kindle, as I turn away from books with a lot of words on the page. With the Kindle you have the facility of changing the format so it does not seem so daunting, especially in landscape. It fools the brain into thinking that only have so much on the page so you can get through it quicker, then without realising, you have read the book. I would like to thank the person who introduced the Kindles into this programme. It has got me reading again.” Ian, age 52