Papyrus device could boost student learning

It's no secret that we at EcoGeek are fans of the e-ink display technology. The low battery consumption and superior readability compared to laptops and other mobile devices, not to mention the thin form factor, all combine to bring us closer to a digital literary future. With Amazon's Kindle doing the rounds in the U.S. and the Bookeen Cybook constantly running out of stock, e-ink toting devices are inching their way into the public's hearts.

I still think that e-books have a ways to go before I'd personally get one, mostly in terms of price and features, and I have had a few of my own ideas on what would make a good reader.

However, the group of thinkers and designers over at The Greener Grass have gone and created a concept that I could wholeheartedly get behind: The Papyrus.

The Papyrus is a concept for an education-centred e-reader device that would focus on making participation in courses easier and more interactive. The concept calls for a colour e-ink touch screen and presumably a Wi-Fi connection to connects the devices of all the students together. Collaboratively, students can tag, highlight, and annotate their reading material and remotely help each other understand the text and find the important parts in it.

As a first-year university student who hadn't read a single academic text since the turn of the millennium, I can say I would have greatly appreciated such a feature in my textbooks, not to mention saving the space and weight of all those books as I cart them around.

As far as pricing goes, they're setting their sights on a hundred dollars. This seems unrealistic, but they are convinced it could be realised with the removal of unneeded hardware features (audio, for example) and the help of publishers. These publishers would subsidise the device and could sell their textbooks directly to the students through a subscription service.

The concept also makes a case for the interactivity of lectures. Many students are afraid to ask questions when there's something they don't understand. If they could just shoot the lecturer a quick private message rather than pipe up in front of a hundred other students, the idea is that lecturers would be much more aware of whether or not they are getting through to the students.

I suspect that if this device is to actually be made, the price tag will go the way of the OLPC and the Eee PC and end up at least double the initial goal. Even so, it would be a fantastic device in an increasingly digital world.

If the resolution of e-ink screens get a bump up, the prices a bump down, and the features a polish, I welcome a transition into a fully digital student life. There's still something to be said for the feeling of opening a book and reading it on the couch or in bed, but at least e-ink is getting us one step closer to that feeling without killing trees every time there's a new book (or, more likely, a very slightly altered new edition) to be published.

Via Engadget