Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The Kindle for Medical Education

I've described the iPod Touch as the next great technology for medical education, but the Kindle is also a device with great potential.

We've recently implemented Kindle support for all our 20,000 educational resources at HMS.

Our integration on the Mycourses educational website enables any Word or PDF document to be delivered to the Kindle wirelessly. There is a cost which is clearly explained to the user (10 cents per document to Amazon). Those that don't want to pay the 10 cents can download documents to their PC and transfer the documents via USB cable. Once the user enters their Kindle account into the MyCourses Kindle setup page (accessible via our resources page or the GoMobile page), any resource which can be sent to the device has a little icon and label "My Kindle" which when clicked sends the resource to the Kindle. It does this by sending the document to the Amazon account via email attachment which then gets converted into Kindles's specific format and delivered to the device using Sprint's Whispernet.

HMS is the first Medical School to offer such a green alternative to all of their compatible resources to be downloaded directly to an eBook. At some point it would be nice to bypass the 10 cent fee with some utility that allows us to send to the device, but it's a reasonable cost when you consider that Sprint is giving Kindle users free internet.

We're rolling this out by giving a few students free Kindles to pilot the new Mycourses functionality.

I'll report back how it goes. Since we spend $50,000 a year on paper for printing course documents, I hope it is successful!

21 comments:

mxganse said...

Man. I want one! The Kindle2 should be out any day now...

Ugh. Don't count on sprint offering that free internet access for very long. What is your plan when Sprint or Amazon raises prices when you aren't looking?

Unknown said...

I heard the Kindle 2 would actually be coming out next year. Photos of it have already popped up on the web.

Btw, the program sounds really cool. I would really dig using a kindle.

Unknown said...

hi john - this is really cool. i run a social network for kindle owners at booksummit.com and it'd be great if you coudl take a look and let me know whether this is something that would help you. there's a mobile version at booksummit.com/m/ that can be accessed via iphone and kindle (to an extent) and we'd really appreciate having you guys join.
thanks
abhi

Ricky Maveety said...

The Kindle is a great reader, but perhaps not the best PDF viewer. I will be interested to know how it works for you in that regard.

Unknown said...

Amazon is missing out on two (if not more) communities that would drive success of the Kindle even further. The first is, of course, developers. Since the Kindle is a closed platform, Amazon misses out on driving sales through add-on applications that could add value to its device. Granted, the first generation Kindle is a bit low-powered for anything too hefty, but Amazon could easily make the Kindle 2.0 a better competitor to the iPhone and other handheld computing devices.
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KT421 said...

I'm a college student, although not a med school student, and I've regularly been putting all of my teacher's handouts and slides on my Kindle for review wherever I go. Sometimes the conversion takes some doing, since my professors put up their documents in every format from Word to PDF, but it has almost always been worth it. Many of my textbooks are available for the Kindle as well, making for a much lighter backpack, and a lot less wasted paper.

The Kindle is a great tool for students. I would argue that for students in general it is a better tool than the iPod Touch (my university has a pilot program distributing Touches and iPhones to some students). Students in med school are a very different case, however, since a PDA of some sort is a requirement.

L. H. Nicoll said...

Do you have evidence of anyone actually being charged 10 cents to send a document to their Kindle? I have sent plenty and never been charged and that is what I have heard from others...no charge. I am curious what the experience of your students has been?

Thanks,
Leslie Nicoll, PhD, MBA, RN
Author, The Amazon Kindle FAQ
Editor-in-Chief, CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing

John Halamka said...

PDF conversion is experimental. The experimental category represents the features we are working on to enhance the Kindle experience even further. You can email your PDFs wirelessly to your Kindle. Due to PDF's fixed layout format, some complex PDF files might not format correctly on your Kindle.

Listed on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200140600

Our experience confirms this as well. Many PDFS have converted successfully, while there are some that don’t handle the layout and are unusable.

I agree that a more open platform may spur innovations and another market of applications just as the iPod Touch/iPhone has done for the mobile handheld/phone market.

Good compilation of Kindle FAQs to a number of kindle questions http://www.blogkindle.com/2007/12/kindle-faq/

Yes, the 10 cent charges do apply to those want to send personal documents to their Kindle directly. The credit card associated with your Amazon/Kindle account is charged. Individual charges include e-mailed document charges to cover wireless delivery ($.10 per e-mailed document attachment). Your credit card will be charged when you have accrued at least $3.00 in total charges, or 30 e-mailed documents.

L. H. Nicoll said...

Hi John,

Sorry to keep hammering on the 10 cent charge...I have sent dozens of documents to my Kindle. I have never been charged a dime nor have I have received a bundled $3.00 charge for 30 documents. I spend lots of time on Kindle forums and no one there has ever been charged. Since I am the author of "The Amazon Kindle FAQ" I get asked this question a lot--is there really a charge? Yes it is in the Amazon Kindle documentation but many people think it has been quietly dropped. So I'll ask again: Have you actually seen the charge on your credit card bill? Thanks in advance for your answer.

Leslie H. Nicoll

Kindle Addict said...

Great post. I hated how in college and law school we were forced to buy entire textbooks when we only really needed select chapters. I just posted over at www.kindleaddict.com that it would make sense to allow students to buy individual chapters of books, similar to how you can buy singles from a CD.

AubidadedBallad said...

This is how shall I say.... A product that I would most definitely love to have around the house, I mean it is beneficial.. Am I right or Am I Right?! Whether some may agree or not, it doesn't bug me to enjoy the company of one of these :)
If everybody has them, I think I should have the opportunity in luxuriating myself with the presence of making this my present! Gotta say, its mainly because how well you've explained everything
It's a great gift except for sometimes, but hey it surely does re-coupe and make up for boring and lost times..
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Football Matches said...

I have never been charged a dime nor have I have received a bundled $3.00 charge for 30 documents. I spend lots of time on Kindle forums and no one there has ever been charged. Since I am the author of "The Amazon Kindle FAQ" I get asked this question a lot--is there really a charge? Yes it is in the Amazon Kindle documentation but many people think it has been quietly dropped. So I'll ask again: Have you actually seen the charge on your credit card bill? Thanks in advance for your answer.


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