Google Play Books

                                              Website Link:https://play.google.com/store  /apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.books

&hl=en_CA&gl=US

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Full Description

Google Play Books is one of the many applications made available by Google. It is an application where ebooks and audiobooks can be readily downloaded or purchased and viewed through a user-friendly interface where text size and screen colour can be adjusted. Its other functions include: web search, offline dictionary, read aloud, bookmark, highlighting, and notes. There are ‘shelving’ systems for organizing books, and books can be accessed even when offline. It is one of the most popular ebook reader applications available in the Google Play Store.

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Classroom Implementation & Educational Rationale

Google Play Books can be implemented into the classroom as a way for students to access class reading materials digitally. Depending on student preferences, some students may prefer reading digitally over reading a physical book. The use of digital books in learning has the potential to improve student engagement (students may be more familiar with and interested in digital software), improve accessibility (copies of reading materials can be easily downloaded by students), lower chance of students forgetting to bring their books to class, as well as provide assistive technology to those students that need it (read aloud and large text functions for students with visual impairments, note function for students with fine motor issues, dark theme for students with light sensitivity issues). Google Play Books can open both EPUB and PDF files, and would be good in a classroom as teachers often incorporate the use of PDF reading materials. It is also connected to other Google services and so can sync with Google accounts and other Google applications.

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Connections to Research

​While assistive technology (AT) for students with disabilities used to have to be specifically ordered for those students, nowadays it is common to find AT built into common devices and applications (Ok & Rao, 2019), and Google Play Books is one such application. Text-to-Speech (TTS) can help those students who benefit from reading and listening at the same time; it can decrease students’ cognitive load, as well as help those students who struggle to decode certain words while reading (Ok & Rao, 2019). In these ways, Google Play Book’s TTS function can help students’ learning. Google Play Books also makes available for teachers thousands of free books (Kharbach, 2023), and this is an added perk to using Google Play Books in the classroom.

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Reference

Kharbach, M. (2023, May 19). Google Play Books provides thousands of free books for teachers. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (ETML). https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/07/google-play-books-provides-thousands-of.html

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Ok, M. W., & Rao, K. (2019). Digital tools for the inclusive classroom: Google Chrome as assistive and instructional technology. Journal of Special Education Technology, 34(3), 204–211. Sage Journals. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162643419841546

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Provided by Mary Lu

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