I’m sure you are thinking, Adobe? Why would Adobe relate to an English classroom. Yes, Adobe is the sort of app that could relate across all disciplines. However, given the state of education today (unless you are working at a lovely school with lots of money), a lot of books are no longer available due to funds. This can be lack of funds on the part of students or within the budget. Adobe Acrobat gives students a chance to bring home books that the library may not have enough copies of or books that the students can’t afford. This is limited of course, to the books that are public domain.
Adobe does give students the ability to highlight and make comments on the document. This is especially important for teachers who are teaching annotation or simply encouraging students to annotate as a way of interacting with the text.
Adobe is also both an iPad and iPhone app. So if students have an iPhone and no internet at home, they can download it on public wifi and read the book at home. While reading on a small phone is not great for the eyes, it does give students an opportunity to read the text instead of guess on their next reading quiz.
*This blog is not encouraging or responsible for illegal activity involving copyrighted books.