Amazon has quietly launched the Kindle Learning Academy. This is an online destination designed to help you learn how to use your Kindle, primarily aimed at new users. Amazon Kindle e-reader and Kindle App users can learn more about how to set up, customize, and engage with new features on their device. It includes how-to videos on customizing their reading experience, adding and removing books, simple troubleshooting steps, and more.
The Learning Academy is currently little more than a glorified help desk. There are a few original videos to watch, including an overview of the Kindle, Tutorials on finding and Removing Books, Library Organization, and Troubleshooting. Amazon links to its help forum, where users ask questions and receive answers from other users or Amazon staff. It also links to the existing help page, where it lists all of the advanced features, which have been around for over ten years.
It would be nice if Amazon took the Kindle Learning Academy seriously and regularly produced new videos and content. They should also link to the About Amazon News section where they talk about their devices and how they stress test Kindles and talk about the top 5 or 10 features users should be aware of. I like some of the posts, such as Kindle features that have been made for people with disabilities. Most people are unaware that the Amazon site even exists.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.