The iPad is coming to a classroom near you this fall.
Oklahoma State U. has announced that it will be running a trial program with the Apple-made tablet computers with about 125 students in five classes during the fall semester.
OSU President Burns Hargis said he sees the iPad being a useful tool moving forward.
“I really think they’ll be the future,” Hargis said.
The classes will be from the Spears School of Business and School of Media and Strategic Communications, formerly the School of Journalism and Broadcasting, on both the Stillwater and Tulsa campuses.
Electrical engineering sophomore Todd Harrison said he thinks the iPad trial sounds like an interesting idea.
“If it’s a new type of equipment that is presented in class that can be used to better education, why not try it,” Harrison said.
The professors assisting the trial by leading these classes will be visiting assistant professor Bill Handy in the School of Media and Strategic Communications and associate professor of marketing Tracy Suter in the Spears School of Business.
In a press release released last week Suter said he sees the iPad allowing students to work on certain projects in real time.
“For example, data collection and analysis in a research context can be a multi-day to multi-week process,” Suter said. “By using the iPad we can replace pencil-and-paper research with the immediate process of data collection, review and summary over a Web interface.”
The iPad also had the potential to save students some money on textbooks. According to the press release, students in one of the trial classes offered this fall can save more than $100 on the textbook for that class by purchasing the electronic version instead of the physical copy.
Although good for students’ pockets, Hargis acknowledged that a rise in digital book sales could cause trouble for bookstores.
“Textbooks are the big item at a university,” Hargis said.
In addition to the students taking these select courses the members of the OSU/Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents will be receiving iPads.
Hargis said one of the primary reasons for the regents receiving the devices is to cut down on paperwork the regents receive.
“There’s a lot of correspondences and materials and volumes of paper that go between the regents office, regents and the universities,” Hargis said. “So if we could somehow minimize those paper, mailing and printing costs then it will be a real positive.”
The iPad also has the potential to save students some money on textbooks.
According to the press release, students in one of the trial classes offered this fall can save more than $100 on the textbook for that class by purchasing the electronic version instead of the physical copy.
Although good for students’ pockets, Hargis acknowledged that a rise in digital book sales could cause trouble for bookstores.
“Textbooks are the big item at a university,” Hargis said.
In addition to the students taking these select courses the members of the OSU/Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents will be receiving iPads.
Hargis said one of the primary reasons for the regents receiving the devices is to cut down on paperwork the regents receive.
“There’s a lot of correspondences and materials and volumes of paper that go between the regents office, regents and the universities,” Hargis said. “So if we could somehow minimize those paper, mailing and printing costs then it will be a real positive.”