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Monday, September 13, 2010

Early results from iPad pilot at University of Notre Dame

An article on Forbes.com discusses the results from the first survey of a test group of students using iPads at the University of Notre Dame. While the students have only been using the devices for a short time, the overall results are positive. Corey Angst, Assistant Professor of Management, and the faculty member teaching the class, noted that he anticipated more negative feedback. “In [Information Technology] research, we almost always see a slight dip in satisfaction after a couple weeks of usage. In this case, we saw very little of that.”

Below is a listing of some of the pros and cons that were expressed by the students.

Pros

  • Encouraged exploration of additional topics
  • Provided functions/tools that are not possible with a traditional textbook
  • Made coursework more interesting
  • Improved collaboration among team members
  • Helped with organization
  • Made bags/backpacks much lighter
  • Used for reading in other courses and non-academic reading
  • Reduced paper usage

Cons

  • Distracting due to games, apps, and web browser
  • Concerned about the effects of spending so much time looking at a screen
  • More difficult to highlight text on an iPad than a regular book

Notre Dame plans to rotate the iPads among different classes next semester. The university aims to create an “e-publishing ecosystem” for the entire university in the future.