iPads On American Campuses? Maybe Next Year

Velcroman1 writes "Slashdotters have read extensively about the iPad pilot programs at colleges and universities: Australian schools are iPad crazy, we read yesterday, and thanks to the iPad's success, 2011 will be the year of the tablet. But on US college campuses almost half a year after the iPad's launch, it's a whole different story — at least so far this year. FoxNews.com reports that high-profile schools like Duke and Stanford are far more cautious about the device than has previously been reported. 'It definitely facilitates studying and recall because you don't get bogged down by all the paper,' noted first-year Stanford med student Ryan Flynn. But it's still a work in progress. 'The iPad isn't the best input device. Some people have gone back to paper and pencil.'"

Comments

Budget

[Pojut]

College students on a budget would also have a hard time justifying the cost of a laptop or high-end netbook, while having only half the functionality. Ditto for universities looking to purchase them for students.

With the way most colleges and college students are going nowadays (as far as finances are concerned), this shouldn't be much of a surprise...

Re:Budget

[Anonymous Coward]

No Flash, which imposes a restriction on quite a few websites that utilize it.

Crippled ability to print anything -- you can buy the $30 Apple Camera Adapter to get some USB support, and/or simply email whatever you need to print to a computer, but what a pain.

Limited ability to copy files to and from an iPad -- media files, the limited number Apple sanctions can be transferred via iTunes. VLC has surprisingly been allowed into the tightly-controlled iOS app world but since there's no USB ports, no ethernet, and no user accessible file structure to even copy files back and forth you're limited to Apple approved apps for everything. Want to transfer a .doc file? Well you need to buy iWorks to work with it. There's no home directory, no 'My Documents', nothing except Apple apps to manipulate files.

iPads are touted as being great ebook viewers (and they actually are). But in the matter of reading a book on your iPad and also composing a paper means being able to have at least two apps open, something to view with and something to write with (well, at least three because a web browser is almost invaluable now). Being able to switch between them or view both side by side on a computer, that's not a problem, on an iPad that's another matter.

Usage of Skype means you need a webcam. Most laptops have them built in now, and even on a computer without one you can buy a USB external webcam. Remember, no USB on an iPad (outside of the adapter kit option, which gives you limited USB options).

iPads have a lot of pluses like the interface, battery life, instant-on, etc. but there are a lot of limitations too.

The lockdown begins...

[Microlith]

I suppose it's a good thing to see a locked down system like the iPad slowly displace relatively unrestricted computers in college. Convince everyone as they go through school that restrictive, vendor controlled platforms are the way things should be, and you'll make them all the more amenable to heavy DRM.

Re:I don't think so

[DeathFromSomewhere]

iPad can already watch videos downloaded from TPB and has a netflix app for streaming video. Some Android tablets being released in the coming months have HDMI outputs on them as well as USB ports. All this while still being cheaper then a laptop and having better battery life. Also most have 3G connectivity so there is no need to be stuck near a hotspot while working. I know I will be buying a Notion Ink Adam when they are released.

Paper and pencil

[massysett]

As a law student, at first I used a laptop to take notes in class. I had a 14-inch laptop and it wasn't light, especially when you factor in the power cord. I got tired of lugging the thing around.

This was years ago, so light laptops were quite expensive and there were no netbooks. One guy had a Palm and a fold-up keyboard. I thought of getting this but I couldn't justify the expense.

Then I realized I was making this way too complicated. I got a bunch of $2 spiral notebooks and started taking those to class instead. I could write a lot faster on a laptop, but I realized that having page after page of class notes was not really helpful anyway. Without the laptop and all the distractions it brought, I could focus better in class. In the end I was glad I had stopped using the laptop. My bag was a lot lighter too.

I think computers in the classroom could perhaps be helpful, but only if the professor actually takes steps to integrate them--maybe by teaching from materials that are online. Law school instructional methods do nothing to take advantage of laptops, so they just end up being a burden. An iPad is even less functional than a laptop, so I doubt it would be useful in most classrooms. I don't see how medical school would differ from law school in this regard.