According to a recent article, Abilene Christian University will soon acquire 20 iPads so that faculty can begin exploring potential pilot opportunities for the device and research how future generations will consume textbooks. Kenneth Pybus, assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at the university, believes that there are many opportunities for the device. Pybus commented, “I can’t guarantee it will be a game-changer in reading and learning, just like I can’t guarantee it will be a game-changer in news consumption. But it’s the best possibility to come along in the past 100 years.”
Faculty are also encouraged to come up with new app ideas for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. By this fall, all students at the university will be participating in the mobile learning program which provides an iPhone or iPod Touch device to all incoming freshman. Developers at the university have already created several interesting applications for the university and according to MacNewsWorld, they have been working on an iPad app for their student newspaper. Kenneth Pybus noted, “We can’t wait until [the iPad] is adopted by a critical mass of people. We want to be up and running and there when they’re ready for us.” Compared to the newspaper app that was developed for the iPhone/iPod Touch, the iPad app will have better interfacing to Facebook and better integration of video, photos, and text.
