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.