IPads in action: lessons learned from the classroom

The University of Notre Dame Academic Technologies group has been experimenting for four semesters with how iPads can be used effectively as a teaching and learning tool. Their staff collaborated with faculty from the Colleges of Business, Law, Arts, and Letters and the Hesburgh Libraries to purchase 50 iPads for this multiyear pilot project. They recruited faculty to offer their students the chance to use tablets as e-readers, as mobile web devices, and for project presentations. Pilot students were issued an iPad prior to the start of the semester and encouraged to use the tablet as much or as little as they chose, both in and out of class.

Based on 16 months of pilot testing, They are close to making recommendations for increasing the use of tablets in teaching and learning applications at the University of Notre Dame.

iPads were very much used for:

1) eReading:

using the iPad as eReader was rather successfull. Students were very enthusiastic about this. They used eTextbooks the University made available as eBooks they found themselves.

A lot of students used iPads for 100% of the course readings. For other courses (not in the experiment) this was about 50% (nota been bij dezelfde studenten) and still much more then students who did nog have an iPad.

eTextbooks through:

- CourseSmart (erkende publishers as Pearson, McGraw Hill, etc) publish trough CourseSmart

- Kno : 150.000 titles, we reader, iPad App, evolving rapidly

- iTunes U app is momentarily most in use. They also Work with iTunes U author & iTunes U course manager.

Results survays. See paper "Towards the paperless class"

2) note taking:

Using Stylist helps a lot In making notes. Students fale the "save" button.

3) Presentations

Very succellfull application of the iPad.

- keynote

- Letterpress

4) Collaboration

A lot of usefully tools available. It gets better every day.

Used a lot of mind mapping

IT Support

It feedback: better then expectedw

Still a lot of Challenges

Limited functionality via the learning management system (Bb, then, now Bb Mobile available)

Supporting faculty needs attention. Faculty involved using iPads nowadays for about everything!

Students more responsive to faculty requests for extra reading and research

Students feed back:

A) Pros

- Portability

- Consolidation

- Battery life

- Versatility

- Connectedness

- Social median

- Games

Cons

- still lots of shortcomings on eRading and making notes at the same time in the eDocuments.

- Note taking

- No "save" button

- Multitasking was not that easy