iPad Replacing Textbooks in Oklahoma State University Initiative

Oklahoma State University has announced plans to equip students with iPads, according to a report posted earlier this week. Citing Oklahoma State University President Burns Hargis, the report claims that select courses in the School of Media and Strategic Communications and the Spears School of Business at both the Stillwater and Tulsa campuses will pilot an iPad initiative during the Fall 2010 semester.

Leading the initiative are Bill Handy, a visiting assistant professor in the School of Media and Strategic Communications, and Tracy Suter, who is an associate professor of marketing in the Spears School of Business. Focusing on specific measurable outcomes, each class will integrate the iPad differently, the report claims. The Apple tablet will be used for academic purposes only, the report says. One aim is to explore innovative and tactical uses specific to the needs of each school’s industry.

“We will evaluate the academic enhancement to the courses, how the iPad and its specific apps and web-based tools can be integrated in this capacity, and perhaps most importantly, how the integration of these mobile tools can expand the tactical abilities of students as they enter the workforce,” Hargis said, according to MacsimumNews. “This pilot initiative will provide valuable insight into the research benefits of the Apple iPad in the classroom,” he added. “The iPad has had an amazing impact since being introduced and we are excited to be able to put this powerful and creative tool in the hands of students and faculty and see what happens.”

“This limited pilot will be focused on fields of study where we believe we can best determine the higher education value of the iPad,” says Handy. “We will evaluate the academic enhancement to the courses, how the iPad and its specific apps and web-based tools can be integrated in this capacity, and perhaps most importantly, how the integration of these mobile tools can expand the tactical abilities of students as they enter the workforce.”

“I certainly have ideas of how I would like to use an iPad,” said Tracy Suter. “But collectively we will discover new uses a single individual might not have conceived independently. Putting the newest technology in the hands of students allows them to stretch the limits of how it can be used.”

The initiative will reportedly keep track of cost savings, with students using the iPad allegedly saving more than $100 on a single textbook. Thanks to the iPad’s capabilities, the book can be downloaded in an e-format, as existing users should well be aware. OSU has also made its acquaintance with iTunesU and YouTube, according to the same report.