Why I Requested an Apple iPad 2 from Rutgers University

Last year, I made a few waves when I posted, "Why I Returned the Apple iPad Tablet to Rutgers University." Now, I'm requesting an Apple iPad 2 to use to teach my Social Media Marketing and Digital Marketing courses in the Rutgers Mini-MBA program. So, have I changed my mind, or has the iPad changed to become what I had in mind all along?

Here's the backstory: In July 2010, Matt Bailey, the president and founder of SiteLogic Marketing, Cindy Krum, the Chief Executive Officer of Rank-Mobile, and I taught some of the courses in the first Rutgers Mini-MBA: Digital Marketing course. In December 2010, Heidi Cohen, the president of Riverside Marketing Strategies, Liana "Li" Evans, the co-founder and CEO of LiBeck Integrated Marketing, and I taught some of the courses in the first Rutgers Mini-MBA: Social Media Marketing course.

The Rutgers Center for Management Development (CMD) had supplied all the students in both courses with their own free Apple iPads, which contained pre-loaded instructional materials. ?The participants in both courses liked their iPads.

More importantly, they liked the courses, as the video clip below shows.

But when I was finished teaching the courses, I returned the iPad that I'd had been loaned to the Rutgers Center for Management Development.

Now, I didn't return the iPad to Rutgers because I hated it. And I didn't mind being asked to test Apple's bleeding edge technology.

But in its initial incarnation, I thought the iPad was "a left-handed teaching tool." It was on the brink of the verge of the edge of replacing my laptop, but it wasn't quite there at that point in time.

Still, the iPad showed a lot of promise and developers were starting to launch some killer apps. So, I was just waiting before giving it a second chance.

Now, I'm ready to do that.

The Rutgers Mini-MBA Program will be offering an accelerated Social Media Marketing course during the week of June 6-12, and an accelerated Digital Marketing course during the week of July 11-15. And Rutgers CMD will be providing each student in both courses with instructional materials and business case studies pre-loaded on a new Apple iPad 2.

And as one of the faculty members who will be teaching classes in both courses, I want to use an Apple iPad 2.

Why now? Because the iPad 2 is significantly better than the initial iPad.

Walt Mossberg of AllThingsD says, says, "The iPad 2 moves the goal posts, by being slimmer and lighter, boosting speed and power, and holding its price advantages, available apps and battery life. As of now, I can comfortably recommend it as the best tablet for average consumers."

David Pogue of The New York Times says, "You can now connect the iPad to a hi-def TV, thanks to a single H.D.M.I. adapter ($40) that carries both audio and hi-def video. What you see on the TV mirrors whatever is on the iPad, which makes it a great setup for teaching, slide shows, presentations, YouTube and movies. It works automatically and effortlessly."

And Tim Gideon of PCMag.com says: "The clear standout in the ever-widening sea of tablets, the Apple iPad 2 brings a slimmer design, faster processing, dual cameras, and FaceTime video chat to a tablet that already had a leg up on the competition."

Plus, there are now 65,000 apps for the iPad. Among the ones that I plan to use in class are:

Flipboard, which gives my students a way to flip through the news, photos, and updates that their friends are sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, and Flickr, enabling them to see all their social media in a magazine layout that's easy to scan and fun to read.OmniGraffle, which enables my students to create diagrams, process charts, website wireframes, and other designs with the ease of Multi-Touch on the iPad.iMovie, which enables my students in my Video Marketing class to turn the HD video they shoot on their iPads into a masterpiece worthy of the red carpet.Keynote, which enables my students to create presentations with custom graphic styles, elegantly designed themes, stunning animations and effects, and powerful features designed for the iPad.Pages, which has everything my students need to put their words into beautiful documents, including Apple-designed templates and easy-to-use formatting tools.

With these apps, I can use an Apple iPad 2 with either my left or right hand to teach my Social Media Marketing and Digital Marketing courses at Rutgers this summer.

So, have I changed my mind, or has the iPad changed to become what I had in mind all along?

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iPad Study Released by Oklahoma State University

Press Release Source: Oklahoma State University On Tuesday May 3, 2011, 10:38 am EDT

STILLWATER, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Oklahoma State University has formally released its internal findings on an iPad pilot conducted during the Fall 2010 semester, showing that the device had a positive impact in an academic environment.

“We put this powerful and creative tool in the hands of faculty and students and the end result reached beyond enhancing the academic experience of our students,” said OSU President Burns Hargis. “The report outlines a possible decrease to student and administrative expenses, increased productivity, and how the iPad crosses between academic and personal barriers.”

Bill Handy, visiting assistant professor in the School of Media and Strategic Communications, and Tracy Suter, Ph.D. associate professor of marketing in the Spears School of Business, led the initiative. Each class integrated the iPad differently but both focused on specific measurable outcomes including: expense impact, how the devise was used, viability as an E-Reader and overall enhancement to a student’s academic experience.

“Consensus is the integration of the iPad can enhance a student’s academic experience and have a positive impact for faculty as well,” said Handy. “We used the iPad in every aspect of our course. The most important consideration is the device must be truly integrated. Simply distributing the device without evaluation of how the course might be modified for its use limits the impact.”

Among the enhancements noticed by both professors was an increase to the pace of the course, reaching traditional benchmarks sometimes weeks in advance.

“The increased pace is likely attributed to the mobile functionality of the device which allowed students to work in any environment, the change to the classroom environment, and the ability of all students to have complete access to the same technology, creating an equal and level playing field,” said Suter.

Both professors recommend the university should consider the full deployment of iPads for all students. Deans and department heads were given instructions to evaluate how best to use this and any technology device to enhance their student’s involvement.

Oklahoma State University is a modern land-grant system that cuts across disciplines to better prepare students for success. Oklahoma’s only university with a statewide presence, OSU improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach. OSU has more than 35,000 students across its five-campus system and more than 23,000 on its Stillwater campus, with students from all 50 states and 118 nations. Established in 1890, OSU has graduated more than 200,000 students who have made a lasting impact on Oklahoma and the world.

Executive Summary

Oklahoma State University/Apple iPad Pilot Program

During the Fall 2010 semester, five sections of two courses across two colleges and two campuses participated in the Apple iPad Pilot Program. Professor Bill Handy, School of Media and Strategic Communications, and Professor Tracy Suter, Ph.D., Spears School of Business led the project. In addition, Professor Bobbi Kay Hooper, Ph.D., School of Media and Strategic Communications, included the pilot in a larger pedagogical study. Below is an overview of the key outcomes.

Did the iPad increase or decrease expenses? While difficult to fully quantify, there is evidence to suggest a decrease in student expenses with maximum integration. Electronic versions of student textbooks were less expensive than traditional textbooks. If a student were to purchase e-books, the possible savings could cover the iPad hardware costs in two semesters. The university could also benefit from decreased paper and printing costs while the use of “cloud” computing could reduce future network storage needs.

How was the iPad used among students and faculty? iPad use had professional and personal benefits. Focusing on professional benefits, students were able to use the iPad in ways that outflanked a traditional computer, be it laptop or desktop. The iPad also was used as a substitute for paper and pen. Faculty were able to explore and recommend course-specific apps (i.e., software) to enhance the learning environment. Given the size and scope of Apple’s App Store, there were thousands of educational software possibilities plus having a built-in Web browser made the Internet more readily available.

Was the integration of an E-Reader an enhancement or detraction to the academic experience? The responses were mixed. On the one hand, students liked using the iPad to house their textbooks and suggested it promoted more reading. On the other hand, reactions from the beginning-of-the-semester expectations of planned use to the end-of-the-semester actual use saw e-book reading exhibiting the greatest change, a substantial decrease. Students thought they would use the iPad as an e-reader but did not do so as much as initially planned.

Was the integration of the iPad an enhancement to the academic experience? Self-report responses by pilot students indicated that 75 percent agreed or strongly agree with the statement, “I think the iPad enhanced the learning experience of this course.” Upon more detailed review, that number jumps to 92.8 percent among students who owned a Mac and falls to 70.4 percent among students who owned a PC. Survey results also showed only 3 percent of students in one course would opt out of the iPad course for an identical course which didn’t include the iPad. From a faculty perspective, the greatest benefit was having uniform hardware and software available across the class. Said differently, faculty knew all students had access to the same learning tools. This was critical when planning assignments and class activities.

In sum, the iPad pilot was a very valuable program for OSU to undertake. The instructional mission of the university is important and continuing to investigate means to enhance the instructional mission positively serves many university constituents. Because of the overall improvements to the academic experience of both faculty and students it is our recommendation the university should consider the full deployment of iPads for all students.

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