[LINK] University of Adelaide and iPad

[Steven Clark]

  On 11/09/2010 2:08 PM, Brenda Aynsley wrote:
>  On 11/09/10 13:01, Antony Barry wrote:
> > 
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/ipad-replaces-uni-textbooks-at-university-of-adelaide-science-faculty/story-fn5jhv6y-1225918213032
> >
>
>  why oh why lock yourself into a proprietary environment? How short
>  sighted is this?

i haven't looked into this yet (my fiancée is studying at adelaide) but 
i suspect the decision may have been made before the other tablets were 
on the media radar. this decision was probably made months ago.

there may well be a deal with apple to supply the devices at a reduced cost.

i wonder if it's worth enrolling in a science degree for a few 
weeks/months to get a free ipad?

and what about humanities, and other degree programs which are even more 
text-intensive?

hmmm ...

this has been tried with e-readers - e-readers fail for textbooks, 
[http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gadgetreviews/study-e-book-readers-no-digital-newspaper-replacement/11601; 
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gadgetreviews/ivy-league-students-kindle-dx-a-poor-excuse-of-an-academic-tool/7900] 
but are great for reading.

students tend to annotate and highlight and scribble on textbooks. it 
will be interesting to see how this works with something (potentially) 
more flexible.

the idea that an e-reader is more economical than paper textbooks is not 
an adelaide uni innovation 
[http://www.epapercentral.com/nw-missouri-state-university-replaces-textbooks-with-e-books.htm].

Also of interest - moving to the ipad means the uni will have to have 
sorted out electronic versions of textbooks (or more likely, settled for 
available electronic texts). this may well be the (or a substantial) 
reason why they're going with the ipad. availability of content.

i suspect that the locked-downness of the ipad may well be another 
factor in it's favour for the uni. more control over what is and isn't 
on the platform. and students are more likely to be convinced to use it, 
rather than play with it (well, in the minds of some administrators :)

-- 
Steven R Clark, BSc(Hons) LLB/LP(Hons) /Flinders/, MACS, Barrister & 
Solicitor

PhD Scholar
School of Commerce, Division of Business
City West Campus, University of South Australia (UniSA)
http://people.unisa.edu.au/Steven.Clark

Deputy Director, Community Engagement Board (CEB)
Chair, Economic, Legal and Social Issues Committee (ELSIC)
Australian Computer Society (ACS)
http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=show&conID=acscas

*Disclaimer:* This is email is not legal advice. Comments and statements 
above are based on my understanding of the issues at hand, and my 
attempts to understand them. They are intended to add to, and elicit 
discussion. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, opinions and statements 
are mine, not those of UniSA or the ACS.