The Illinois Institute of Technology announced today that it would be providing all incoming, first-year undergraduate students with iPads as part of an initiative to “integrate new technologies into the classroom and foster educational innovation among faculty and students.”
The university, which has close to 3,000 undergraduate students, says that educational applications for iPad, such as eBooks, Blackboard Mobile Learn, and iTunes University, will enhance students’ educational experience. The initiative will also be used IIT students and faculty will also develop new applications that will increase classroom interactivity and collaboration.
Universities seem to have a love-hate relationship with the iPad. Some see it as a threat to college bookstores, and the device has had some connectivity and security issues at certain colleges.