iPAD in academic settings: A pilot project

Abstract

After the emergence of desktop computers, laptops and smartphones, the iPad (or any other tablet) represents one of the newest technology conveniences that teachers can utilize for their work. Tablets in general have been around for only about three years; their popularity, however, has climbed quite high among teachers at all levels of the educational system. Still, a question arises whether teachers can truly exploit all the different possibilities that tablets could mean for their practices, or whether the devices are mostly used for rather basic procedures such as surfing the Web, reading emails, taking photos and reading news posts. 
 In this context, the E-learning Office at the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, decided to launch a pilot project investigating possibilities of applying iPads in the academic environment. The project encompasses lending out iPads to selected teachers with the aim of getting complex feedback on their experiences, running a series of specialized workshops for lecturers as well as students to try out different application opportunities, and gathering global data on the use of mobile technologies among the faculty. This paper summarizes the outcomes of the first stage of this project, providing interesting insights about opportunities and challenges of m-learning in higher education.