During the 2012–13 academic year, CIT invites faculty to join us in investigating iPads and their impact on students’ educational experience in the following ways:

1.  Using iPads to Engage Students In Class

iPads and other mobile devices have great potential to increase engagement during face-to-face class meetings.  A number of applications have been developed that facilitate this.  LectureTools and Nearpod, among others, allow faculty to share presentation materials with students and engage in real-time assessment through quizzes and polling.  Students can also make notes on presentation materials and refer back to these when studying outside of class.  Also, a growing number of applications allow faculty to easily digitally project materials from their devices, and even student-held devices, onto a screen within the classroom.  As iPads become more integrated into the classroom lecture schema, there are also a number of possible uses for instructors employing the Team-Based Learning approach.

This year, CIT will loan iPads to faculty (and students enrolled in their class) who agree to integrate apps designed specifically for use inside the classroom into their curricula. Faculty whose applications are accepted will be asked to participate in specific project planning and evaluation activities, and to share information about their experience using the iPads with CIT.

2.  e-Textbooks – Producing and Consuming

CIT is continuing to investigate the use of e-textbooks in place of more traditional course materials such as printed textbooks and course packs.  E-textbook publishers are continually improving their delivery applications over time in response to a general feeling among students that current solutions are difficult to interact with (navigating, taking notes, bookmarking).

Additionally, programs like Apple’s iBooks Author now allow instructors to quickly and easily create course materials that can be delivered to students via the iPad and other devices.

This year, CIT will loan iPads to faculty who agree to use iBooks Author, or a similar program, to build an e-textbook to use with future classes, or to faculty (and students enrolled in their class) who agree to use e-textbooks to replace traditional course materials.  Faculty whose applications are accepted will be asked to participate in specific project planning and evaluation activities, and to share information about their experience using the iPads with CIT.

Interested faculty members can fill out the Course Loan iPad Application Form.  Please note that first consideration will be given to applications received before June 8, 2012.

About the Program

CIT’s course loaner program iPads are maintained with no pre-loaded apps or content. The iOS and factory installed apps are updated if necessary between semesters by the iPad program manager in the CIT. Faculty apply for the iPads via an online form up to a year ahead of time, including specific explanations of their intended use of the devices to support teaching and learning in their course, and their plans to assess the impact of the devices in their class. iPads for approved courses are delivered to the classroom in the first 1–2 weeks of the semester. Each borrower signs a loaner form agreeing to take financial responsibility for the device, in the event of loss, theft or damage. CIT consultants may provide a brief iPad tutorial for the students, but typically this is unnecessary. CIT staff return to the classroom to pick up the devices at the end of the term, or students make appointments to return the devices to CIT. Students and faculty are asked to complete a brief online survey to provide feedback on their experiences, and faculty or students may also be interviewed. Depending on the project, more involved project planning and evaluation activities may be required, as well.

Impacts in Duke Classes

Students follow video instruction in a Duke School of Nursing Simulation Lab

The iPad program at Duke has yielded a wealth of information regarding potential impacts that the devices may have on student learning and the classroom experience.  Faculty and students report that using iPads in the classroom are particularly useful for:

• Notetaking (with external keyboard)
• Surfing / browsing online / checking email
• Dictating (using speech-to-text app)
• Watching online videos
• Recording audio and video
• Reading e-books / PDFs
• Sketching with stylus
• Social media
• Brainstorming

On the other hand, the Duke academic community has generally found the devices to be less than adequate for:

• Notetaking (using on-screen keyboard)
• Annotating student/peer work
• Sharing among students

Opportunities to use Duke iPads

Duke Faculty can request iPads in two ways:

Exploratory Single iPad Loans

Duke Faculty can request to borrow an iPad or iPad2 to explore iPad functionality for their teaching.  These devices come preloaded with a number of applications that CIT has identified as potentially useful inside the instructional environment.  Faculty may load additional applications to explore if they wish.

The loan period is one week, and faculty may request to borrow an iPad using the Faculty iPad Exploratory Loan Application Form.

Class Semester iPad Loans

The Center for Instructional Technology maintains a pool of approximately 125 iPads and iPad2s dedicated to student/faculty use in semester-long courses.  Interested Duke faculty whose instructional goals are compatible with CIT’s investigative goals may submit an application to use iPads in their class.  To apply, use the Course Loan iPad Application Form.

iPads in CIT’s exploratory loaner pool are kept up-to-date by synching with a master laptop, on which are installed nearly 100 apps considered to be of potential interest to faculty borrowers, along with some sample images, documents and videos. Faculty request a loan via an online form, and visit CIT in person to pick up the iPad and receive a brief tutorial. At the conclusion of the loan, faculty are asked to complete a brief online survey and to provide brief verbal feedback to CIT staff when returning the iPad.