College students at CDI and Vancouver Career College (VCC) headed back to school last week with much lighter loads.
No longer will they have to lug around heavy tome-laden bookbags. Everything they need – from textbooks to assignments and even notes taken in class – will be available on the iPads they receive at the beginning of their school year.
“We believe that e-text and tablet computing (is) going to be the wave of the future,” said Drew Lawrenson, vice-president, senior counsel for Eminata Group, which owns CDI and VCC. “So as part of that, we decided to move toward a tablet and e-text model, which was a monumental project.”
Canada-wide, 10,000 students at Eminata colleges will be getting iPads. Roughly 3,000 of them are in B.C.
In addition to buying 10,000 iPad tablets, Eminata has implemented a learning management system (LMS) – an online portal where students can access their e-books and assignments.
“There was a substantial investment that we had to make in our infrastructure – the development of the LMS and wireless networking through all of our campuses – to make this a reality,” Lawrenson said.
The company ran a pilot project last year involving students in Vancouver and Calgary before rolling out the program across Canada.
The cost of the iPads is included in students’ tuition, and they get to keep them when they’re done.
Students are not restricted to using the iPads for schoolwork. In fact, that’s one of the few drawbacks, according to VCC student Randy Dumlao.
“With the iPad, temptations can come,” he said. “Facebook is there, Twitter is there, Google is there. I won’t lie to you, I am tempted sometimes.”
On the other hand, the iPads make it more convenient to study virtually anywhere, any time.
“It’s easy access,” said Ashley Cortez, a VCC nursing student. “I can bring it anywhere easily and get WiFi. Even offline you can access your books and study anywhere you want.”
The college worked with Apple Education Canada and publishers, like Pearson Canada, to have almost all the textbooks used at Eminata colleges converted to electronic format. Pearson also provided the LMS – an online portal for students where the e-books, assignments and even their notes are available.
If a student happens to lose his or her iPad, or leaves it somewhere and temporarily can’t access it, he or she will still have access to all textbooks, notes and assignments online through the LMS, which can be accessed through any computer.
And because the material is also on the iPad, students can also still access their textbooks even when there’s no WiFi connection.
Typically, e-books cost less than their hard-copy counterparts because there are no printing and paper costs.
But, because the publishers have had to convert so many of the books to electronic format, the textbooks that Eminata is buying from them aren’t any cheaper. The publishers also had to include a host of interactive features, such as the ability to copy and paste text and make notations.
“You can highlight stuff, take notes on it – it’s better than books,” said Prabhdeep Jassal, who is also in VCC’s practical nursing program. “It’s lighter than the textbooks, so you don’t have to carry like 150 pounds of textbooks.”
The e-books also have a search function that allows for quick indexing of material, and a Facetime function that allows for group study even when students are not in the same classroom.
Said Dumlao, “It makes it easier to communicate with other classmates, or even the teachers.” •
