And so it begins... Seton Hill University to give all students an iPad

Is it really <i>gives</i> all students an iPad? More like they <i>up your tuition and force</i> an iPad on you. Nothing is free, but they sure can spin it that way.

Who pays for the iPads? Presumably it is in the tuition fees? In any case it is probably more of an advertising thing than a revolutionary teaching thing.<p>Can't get mom and pops to buy you an iPad? Go to Seton Hill and they don't have a choice but buy you one.

&#62; "Students will be able to download their textbooks to their iPads from the iBook Store. In addition, iPads can be used as phones and for air and file sharing, as well as note-taking."<p>The iPad isn't a phone. Many textbooks don't have good PDF versions. If the file sharing is similar to the iPhone (and it looks that way) it's going to be a lousy share-by-email experience. You can't use the Dropbox app (or similar), because Dropbox files live in the "Dropbox" directory, and your other files will be in the "Documents" or "Presentations" directory. And note-taking? Sure you're joking. The iPad is a "hunt-and-peck-required" device. How can you possibly pay attention when you spend a full minute on every sentence?<p>I suspect this will end up as a major disappointment -- the iPad isn't ready to replace a laptop yet. It's a consumer's device, and college isn't exclusively about consumption of content.

This is based on extensive testing of the iPads in their classrooms? No, just hype. If this is the normal operating procedure for Seton Hill I would transfer now.

Wow. I can remember from something under 20 years ago, Seton Hill was listed among the most financially troubled schools in the US. Guess admitting men might have helped.

If textbooks from iBookstore is cheaper than paperbacks, this will definitely work!