The iPad became available to the public in last March. Not long after, news spread of certain universities considering giving their freshmen more than their class schedules. The popular question became "Free iPads for freshmen?"
Chicago State University and the Illinois Institute of Technology decided to give their entire incoming full-time freshman student body and their professors the new devices. Chicago State also had more student giveaways during student registration.
According to Chicago State's website, the first 25 students who registered each day received concert tickets featuring the rapper Yung Joc, and the first 100 students who registered each day received flash drives. Chicago State freshmen received not only congratulations on their admission but also the news confirming the buzz about their iPads this year.
"Students will not own the iPads until finishing their junior year with the university," said Isaac Fleming, a Chicago State freshman.
If the students leave the school before then, they would have to return the device or pay an adjusted price for it. Fleming has not yet received his iPad.
"Our bottom line goal is to help our students perform," university President Wayne Watson told the Chicago Tribune. "Our goal is to take a cohort of students and immerse them in this new world order of information."
Whether rooting for the success or fail of the iPad in classrooms, it is rather interesting to witness such a change amongst these educational institutions. In these social times the necessity for up-to-date technology is recognized, yet its introduction to academia is becoming a popular trend.
Stanford Medical School, Northwest Tech, Seton Hall University and the University of Maryland are just a few of the schools who have decided to distribute iPads to certain students. George Fox University and Oklahoma Christina offer students either a Mac Book Pro or an iPad.
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