“Unitec has become the first New Zealand tertiary institute to use iPads to deliver tailored course literature electronically,” Unitec reports. “To make study easier and more efficient for those at the start of their Bachelor of Business degrees, lecturer James Oldfield has ditched the books and gone digital in what could be a test case for other departments. By replacing hefty textbooks with tablets loaded with relevant course information, Oldfield says first year students taking accounting and finance and marketing and management papers get just what they need.”
“Instead of purchasing a series of expensive books students access tailored course literature on a tablet. ‘In the first four courses we have created a series of multi-touch textbooks using iBooks Author that they get for free so they are no longer required to buy text books,’ Oldfield says,” Unitec reports. “Students need an iPad of their own and to get everyone up and running a deal between Unitec and JB Hi-Fi allowed them to get a discounted package. It worked out that the money saved on books would cover the basic package.”
Unitec reports, “Oldfield says while the programme is limited to just the first year courses now, as students advance through their studies and e-publishing becomes more widespread the devices could be used across other courses.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "David G." for the heads up.]
Tagged: education, iBooks Author, iOS, iPad, James Oldfield, New Zealand, Unitec, Unitec Institute of Technology 
