Can college students learn as well on iPads, e-books?

Oklahoma State University professor Bill Handy has big plans for the Apple iPad this fall. If the text messages he has received since the school announced he would test the tablet-style e-reader in some courses are any indication, students are eager to get their hands on the devices, too.

Handy, who teaches in the School of Media and Strategic Communications, is quick to stress that his intent is not to celebrate the new technology so much as to evaluate its effectiveness in the classroom.

"This is not research to prove that the iPad is great," he says. "There’s a lot riding on what direction the university might take. If it’s not beneficial, (I’ll be) glad we figured that out early in the game."

Compared with traditional textbooks, the iPad and other devices for reading digital bookshave the potential to save on textbook costs in the long term, to provide students with more and better information faster, and — no small matter — to lighten the typical college student’s backpack.

By Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY

Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-10-ebooklearning10_CV_N.htm