The Digital Reader

The student newspaper for Abilene Christian University, the optimist, are reporting:

Students in Dr. Ian Shepherd’s microeconomics class were greeted with more than just a syllabus on their first day of class Tuesday. The students were told they will be given iPads and told they will be among the first in the nation to use a textbook on the device.

The 50 students in Shepherd’s class, along with 14 students in a senior level marketing course taught by Dr. Rick Lytle, will be issued iPads with the preloaded digital text book for their course. Students will not pay for the iPad or digital textbook, but will return the device at the end of the semester.

ACU is collaborating with iPad textbook developer Inkling to investigate the textbook and platform along with some other software being used in the class.

Curiously enough, last fall ACU ran another pilot with an iPhone textbook app. ACU are probably working with the same developers.