Technology is taking over the world and Northeast Community College is jumping on board.
Starting the spring semester of 2013, approximately 300 students will be able to check out iPads and use them in their classes for the entire semester.
For 6 months, John Blaylock, Vice President of Education Services, and about 18 other faculty members have been working together to bring more technology to NECC. The iPads were purchased with money from student technology fees as well as fees the school has for technology and equipment.
The iPad is only the first step for Northeast, however; the feedback from the staff and students over this semester will help decided if the new technology is actually helping students and teachers. Blaylock hopes to see more varieties of technology used in the future.
“I just think it really speaks to who Northeast Community College is and what we want to be in the future” Blaylock said.
Classes ranging from speech to business to vet tech, taught by those 18 faculty members will be getting iPads for each student in the class. The students will be able to use the iPads not just in that class but also in other classes and at home as well.
Each instructor will be able to implement the iPads in different ways and students are encouraged to share new ways they have utilized them.
“I hope to see improved student learning. I hope to see students engaged,” says Blaylock, “and seeing that Northeast Community College is part of delivering an education in the 21st century using mobile devices, using technology, as well as seeing instructors that are engaged with that same type of technology.”
So far the staff has been working hard to make the processes of getting the iPads to the students to run as smooth as possible, and it seems to be working.
There is an immediate response by the students, who are very excited to have this technology in their hands.
