University To Offer iPad's To Student's

 
According to Macsimum News, George Fox University of Oregon, seems to be the first in offering it college
students a choice of MacBook or an iPad. Chief information officer, Greg Smith, said, 'The issue for us is the changing landscape of educational computing and the value dilution of a laptop for a traditional undergraduate.' Smith commented that offering the iPad as an alternative to the MacBook is well-suited  for students who already have a laptop of their own, or students who may think the iPad will be a better fit for them than a full-sized MacBook.

With potential issues associated with the iPad, Smith wonders if it will be able to fully meet students' educational needs. According to Smith, 'These are the kinds of questions we really won't know the answer to until we get started.' As of now there is no confirmation as to what models of the iPad will be offered by the university to incoming students, but speculation is that it won't  be the 3G-enabled .

It will be very interesting to see how George Fox University's experiment plays out over the next year.

What are your thought on this? Do you think that the students will choose to sacrifice the higher performance and flexibility of a MacBook over the ease of use and portability of the iPad? Share your thoughts and comments with us.