The Slow-Motion Mobile Campus by Josh Keller

Stanford University, birthplace of Google, Yahoo, and Cisco, is surely one of the most tech-savvy campuses in the world. A survey last year of 200 iPhone-owning Stanford students portrayed them as digitally obsessed, even addicted. Most slept next to their phones. A quarter said their phones were "dangerously alluring."

Photo: The Chronicle of Higher Education

But when Stanford's School of Medicine lent iPads to all new students last August, a curious thing happened: Many didn't like using them in class. Officials had hoped to stop printing an annual average of 3,700 pages of course materials per medical student, encouraging them to use digital materials instead. Some students rebelled, and Stanford was forced to resume offering printed notes to those who wanted them. In most classes, half the students had stopped using their iPads only a few weeks into the term.

The Chronicle visited Stanford, whose use of mobile technology is far ahead of most colleges', to see the promise and pitfalls of the transition to a mobile-friendly campus. Officials here have big plans. They hope to replace students' ID cards with electronic versions stored on their phones. They hope to replace some paper textbooks with tablet-based digital textbooks. They hope to help cultivate a new generation of student entrepreneurs focused on mobile technology. A progressive stance toward mobile technology, the officials believe, will help set Stanford apart.
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Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education