When Every Student Has an iPad

“When Every Student Has an iPad” was presented by Amelia Cohoes, Associate Librarian, Erica Nutzman, Library Director, and Carol Roos, Campus Librarian, all with Globe University. In the Fall of 2013, all faculty and students at Globe University went to an exclusive iPad format for all instruction and service deliverables, including the library. Cohoes, Nutzman, and Roos shared their experiences with shifting to an all-iPad campus and the new tools they incorporated into their services. They reviewed all of their proprietary databases and found that all were iPad accessible except one. They found that the content from the one resource was not duplicated or complimentary in another resource so they decided to renew the contract for one year while investigating other options. They built their course guides and recreated their APA guide in iTunes U and adapted new (free) apps to deliver instruction. They found the apps Nearpod and Socrative to be popular with students because they allowed for interactivity and kept their focus throughout the sessions. They realized that if they didn’t keep the students engaged, they would lose them quickly. One of the first things the campus identified as needing to be addressed with their iPad initiative was an increase in wifi demand on campus. Before the iPads were distributed, they built up their wifi infrastructure to make sure it could take the load. There have been challenges the library staff have identified since the campus launched the iPad initiative. One has been an understanding that Internet access was not equal to all students off campus. Because of this they encourage students to download as many pdfs and guides as they need for their coursework while on campus. The library has also become a central point for user education. There is a broad range of users, and some students need more help than others, but they noticed that all of the students were very excited to learn how to use their new iPads. They have offered workshops on using the iPad and have created FAQs and guides. One barrier has been no capacity for printing on campus. This continues to be a struggle for them but hope to address the issue soon. Lastly, they have been reviewing ebook accessibility via iPad apps vs. browser-based resource access. They pointed out the three ebook vendors they currently subscribe to and how they worked in each environment. Zinio has seen the largest increase in usage since October and they get 94% of mobile traffic from iPads. One new and fun thing they have started is creating information literacy scavenger hunts in the library encouraging students to use their iPads to reveal QR code hints placed in various places throughout the library. The students find it fun and the librarians have learned that it captures their attention making for a fun learning tool.