Students return to tablets in college classrooms – The Hawk Newspaper | Tech Reddy

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In their youth, college students with iPads may equate them to building worlds in Minecraft or beating different levels in Roblox, but these devices are increasingly being used in college classrooms.

According to Digital Information World, tablet sales will reach a peak of 41 million units in the second quarter of 2022. About 12.6 million of those tablets were Apple iPads.

Julia Iacovella ’24 started using the iPad this year after seeing study tips on YouTube where students were using the iPad to study.

“I always like to look at how other people study, and a lot of people have used an iPad and they say it’s more efficient and easier to go back to notes after two years,” Iacovella said. “I thought it looked pretty useful.”

Iacovella, a biology major, said she finds the iPad useful for studying science.

“If we have an open note, I can dictate all my notes,” Iacovella said. “When I want to find something quickly, it’s very easy to go back to find something while I’m reading.”

Julia Oseka ’25, a physics major with minors in theology and religious studies, said her iPad is much easier to carry around campus than a laptop.

“It’s convenient because it’s light,” Oseka said. “I also have a keyboard case so I can type on it just like I would on a laptop, so that’s really helpful when I’m writing in history class.”

A favorite among college students, the iPad Pro is available online and in stores. The Professor costs about $749 for an 11-inch display and 128GB, but goes up to $1,799 for 2TB. 128GB for the 12.9-inch display costs $999, with the largest 2TB storage costing $2,099. Samsung Galaxy tablets, a popular choice for Android users, sell for $200-$350, 128GB tablets sell for around $329, and are another alternative to the iPad.

But Iacovella said her iPad was worth every penny.

“If it’s in your budget, I think it’s totally worth it,” Iacovella said. “Honestly, it was a game-changer for me and my studies.”

For students interested in buying a tablet, a used iPad can be cheaper, says Jason Greene, of McMobile Inc., a computer store in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. According to Green, sales of used tablets at McMobile Inc. have increased.

“We primarily sell Macintosh computers, but we’re seeing a lot of used iPads being sold from us,” Green said. “We don’t sell new ones, but iPads are widely used in schools and everywhere.”

One of the biggest advantages of the iPad is its touch screen, which makes the device versatile.

“You can do a lot with them,” Green said. “I think the big thing that people are interested in is the touch screen factor. Regular Macs don’t have touch screens.”

With the touch screen, Iacovella can combine his notes with the drawings of the charts.

“We’re always drawing diagrams and paths and things like that,” Iacovella said. “It’s so nice to have something visual like this and to be able to draw and write on it. But when I used paper notes, I had to draw the whole diagram and then put my notes on top, so it took a lot of time.”

In addition to the note-taking feature, Oseka says the touchscreen element for the iPad allows students to annotate PDF presentations directly, making it even more versatile in use.

According to Green, the functionality gives the iPad an edge over desktops or even laptops.

“The Macintosh or PC has a whole Windows interface, and the iPad is a very simple interface,” Green said. “Because of their simplicity, I think that’s why so many people have adopted them and why they’re so popular. It doesn’t take much to understand computers to use the iPad.”

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