Lynn University in Florida is going to require all new students to buy an iPad.  But this is no big deal, right?

Why should college students who voted overwhelmingly for a president who requires them to buy health insurance object to a college which requires them to buy Apple products?

Alexandra Tilsley of Inside Higher Ed reports.

iPad U.

When the Commission on Presidential Debates selected Lynn University as the site for the third presidential debate, it probably didn’t realize that hosting the debate would force Lynn to upgrade its wireless infrastructure to accommodate the thousands of reporters who would swarm the campus – and that those upgrades would be significantly discounted because of the debate. This turned out to be just the push the university needed to launch a program it had been discussing for a while: moving its new core curriculum to the iPad.

“We thought we were a few years out, but realized after the debate that we could throw that switch. We’re set up now for a mobile environment in a way we never were before,” said Lynn President Kevin Ross.

University administrators had been eyeing a move toward the iPad for some time. Since revamping its core curriculum, an 18-month process that started in 2006, Lynn has been looking for ways to integrate technology. The core curriculum, called the Dialogues of Learning, is highly prescriptive, ensuring similar experiences for all students, and is grounded in the liberal arts.

“We began to think, what if we could take the liberal arts and make them really come alive through some rich media, and a platform that would allow students to engage in and outside of the classroom, and allow them to engage in a variety of ways based on learning style?” Ross said.

After meeting with Apple representatives and learning more about iTunes U and the iPad, Lynn officials became convinced iPads were the way to go.