Vlerick Leuven Gent Management gives students iPads in place of paper

 | July 05,2012 10:54 pm IST

 Anyone starting the MBA-FSI programme at Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School in November will now be doing so without paper. Instead each participant will receive their own iPad containing pre-configured applications and specially designed course material.

The iPad will digitise all case studies and replace text books. Once the participants complete the course they get to keep the iPad. 

 

Programme manager Jonathan De Grande of Vlerick says that the benefits are clear; better for the environment, cost-effective and more interactive ways of teaching. He also says the international nature of our MBA-FSI course makes it a perfect test model. Until now, folders containing printed course material were always dispatched from Belgium to their destination. The use of the iPad therefore means not only the elimination of paper but a reduction in the ecological footprint by avoiding unnecessary transport of documents. 

 

The School is expecting positive feedback from participants. Replacing the need to carry fat and heavy folders when travelling via plane with a lightweight digital carrier that is compact, user-friendly and cost-effective should enhance the learning experience for students, says De Grande. 

 

He adds; Asides from relieving the previous burden of document transportation, the iPad can open the door to new and more effective ways of learning. Lectures are enriched with interactive material, video and other digital possibilities, and the ability to link iPads wirelessly ensures sharing of information within group projects is both easier and quicker. 

 

Feedback from students will be analysed from this initial pilot scheme and decisions as to whether the move from paper to digital content is feasible for other courses at Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School will be made.

 

Concluded.

 

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