This document summarizes research from a project studying the use of iPads for teaching and learning. It provides an overview of the courses involved, research questions, data collection methods, initial survey results of students' and instructors' technology use, examples of how iPads were used in courses, findings from analyzing iPad settings and apps, and themes that emerged from the research. Key findings included issues with relying on WiFi connectivity, students preferring print books to e-books, and most only using iPads as prescribed without customization. The document concludes with recommendations that iPads be integrated carefully into courses and that instructors address technological and institutional challenges.

1. T EACHING
AND
L EARNING
WITH IPADS
Michael Faris, Patricia
Gael, Stuart Selber
Department of English, UP
Image by Flickr user John Federico
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnfederico/4519786150/sizes/o/in/photostream/>

2. P ROJECT T EAM
English, UP: Michael Faris, Patricia Gael, Stuart
Selber
ITS: Cole Camplese, Erin Long, Jason Heffner, Brian
Young
Bedford/St. Martin's

3. R ESEARCH Q UESTIONS FOR
THE P ROJECT
How do people write and read technical documents
on multipurpose mobile devices like the iPad, which
converge and enable a wide spectrum of literacy
activities?
What are the infrastructural requirements and
constraints for devices that tie to individual systems
like iTunes accounts rather than academic
institutional systems like Angel?

4. R ESEARCH Q UESTIONS
( CONT .)
What decisions will teachers need to make when
designing courses to incorporate the numerous and
diverse applications available for multipurpose
mobile devices like the iPad?
What do new types of distributed, networked
support systems employed on devices like the iPad
change about the function of technical
communication itself?

5. C OURSES IN THE I P AD
P ROJECT
English 202C: Technical Writing (required
undergraduate course for science and engineering
students)
English 602: Teaching Technical Writing (required
practicum for new teachers of technical writing)
English 584: Rhetorics and Technologies (graduate
seminar for students in English; also taken by
students in Communication Arts and Sciences and
Comparative Literature)

6. M ETHODS FOR D ATA
C OLLECTION
Surveys of technology ownership and use.
Conducted at the beginning of the semester.
Interviews (4, formative and summative). Recorded
on video and archived at Media Commons.
Reflective Statements (formative and summative).
Written in Pages (app) and on PSU Blogs.
Device Analyses (summative). Configuration,
customization, and use data collected at the end of
the semester.

7. I NITIAL C ONCERNS
Choosing a content management strategy:
ANGEL is not fully compatible with mobile browsers, so we
needed a new way for students to manage content.
PSU Blogs at the time was not fully functional with Safari, so
we needed to explore blogging options.
Choosing applications:
Which apps would be most useful for the tasks we wanted
students and teachers to do? For writing? Reading? Sharing
work? Submitting and retrieving work? Etc.

8. I NITIAL C ONCERNS ( CONT .)
Making the transition:
What would be involved in transitioning from a desktop
metaphor to an app setup?
Would file compatibility become an issue?
Would digital rights management become an issue?
How much time would be necessary for teaching functional
use?

9. I P AD APPS FOR E NGLISH
202C
iBooks (Apple e-book app)
Pages (word-processing
app)
BlogPress (blogging app
that works with PSU blogs)
iAnnotate PDF (annotation
app)
SugarSync (file-sharing
app)

10. I P AD APPS FOR E NGLISH 602
AND 584
iBooks (Apple e-book app)
Kindle (Kindle e-book app)
Pages (word-processing app)
Keynote (presentation app)
BlogPress (blogging app that
works with PSU blogs)
iAnnotate PDF (annotation
app)
Dropbox (file-sharing app)

11. I P AD USE IN E NGLISH 202C
Reading the textbook (iBooks app)
Taking reading quizzes (Google forms)
Writing papers (Pages app)
Blogging (BlogPress app)
Sending and reading email (iPad Mail app)
Managing files (handing out assignments and
turning in papers) (SugarSync app)
Reviewing peer work (iAnnotate PDF app)

12. I P AD USE IN E NGLISH 602
AND 584
Reading the textbook (iBooks app)
Reading e-books (Kindle app)
Reading and annotating articles (iAnnotate PDF app)
Writing reflections on reading and iPads (Pages app)
Grading papers (iAnnotate PDF app)
Sending and reading email (iPad Mail app)
Sharing files (Dropbox app)
Reviewing peer work (iAnnotate PDF app)

13. I NITIAL S URVEY : U NDERGRADUATE
T ECHNOLOGY U SE (E NGLISH 202C)
41 surveyed
Computer Ownership: 39 owned computers
Computer Operating System: 27 Windows; 11 Mac; 1 Linux
Mobile Device Ownership: 31 iPods; 9 iPod Touches; 1 Kindle;
1 netbook; 3 iPhones
Wifi at Home: 16 of 17 (first semester data not available)
iTunes Account: 28

14. W HY D ID IT M ATTER ?
The 2 students who did not own computers could not
actively manage their iPads (iPads cannot be
managed in PSU labs).
The 1 student without wifi could not complete some
class activities from home.
The 22 students without iTunes accounts had to set
those up and learn how to use them, which
significantly increased start-up time.

15. I NITIAL S URVEY : G RADUATE S TUDENT
T ECHNOLOGY U SE (E NGLISH 584)
8 surveyed
Computer Ownership: 8 owned computers
Computer Operating System: 4 Windows; 3 Mac; 1 Linux
Mobile Device Ownership: 1 iPad; 4 iPods; 1 iPhone; 1 Kindle;
1 netbook
Wifi at Home: 7
iTunes Account: 8

16. I NITIAL S URVEY : I NSTRUCTOR
T ECHNOLOGY U SE (E NGLISH 602)
18 surveyed
Computer Ownership: 18 owned computers
Computer Operating System: 13 Windows; 5 Mac
Mobile Device Ownership: 9 iPods; 2 iPod Touches; 2 mobile
reading devices; 2 netbooks; 2 iPhones
Wifi at Home: 5 of 7 had wifi at home (first semester data not
available)
iTunes Account: 15

17. W HY D ID IT M ATTER ?
Graduate students and instructors came to the project
with a relatively stable and accessible technological
infrastructure.
The Linux user need to consult with ETS to install
iTunes on his computer.

18. D EVICE A NALYSES
We collected data from 33 iPads (11 were used by
instructors and 23 by undergraduate students),
focusing on 4 areas:
iPad Settings. We assessed whether students and instructors
installed the Penn State VPN client; customized their
wallpapers; uploaded songs, videos, and photos; downloaded
apps; installed the iOS 4.2 update; and changed other defaults.
iPad Apps Installed by Apple. We checked the number of
Safari bookmarks; what types of photos and audio files; if and
how the Notes app was used; and how many outstanding
updates the App Store displayed.

19. D EVICE A NALYSES ( CONT .)
iPad Apps for Class Use. We assessed whether users
downloaded iBooks besides the course textbook; if they used
notes, bookmarks, and highlighting in the course textbook;
what sorts of documents they used in iAnnotate PDF and
Pages; if they set up BlogPress; and if instructors used
Keynote.
iPad Apps for Personal Use. We assessed whether users re-
organized apps (their order, what was in the dock), and what
sorts of apps users downloaded.

20. W HAT D ID W E L EARN ?
The majority of people did not
adjust default settings.
The majority of people did not
organize their apps.
The majority of people did not
stray from uses prescribed by the
courses.
How can we encourage students
and teachers to possess,
personalize, and test institutional
technologies in ambitious ways?

21. T HEMES T OWARD
C ONCLUSIONS
Mobility and Wifi
Other Literacies
Second Screen
Classroom Design
Sense of Ownership
Task Size
Annotation and Collaboration
Static versus Dynamic Software
Electronic versus Print Books
Technical Communication

22. M OBILITY AND W IFI
Many of the functions of the iPad depend upon
connectivity. This became an issue:
Many students do not have wifi in their homes.
Campus wifi is sometimes spotty, and non-existent in the
residence halls.
Students and teachers made special trips to McDonald's,
Starbucks, and Barnes & Noble in order to use their iPads.
This situation raises questions about integrating a device into
institutional structures, personal access to other, connected
technologies (wifi), and the development of mobile workers.

23. O THER L ITERACIES
How students used, "Having made an
customized, and investment with my
integrated the iPad laptop into learning how
depended, in large part, to do all of the tasks I’m
on their attachment and interested in, I have a
access to other devices hard time wanting to
and activities, and their invest further energy in
own comfort with learning a new system to
exploration. do the same tasks in a
less efficient and less
Students say natural (to me) manner."

24. S ECOND S CREEN
Students often used "The iPad becomes a holding
their iPads in place or starting point for
projects that are refined or
conjunction with laptop completed on other devices."
and desktop computers,
as a "second screen" of
sorts. "I love sitting my iPad in the
keyboard dock and have the
"I liked having the document Twitter application up while
I was analyzing open on my on my desktop computer in
computer for reference." my apartment."
Students say

25. C LASSROOM D ESIGN
Students in a classroom where
every seat has a computer:
turned away from their iPads
often;
used computers for classroom
activities, like quizzes.
Students in a classroom where
computers are difficult to access:
used their iPads throughout
class;
used iPads for classroom
activities, like quizzes.

26. S ENSE OF O WNERSHIP
Exploration was conditioned The app structure was also
by comfort level and sense of alienating for many students,
ownership. Many students as the file structure was less
didn't stray far from standard apparent, making ownership
configurations and practices. of files feel less secure.
Many expressed concerns that "The file structure seems to be
they did not own the device, difficult too. I mean, in order
so they invested less into it. to upload and download
documents, we need to have
SugarSync and there's not
Students say really a way to organize the
files within the iPad."

27. T ASK S IZE
Smaller tasks (emails, "I have found myself using the
iPad for pretty much
quick research, note-
everything else (sending short
taking) were often emails, browsing the web,
favored over longer etc.). In fact, I vastly prefer it
tasks (writing papers, to a regular computer for
simply browsing online
tedious formatting,
forums or checking the
heavy research). weather. There is no boot time
and the touch interface almost
feels more involved than the
GUI-based mouse metaphor."
Students say

28. A NNOTATION AND
C OLLABORATION
Students generally ". . . I like getting the
enjoyed activities that feedback directly on the
involved easy paper. You are able to write
directly on the paper and
annotation and/or
on the exact place that
collaboration of some
needs editing. This allows
sort. for a lot less confusion,
since comments are not all
at the bottom of the
document or even just told
to me verbally."
Students say

29. S TATIC VERSUS D YNAMIC
S OFTWARE
Key shift in software:
From institutional software control with remote, unnoticed
updates, and institutional support
to individual software with pushed updates, remote, sometimes
unhelpful or non-existent support
constant shifts, need for flexibility, and ongoing functional
learning.

30. E LECTRONIC VERSUS P RINT
B OOKS
2/3 of students would choose a print book over an e-
book if the price were the same. But it can be difficult
to separate out problems with e-books and problems
with their devices.
". . . three improvements—providing
"I find myself reading the the ability to take notes, improved
electronic version of the book image quality, and the utilization of
much more than I would have media—would make for a much
anticipated." more useful textbook."
". . . a large part of me still desires the ability to
Students say touch and turn a page and write notes in my
own handwriting in the margins."

31. C HANGES TO T ECHNICAL
C OMMUNICATION
Mobile and distributed work environments and file
storage and sharing
New, distributed sources of information (e.g., reviews
on blogs rather than descriptions of apps)
Resources now involve collaborative changes and
comments from readers

32. A RE I P ADS READY FOR
CLASSROOM USE ?

33. Y ES AND N O
Without training, practice time, and support, planning and
teaching a class around the iPad will be difficult.
Many students will not have the at-home technology
required to use all of the iPad's capabilities.
Many of the iPad's features and applications are not
reliable enough to be depended upon for essential
classroom activities.
Generally speaking, our instructional approaches and
institutional spaces have not been developed with mobile
devices in mind.

34. G ENERAL R ECOMMENDATION
To the extent possible, plan for technological,
pedagogical, and institutional challenges.
Our handout includes key planning questions in each
of these areas.

35. S PECIFIC
R ECOMMENDATIONS
Use iPads in courses that require less technical design work
until more robust apps are available.
Integrate iPads more fully into students' academic lives by
using them in multiple classes at once.
Involve students in the development of uses for and
trouble-shooting of the iPad.
Re-imagine assignments and classroom activities that can
draw on specific affordances of the iPad and apps.
Don't assume there are apps that support the work you
want to do in courses

36. Q UESTIONS ?
Contact Michael Faris (mjf338@psu.edu),
Patricia Gael (pag191@psu.edu),
or Stuart Selber (sas37@psu.edu)