I just read that Ashridge in the UK was giving iPads to its new incoming MBA students - to minimize the program's impact on the environment. Then I started to do some research, and it turns out there are other programs doing the same thing, albeit for varying reasons: IMD and Georgia State Robinson among them.

I wonder - is this a good idea? From all my experience with the iPad it seems like it's a great distraction, but as far as productivity is concerned, it doesn't really excel. Typing on the thing is infuriating, and there's always email and the web pulling you away from your work.

Seems to me this is a gimmick - like when you subscribe to National Geographic and they give you a clock radio. Great tool, but not suitable for the purpose.

I'd say: just tell students to bring their own laptops. They can engage the material and be productive with a full keyboard.

If you have the case studies and text books on the iPad then it's a good idea. The question is: are the school brave enough to turn off the wifi in the lecture hall?

Whatever happened to the good old fashioned way of lectures with study text and overhead projectors? :)

The same thing that happened to typewriters.

The same thing that happened to typewriters.