The Use of iPad in Academic Setting: Ownership Issues in Relation to Technology (Non)Adoption

In this paper we discuss a pilot study involving the use of iPad for active reading in academic setting. This is part of the broader study of how introducing this new platform may transform the work and learning practices of students. The pilot was conducted in the context of master’s course in Geology at the University of Oslo, involving 40 students, instructor and three teaching assistants. The overall result of the pilot was that the platform did not get taken into use as expected. We hope that our experience with this pilot may be of use and interest for wider community. To collect data, we have used classroom observations, two surveys (one close to the beginning of the semester and one at the end), one workshop and three group interviews. In addition, three students and the course instructor have been interviewed individually. The data from interviews have been consolidated and mapped out into an affinity diagram. The resulting diagram shows clearly issues that need to be further addressed, as well as areas where changes in study related work practices might happen. While the usual variables for acceptence of technology such as perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are found to be important, our findings show that the issue of ownership was the most interesting one. Deeper exploration of this issue and its effects on adoption of this new technology specifically for study purposes is the main contribution this study offers. Old Meets New: Media in Education – Proceedings of the 61st International Council for Educational Media and the XIII International Symposium on Computers in Education (ICEM&SIIE'2011) Joint Conference