Users who Dugg This
sunsacredten
1116 Followers
nikolinaki
999 Followers
Knox Overstreet
376 Followers
Jeff Flowers
18282 Followers
spacem00seAug 4, 2010
LOL, Do people honestly think those are free?
evilkrustydollAug 5, 2010
As free as our healthcare!
kylejorgyAug 6, 2010
We don't have free healthcare we have affordable healthcare.
blatsekAug 5, 2010
It's free if tuition was the same price as last year. They could have paid the same and not gotten them .
badqatAug 4, 2010
If you're ponying up the tuition of med school, you'd better believe the cost is rolled into the tuition.
No such thing as "free."
maxxusflamusAug 4, 2010
I mean- technically they could've paid tuition and not gotten an iPad....
wussAug 4, 2010
It's pretty interesting how everyone perceives this article as "WOOOWWW, free ippaddsss!!", while the university is like "bahaha... these idiots are paying 120,000+ for their med school tuition over four years, and they're all getting moist in the crotch because we're throwing them a $600 dollar iPad"
600 bucks is .5% of your tuition.
Just goes to show you how much Apple marketing is worth. Throw in an iProduct, and people forget about 6 figures.
itwasonlyajokeAug 5, 2010
but but but...
!
nextwiggin4Aug 4, 2010
UC Irvine has also announced that all students who are paying for room and board will also qualify for free lunches.
minorgodsAug 4, 2010
Wow, I had no idea their pockets were that big.
anaxaAug 4, 2010
Coming soon: iPocket.
A magical & revolutionary way of pocketing
Fall 2010
$699 per pocket
http://apple.com
murrdpirateAug 4, 2010
Free iPads? More like forced to buy iPads.
thegurustudAug 4, 2010
I'd sell it haha
mhf03Aug 4, 2010
Haha so true. First thought that entered my mine was
UC schools raise costs. We will try to make you forget about it with a "free iPad"
entropyfanAug 4, 2010
Given iPads (via their tuition) that can be completely taken over by a PDF file. ( http://tinyurl.com/26q2xfn )
here is hoping they don't EVER put anything about me on one of those devices.
krutoypotsanAug 4, 2010
I bet if I forked over 100's of thousands in student loans i could afford a good bit more than an iPad.
zbeastAug 4, 2010
Ya so what, you getting a $500 ipad after paying $200.000 for your education thats like getting a
stuffed bear after opening a new checking account and depositing $500.00
deadsoldierAug 4, 2010
Getting a $500 product after paying only $200 seems like a good deal to me..
$200,000 on the other hand...
russ3Aug 4, 2010
europe uses the dot where we got the comma the hint is in the third zero
deadsoldierAug 4, 2010
I knew what zbeast was saying, I was just poking fun.
Europe doesn't use "." to separate figures. It uses "," just like everyone else.
You can't fool me russ3. Im from the UK, which is part of Europe. ;)
burnerzAug 4, 2010
200k for tuition is ridiculous. Tuition fees in the uk are £3,225 a year (which you can get on a student loan).
blatsekAug 5, 2010
And how is depositing $500 bad? It's still yours
penclnckAug 4, 2010
But will this make them better students? And again, how is this front page new? Oh... iPad anything makes front page.
Closed AccountAug 4, 2010
Exactly what I was thinking...
As a doctor I don't see how this will help them learn medicine better. Unless of course they have created some sort of ultra-epic UCI app that serves as a portal between the student and the uni, where they can download the "official" class books (which WOULD be epic, not to mention a big money saver), where teachers could post their assigments and homeworks...
Otherwise, I'm afraid this is nothing more than a publicity stunt hoping to lure more kids into their campus.
rollkicksoulAug 5, 2010
I'm actually among the (extremely fortunate) 104 and I can say that's pretty much what they're doing - it's going to be EPIC. They're making it possible for us to view live podcasts of everything from lectures to surgeries. There will be notes loaded onto the devices and new information will be delivered to us easily through the network. This step is also an adaptation to how the younger generally learns - through visual stimuli and interaction. Considering the iPad as an interactive a multimedia platform, it's the perfect device for this sort of thing.
Also, the tuition figure above is incorrect, for medical students it's actually closer to...
In-state: $25,794, Out-of-state: $38,039 (2008-2009).
WIth budget cuts this means that in-state med students are paying about $35,000 this year with less financial aid - that translates to $140,000 of debt plus interest. As an incoming freshman, the iPad certainly isn't free, but it's damned exciting anyway!
rollkicksoulAug 5, 2010
As one of the fortunate 104, that's EXACTLY what they're doing by creating an ultra-epic UCI app.
All of our lecture notes, video lectures, and podcasts will be available to us through an iPad application, and new content can be distributed to us almost immediately and at a lower cost. We will be able to watch surgeries multiple times over the same day it was performed.
The article notes that this is still experimental, and it is, because the younger generation of medical students simply learns in a different way. Some might say that the lecture/test model of education works just fine, but not for everybody. The best way to build better doctors is to make sure they learn the material in as many ways as possible. Many medical schools have instituted similar methods by making all their material available online in addition to lectures - this is a huge step in making sure all the new technology is integrated into our curriculum.
It probably is a little bit of a publicity stunt, but considering the med school class size vs. the number of applicants, they don't have too many issues luring in new students, considering the class is 104 students out of 2,500+ applicants.
rollkicksoulAug 5, 2010
Sorry for the repost! Digg 4 broke on me.
Closed AccountAug 6, 2010
OK, I guess I'm kind of cool with that, then.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm against implementing technology to the learning process. It's just that I remember the days (when there weren't wifi networks at schools) where nobody brought laptops to class, and comparing those to today, it really worries me. Students today ARE NOT learning.
In theory it's great, being able to research a topic or concept to however depth you like on the spot, in the class, but in reality this possibility (and the amount of times it's really used) is FAR underwhelmed by the amount of IM'ing, social netwoking, and yes, even gaming I see (or saw I guess, since I just got out) in class.
Are you a first year? If you are, congratulations in getting in. And I bet you'll soon realise how much of a gimmick it is this "possibility" to view surgeries "the same day and over and over again". I'm telling you from experience, because in my uni they spent I don't know how much money on a special room with a direct video link to the main hospital's ORs so that "we could watch any surgery we wanted at any time", and most of us used exactly ONE time (the first time, to try it out). For the few of us who were interested in surgery (protip, actual surgeries are REALLY boring after the first 2 times you see a particular procedure), it was just leaps and bounds easier (and more interesting) to to go to the OR, and since most surgeons (at least here) are really nice, they'd just let us in. And of course, then the surgeons would actually explain what the heck it was they were doing. Besides, surgeries are such a small part of medicine that it's ridiculous. I could see the iPad (And computers in general) being useful for thing that are dificult to explain in text or in just plain pictures (like anatomy...), but only if great programs are developed for them, and so far I haven't seen any such things. And besides, it would be no better than just a great professor who has the ability to convey that kind of knowledge.
Having class notes sent to you is great and all (I couldn't take notes to save my life), but it isn't something revolutionary that couldn't be posted on the school website, for instance. And trust me, you will NOT be able to study off a screen it's just not worth it. This ties up with the whole "this generation of students learn in a different way" thing. This is simply false, and you WILL realise that. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but if somehow you think you will be able to learn medicine without sitting over a book for hours each day (aka. the old-school way), you are delusional. Interactive programs, and pretty images, and all that is stuff no doubt will help you learn faster (but again, only things like anatomy, which in the end are only 2 courses at the beginning of the career), but for MOST subjects it will add up to be no more than 5% of the things you'll actually need to know.
Fortunately, having passed that first bottleneck (getting into medschool) almost guarantees you have the intelligence and dedication needed to put in the hard work when you realise it's not going to be nearly as pretty or fun as some people invariably (me included) thought it would be when starting out.
Good luck!
wildAug 4, 2010
Ok, so beef with "free" aside, this is pretty interesting. Not only is it not free, there is a cost in getting all of the curriculum up and available on the format for the students to have preloaded.
That said, this is actually pretty great. If the textbooks are built into the cost of the tuition, and a student can access any of them at any time, that is a huge convenience. Imagine having the technology built into the structure of your education. Teachers could communicate with everyone in an easy format, sharing their power point presentations for people to take notes on while giving a lecture. Practice tests and homework assignments could be completed entirely through applications.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a cottage industry of lecture designers pop-up in the future if lots of schools go this way.
russ3Aug 4, 2010
ive always thought it was insane the whole, "we sell you an education for 40000 a year* "
*the knowledge is contained in books, sold seperately
randomearthlingAug 4, 2010
2010-2011 Total California Resident Fees.....$11,927.25
2010-2011 Total Nonresident Fees...............$34,806.25
Apple iPad 3G 16GB (retail $629)........................FREE
Thinking the iPad is actually free....................Priceless
blatsekAug 5, 2010
whoa whoa whoa. med school for california residents is only 12 grand a year?
rollkicksoulAug 5, 2010
Actually, this year it's closer to:
In-state: $25,794, Out-of-state: $38,039 (2008-2009)
With budget cuts it's closer to $35,000/$50,000 for medical students this year.
:(
rollkicksoulAug 5, 2010
Not at all, actually. I think that cost might be for undergrad. After budget cuts this year, the tuition last year was more like...
In-state: $25,794, Out-of-state: $38,039 (2008-2009)
This year we're looking at $35,000/$50,000.
eonsoonAug 4, 2010
Silly. iPads and electronics alone won't teach anyone.
dunpiteAug 4, 2010
This account has been closed by the user
jwong8Aug 4, 2010
I am a UCI grad, i just graduated in june. they are aggressively building up their grad schools' reputation. for example, the law school is offering free tuition to its first class. this ipad deal is nothing compared to that deal!
hexrrAug 4, 2010
Overall, I believe the health system could be an extremely valuable niche market for the iPad. It's actually one of the few uses I can think of for it...but they still need to implement better security features into it for it to be useful.
beervolcanoAug 4, 2010
The practice I work for is actually going to purchase some iPads for the docs to use when they make their rounds at the hospitals. All of the hospitals have wifi, and with the push toward electronic medical records, this is a good solution. Security isn't too big of an issue because the EMR system can be accessed through Citrix and no patient information is stored locally on the iPad.
lodcrappoAug 5, 2010
This account has been closed by the user
sciencelovesyouAug 5, 2010
No offence, but we've been using tablets in my lab for about a decade now.
We thought about the iPad but, aside from making me feel like I should be finding a way to save the Enterprise, it doesn't do half the stuff the various other tablets do.
Also, it feels thin. Not good thin either.
estrategyAug 4, 2010
Hopefully my kids will be carry ipads to school instead of backpacks with books.
lodcrappoAug 5, 2010
This account has been closed by the user
willwinterAug 4, 2010
Yeah, right - "Free" iPads like the "Free" health care they're gonna provide.
cmatthes1Aug 4, 2010
Hahahahahahahaha free. Hilarious.
Closed AccountAug 4, 2010
I don't think this will last. Mainly because students like to add notes to their text books on the pages themselves to help when it comes to studying times. You can't do that with the ipad. If they wanted to save money, they would have gotten kindles.
stevenk87Aug 5, 2010
Zot zot, mothaf**kaasss!
cobaltage71Aug 5, 2010
Just to put this into perspective for those who have not been to medical school: in the first year, not only are students expected to get very expensive medical textbooks (typically much more expensive than college textbooks) that they will use only very briefly, they will receive a stack of photocopied paper that is about two feet high. Medical textbooks are usually so non-specific to the particular curriculum that accompanying paper handouts for each and every class are common. A note-taking service will probably generate another foot or so of photocopied paper. This is probably about equivalent to what one sees in law school, but not in most graduate programs.
The iPad is good for storing and reading text documents with diagrams and photos. There is no way a gray-scale e-book reader is going to be able to display illustrations, diagrams, and photographs from gross anatomy, cell biology, and pathology textbooks with any degree of utility. The iPad's long battery life and lack of keyboard are also beneficial for use in medical school. It is terrible for handwriting and annotating, but there is no really good alternative to paper for taking handwritten notes.
If the medical school can get external funding for iPads and save on photocopying, both in cost and in labor, the medical school wins. iPads will kill the practice of handing down old textbooks, though, which is a common practice among medical students. But medical schools don't pay for textbooks, so naturally they don't have an incentive to preserve the practice of handing down old textbooks.
There's no reason to meet this article with so much skepticism and bile. If someone other than Apple would develop a similarly useful device, that device would also be tested in similar contexts. As it stands now, there just isn't anything else out there.
hamiltonbrandAug 5, 2010
I like this; my first thought was "gee, that means better students = better doctors". Hearing you put all that in perspective made that thought valid.
rollkicksoulAug 5, 2010
Absolutely true.
itwasonlyajokeAug 5, 2010
In their pocket? I hardly think so.