Der Kindle war gestern (bei uns) und heute ist es das iPhone das für das Wintersemester als wichtiges Zubehör für den Hochschulalltag 2008 präsentiert wird. An einigen Universitäten in den USA geht man wohl – wie die New York Times jüngst berichtete – dazu über, Studienanfängern iPhones auf ihren weiteren Bildungsweg mitzugeben:

Experts see a movement toward the use of mobile technology in education, though they say it is in its infancy as professors try to concoct useful applications. Providing powerful hand-held devices is sure to fuel debates over the role of technology in higher education.

“We think this is the way the future is going to work,” said Kyle Dickson, co-director of research and the mobile learning initiative at Abilene Christian University in Texas, which has bought more than 600 iPhones and 300 iPods for students entering this fall.

Der Vorteil fällt hier ins Gewicht:

“Although plenty of students take their laptops to class, they don’t take them everywhere and would prefer something lighter.”

Für uns ist es natürlich interessant, ob und wie die Universitätsbibliotheken darauf angepasste Dienste anbieten. Der Artikel in der New York Times gibt dazu leider keine Hinweise. Dafür wird aber berichtet, wie die iPod-Kultur in der Duke University Einzug hielt:

“A few years ago, Duke began giving iPods to students with the idea that they might use them to record lectures (these older models could not access the Internet).

“We had assumed that the biggest focus of these devices would be consuming the content,” said Tracy Futhey, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at Duke.

But that is not all that the students did. They began using the iPods to create their own “content,” making audio recordings of themselves and presenting them. The students turned what could have been a passive interaction into an active one, Ms. Futhey said.”

Was sich die Hochschulen nebenbei für den Hochschulwettbewerb erhoffen, ist ein Reputationsgewinn durch die Aura der Coolness eines Trendproduktes:

Basking in the aura of a cutting-edge product could just help a university foster a cutting-edge reputation.