Evolution of Mobile Education: Learning from the Failure of a 1-to-1 iPad Program

Audience Level: 
All
Session Time Slot(s): 
Institutional Level: 
Higher Ed
Abstract: 

Dartmouth College adopted a 1-to-1 ipad program for a hybrid graduate degree program to serve as a common platform and an ecosystem for innovation. After 6 years of trying to integrate the ipad into this learning environment, the 1-tio-1 program was abandoned. Come discuss key lessons from this failure.

Extended Abstract: 

The Master of Health Care Delivery Science (MHCDS) program at Dartmouth College is an executive online degree program that delivers “concierge,” relationship-based, experiential learning for leaders in health care. The program adopted a 1-to-1 iPad program in 2012 that was central to the program’s mobile strategy, aimed at providing a common platform in an otherwise BYOD program, mobile-first content delivery, and an ecosystem for innovative interactive curriculum. Over the next 6 years the program worked to integrate the mobile device into its unique learning environment, earning recognition as an Apple Distinguished program from 2015 to 2017. In 2018 the iPad program was abandoned, after failing to achieve basic program objectives, and balancing the support needs with educational benefits. A new, student-centered mobile strategy has replaced what had previously been a delivery and platform-centered strategy. This highly interactive session will explore what the MHCDS program learned in its efforts to run an online iPad program, and seek input from participants to help diagnose what went wrong, and what a more effective mobile strategy entails.

Conference Session: 
Concurrent Session 7
Conference Track: 
Leadership and Institutional Strategies
Session Type: 
Education Session
Intended Audience: 
Administrators
Design Thinkers
Faculty
Instructional Support
Technologists