Making Sense of Technology
Advertising rates and a variety of new placement spots are now available on The Loop. Visit our advertising page for more information.
You can follow The Loop to get the latest important updates. You can also follow Jim Dalrymple’s personal messages.
By Jim DalrympleDecember 9, 2009, 6:21 am PT
The University of Southern Florida is joining the growing number of educational institutions that are utilizing Apple technology to make learning more efficient for its students.
As part of the program, the university will provide all of its student athletes with a 13-inch MacBook Pro, allowing them to do schoolwork from anywhere. But they didn’t stop there — the school will also be taking advantage of Apple’s iTunes U.
“The goal is to create an anywhere, anytime learning environment for each of our student-athletes,” said USF Director of Athletics Doug Woolard. “Apple’s MacBook Pro will assist in providing comprehensive academic support services while accommodating the demanding practice and travel schedules of our student-athletes.”
USF will be adding lectures to iTunes U so the students, using the MacBook Pro, can keep up-to-date wherever they may be. iTunes U is an area of the iTunes Store dedicated to free education programs.
“The goal is to create an anywhere, anytime learning environment for each of our student-athletes,”
The goal is to price higher education right out of the average American family’s ability to send their children.
Damn, I went to school at the wrong time…and place, but oh well good for Apple and the students at the University of Southern Florida!
Ya, I’m sure the guys on the football team will be able to enhance their learning experience with their new computers. I wonder how many of them will be needing Mathematica? In other circles, they call this bribery. Or more accurately, payment for services received.
Give just to athletes?! WTF? So the U of South Florida thinks that the members of the band are just pieces of sh*t, or for that matter, the student working two jobs to pay for tuition because the can’t get funding and they don’t have an athletic scholarship!
Yeah, lets give this to the athletes, like the next cheating bastard Tiger Woods type because we know the rich and famous like those of Hollywood, who get free grab bags of stuff, are so more deserving, even though they can make millions per movie, and are much more in tune then the average joe, making 40 grand who plops down the $40.00 to see their damn movie!
Yeah, good job U of South Florida. If I were going to that school, I say screw you and transfer immediately and sue them for the added costs and inconvenience of leaving that bastion of corruption!
Another site reported the funding was done by private organizations and an NCAA project. Unfortunately, even after 25 years, I’m still bitter the football team at my high school took money my speech-debate squad had worked our asses off to earn for our trips to have a pizza party, forcing us to slog door-to-door again selling candy and junk. So, the logical part of me wants to say they can do what they want with their money since it really isn’t from school funds, but the better part of me would have liked to seen every student, athlete or not, get a chance to get a computer.