Oksana Carlier/Winonan

Winona State University is implementing a new tablet program to keep up with technological innovations, be the number one university with technology and allow students to be a part of the three-device world, an official said last week.

Kenneth Janz, director of Teaching, Learning and Technology Services, said, “I think technology is an important tool.”

According to a presentation on the tablets, the three-device world includes cell phones, tablets and laptops. Cell phones can be used “anytime, anywhere,” while tablets are for “content consumption” and laptops for “content creation.”

Incoming students will get a tablet with their laptop at no extra cost, as will the current students who are due for laptop trades in the next two years. Current juniors and seniors will not get a tablet.

The tablet implementation is being adopted after being tested in 25 separate pilot programs with various faculty members and over 500 students.

Winona State student Laura Lake was involved in one of the pilot classes that tried out the iPads. “I think the tablet program is a really awesome way to involve our students in a more technological aspect,” Lake said.

However, because she is in the pilot program, Lake won’t keep her tablet.

“I am a little bummed that I don’t get to take my tablet home,” Lake said.

“That’s the cost of this constant turnover in technology. There’s always somebody who paid too early,” said Rob Brault, an English professor, regarding the fairness of the tablet distribution.

Lake also said that she thinks the tablets will make Winona State competitive on a national market and draw more students.

According to statistics, 64 percent of alumni said computers gave them an edge over other employees and 94 percent of employers consider Winona State a leader in technology.

The tablets have gotten very little negative reaction, only that of students who want their tablets earlier, said Janz.

“Some students will learn better. Many students will have a more powerful technology of distraction,” said Brault. He went on to say that English is focused more on creating content, which requires laptops rather than tablets so they may not be of as much use in his courses.

Brianna Condon, a current freshman, said that she was excited to get a tablet. She also mentioned that she could see a select few using it for educational purposes, but not all students.

Condon said, “I think it would be more of a distraction. But I think it’s nice to try new things and see how it works out.”

The tablets are not going to cost students due to a two-for-one deal that Winona State negotiated with Apple, so that the laptop and tablet will cost the same as the laptop alone cost in previous years.

“I think it’s going to put Winona in the spotlight in a good way,” said Janz of the tablets, mentioning that Winona State is the only institution that provides both.

Contact Oksana at [email protected]