In August, the Monterey College of Law in Santa Cruz, California became the first in the country to integrate iPads into its bar-review curriculum, which helps students prepare for the California State Bar. When classes resume next month, the 20 faculty members who teach courses the bar exam covers at the four-year law school, will receive iPads, reports the “Santa Cruz Sentinel” (http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_16940474).
This year, the devices were included in the cost the students pay for the bar-review curriculum, or BARBRI, Mitchel Winick, the college’s dean, told the “Sentinel.” Almost all the students participated, but starting next year, the entire program — including the iPads — will be included in the cost of tuition, about $15,000 per year.
Winick acknowledged that students can access the same information from an iPad as they can on a laptop, but it’s easier and more convenient to carry around the former. Preparing for the bar takes up to 600 hours of study, and students are now able to put in more hours by using their iPads while they’re waiting in doctor’s offices or on lunch breaks at work, note the “Sentinel.”
