Illinois Institute of Technology will provide all freshmen with an iPad

From The Chicago Tribune: The Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago says it will give all freshmen this fall an Apple iPad, the Web-enabled portable computer tablet. It will cost the university $250,000. Students will be able to download lecture notes and PowerPoint presentations and call them up on their iPads during class. They also can use the devices to read books, check e-mail and surf the Internet. Faculty, particularly those who teach engineering and computer science, can build applications specific to their courses. IIT already offers courses on the development of mobile applications. IIT's 500 to 600 freshmen will pay yearly tuition of $31,363, but school officials say the cost of the iPads was not factored into tuition.