Gadget Reviews, Product News, Electronic Gadgets

Back when I went to university I had to walk 15 miles barefoot in the snow and it was uphill both ways! Not only that we had to stand in line to get paper forms that we filled out with things we called ballpoint pens and put them in these things called envelopes that went into mailboxes… and it took weeks to get a response! (Don’t even get me started on how we had to register for classes out of a paper catalog -in person-!)
Things have come a long way since then. By the time I graduated there was a revolutionary new system where you could register by TELEPHONE and we thought that was pretty great. So you can imagine how envious I am when I read news that indicates MIT is using iPads for administrative tasks such as reviewing applications.
Many universities have been taking applications online for quite some time but this digital benefit hasn’t always extended to the back-room processing. It appears that for the purposes of review it was still easier to print the materials so they could be organized in a meaningful manner. Now, using their custom-built Matchbox app, MIT has been able to successfully automate the admission review process for 5 of their programs and has now beta tested it across 3 separate admission cycles.
This app hasn’t just helped the review process either. In days that weren’t that long ago, interviewers meeting prospective students would need to carry a considerable amount of paper to be properly prepared whereas now it can all be contained on a single iPad.
While those using the app admit there is a certain cool factor that they appreciate, using this technology results in savings across the board. We’re talking a lot fewer trees cut down after each and every admissions cycle cut (before this app, thousands of applicants being screened also had more than 30 printed pages each)… but it also means less bulk to haul on sore shoulders, more efficiency with the ability to easily browse and search across digital information and all with more portability, smaller work surfaces being required and a longer battery life than most any laptop can offer.
[via BostonGlobe.com]