Don't buy technology before school starts

Inori, BSN, RN · May 18, 2016

Wow to insist on iPad purchases

alexis_xoxo · May 18, 2016

Sounds like my school. Which one are you attending?

rzyzzy · May 19, 2016

I'd certainly be contacting faculty, but not to give them praise. That's an outdated iPad & an outrageous price & a huge percentage of the population already has iPads. That said, I'm pretty sure I spent most of $1600 on books & software licenses for my adn program & many of those weren't even actually used in class, so it's not like colleges are afraid to waste your money.

CraigB-RN, MSN, RN · May 19, 2016

Sorry that's a given. Always check on requirements before purchasing anything for school. I remember that when i was a student every penny needed to be accounted for.

The school has limited resources in time and staff and they will in most cases try to make it easier on themselves, not on you. They don't want to spend the time needed to manage multiple platforms if they don't have to. Now this can be a bit short sided as programs like exam master are pretty can be tweaked to work on just about anything.

This rule also goes for updating software once school starts. Had students get in trouble when they updated their PC's to windows 10 and then suddenly couldn't access any of the web-based tools. OF course they find out it doesn't work just before a test.

mrsboots87 · May 20, 2016

Tia is absurd. I know schools make requirements for software and book buying but a very outdated tablet and requiring the apple warranty? Sounds like they got a killer deal on a bunch of iPads and warranties and want to make money. This is pretty common practice ($300 textbooks worth $20 tops anyone lol), but they could at least use current technology when forcing a purchase.

I bought my 6 and 3 year olds daughters iPad min 2's for Christmas. For less than $200 each. They are even cheaper now. $408 to include the apple warranty on an old tab is ridiculous.

mrsboots87 · May 20, 2016

I must ask how they will know who did and didn't buy from the book store. When using cash will you have to sign a log? While you have to show a receipt to your instructor? Like how to they verify this?

BeachsideRN, ASN · May 20, 2016

I must ask how they will know who did and didn't buy from the book store. When using cash will you have to sign a log? While you have to show a receipt to your instructor? Like how to they verify this?

It sounds as if the tablet are loaded with some type of specific software to be used for testing. Definitely is unfair and may have been a deal breaker for me when choosing s school.

CraigB-RN, MSN, RN · May 25, 2016

Usually the key component is if something doesn't work, and they look, their response may be. Oh well, you're on your own. Not making a statement on right or wrong, just a side effect of the Bring Your Own Device movement. If you don't have what they tell you, then they are under no obligation to help.

Schools and workplaces can have a platform other than App Store to download and install applications. When connecting to download they can check for serial numbers and platform specifics and refuse to install if the numbers don't match.

It's not against the student, it's just the schools attempt to manage limited resources.