Moore College of Art and Design partners with Apple to bring iPads to new students in 2012

Paints and easels are timeless technologies, but starting this fall, new fine arts undergraduates at the Moore College of Art and Design will also be using iPads to help them learn their craft.

Moore, the only visual arts college for women in the country (though men have joined the graduate program in recent years), is also the first art and design school to officially partner with Apple to provide its incoming BFA’s with the popular iPad tablet technology, says academic Dean Dona Lantz.

Each student of the new class will receive an iPad 2 pre-populated with a suite of apps that will enhance what Moore refers to as it’s ‘Foundation curriculum.’ Lantz told Technically Philly that the idea to partner with Apple started about a year ago when Moore’s Foundation faculty decided to revamp its curriculum.

“As early as last winter the idea of utilizing the iPad as a classroom digital learning tool was discussed within the College as the Foundation faculty were beginning to explore ideas on how digital media and tools could be integrated into Foundation courses,” said Lantz. Apple is selling Moore the iPads at a slightly discounted rate, as NewsWorks reported.

Lantz said that the redesigned Foundation curriculum was approved in the Fall. Now Moore faculty are preparing to receive their own iPads in the next few weeks so that they can test out the best apps for students to use in their classes.

The intention, according to the press release, is that the pre-installed apps will allow students to use the iPad as an all-purpose sketchbook, portfolio and camera, among other things.

Current Moore students won’t be receiving the iPad gratis since the Foundation curriculum is designed for first years, however, the Moore-customized iPad will be made available for purchase, according to the press release.

By next fall the iPad may no longer officially be “state of the art” technology — rumor has it that Apple will release the iPad 3 in March — but for new BFA’s, the distinction is unlikely to matter. Moore hopes that integrating the mobile learning tool into the classroom experience will foster new ways for its art students to develop alongside technology.