Faculty members were given the opportunity to upgrade their computers to the new slates in advance of their scheduled technology renewal.
Faculty and staff of business, science, and honors programs, who usually refresh their laptops every three years, were the recipients of the new slates, according to Dr. Stephen G. Landry, chief information officer..
Dr. Bert Wachsmuth, associate professor of the Department of mathematics and computer science, was one of the professors who received the slate.
"I take it pretty much everywhere," Wachsmuth said, "and the small form factor makes it truly ubiquitous."
The tablets were issued in order to give the faculty the opportunity to use the same technology students as their students.
It also aims to enhance the technologic experience of the classroom.
Professors were able to choose between the new Samsung Series 7 Slate PC or the Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook.
The Series 7 Slate was the more popular choice. This is also the tablet students in those programs were issued.
The Series 7 offers many new features, according to Landry.
"They have a touch screen and digitizer pen that is able to recognize handwriting, making it easier to take notes without a keyboard or use it as a smartboard when connected to a video projector," he said.
One of the "trade-offs" Landry said, was that "the slate has a relatively small solid state hard drive" which limits the file storage.
As a remedy, users are encouraged to utilize Microsoft SkyDrive, Landry said.
Landry uses the new device, and said that the most exciting feature was the Windows 8 operating system the tablets use.
"Windows 8 is the first version of Windows that provides a true 'touch friendly' interface, making a Windows slate really practical," he said.
Seton Hall University was the first university to receive the operating system. It was the first institute of higher education to implement the program.
Seton Hall was afforded this opportunity through Microsoft's First Wave Program.
Victoria Plate can be reached at victoria.plate@student.shu.edu