DR. RYAN MCVEIGH, PHD (SOCIOLOGY)

I think it's important to talk about tablets as more than devices for
entertainment. The key shift to focus on, I think, isn't so much the
tablet as a device but touch/gesture as the medium. Pretty much
everything (phones, computers, appliances, cars, etc.) is moving to
touch-screen technology, so signing up for courses like these is
mostly about future-proofing yourself. 

Tablets like the iPad aren't just superfluous devices sandwiched between laptops and phones used to play video games and send emails. They're fundamentally changing the way that people will be able to engage with everyday life. A big claim, I know, but not so far-fetched when you see tablets integrated into fridges, multi-platform apps that control your house lighting and temperature, or initiatives like "One Tablet per Child". Like it or not, tablet-esq things are the way the world is headed (and rightfully so, given the ground they've helped break in education alone).