Washtenaw Community College revs up iPad: success in automotive department spurs campus-wide interest.

Washtenaw Community College automotive students have a fancy new gadget in their toolbox this winter, the Apple iPad. Part laptop, part smart phone, the iPad quickly is becoming the standard in computing technology today.

WCC Automotive Services Dept. students are learning to use the lightweight device, instead of a laptop or clunky diagnostic equipment, which take extra time to boot and cumbersome to operate.

"Its user friendliness is awesome," said Ross Gordon, dean of vocational technology, who likes the ease at which students can take it inside and under an automobile when working on it. "We did a little experiment," Ross continued. "One group used traditional …