iPhones the latest to join mobile learning mix

University Business, April, 2008

LIKE LAPTOPS, MOBILE DEVICES are now seen by college and university leaders as learning tools. First it was iPods, and now initiatives using Apple iPhones are joining the campus mix. This fall, Abilene Christian University (Texas) will begin a pilot program in which incoming freshmen will be issued either an Apple iPhone or the iPod touch for daily use. They will get to choose which device they prefer.

With more than 15 web applications developed for use on these types of devices, students can perform tasks such as receiving homework alerts, responding to surveys and quizzes, checking meal and account balances, and creating a campus map.

Officials selected these devices because they provide web browsers, according to Chief Information Officer Kevin Roberts. They also consulted with colleagues at Duke University (N.C.), which started a similar program involving iPods in 2004.

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"We're looking to learn right away if this is something that's feasible," says Roberts. Funding for the program's first phase will come from existing resources. Depending on the number of devices needed, ACU officials anticipate spending approximately $300,000 to $400,000 over a two-year period. They expect a two-year use for each device and are still determining how to extend the plan and handle gray areas such as loss, theft, or student transfers.

Applying mobile devices to learning isn't new for ACU. In 2006, it launched ACU WorldWide, an online master's degree program utilizing Apple's iPod.

Oklahoma Christian University, too, will offer freshmen the choice of an iPhone or iPod touch, but it plans to go a step further. This summer, all OCU faculty and new students will receive an Apple MacBook, and current students will be able to trade in their university-issued PC laptop for a MacBook. OCU launched a mobile computing initiative in 2001.--M.H.