“
www.acu.edu /connected
When I got the iPhone, it was a little strange to be using my phone in class, but it was an easy adjustment. My professor will ask a question about something and I don’t know what it is, but right here on my phone, with just one touch, I have Dictionary.com, I have a Wikipedia app – I can look it up. I know what they’re talking about, because it’s right there.”
Tyler Sutphen Sophomore Major: Marketing Abilene, Texas
Erin Boyd Sophomore Major: Biology Fort Worth, Texas
t
Sixty-four percent of ACU’s 957 entering freshmen in Fall 2008 chose an iPhone over an iPod touch. One was Kailey Rhoden, a music and graphic design major from Dallas. Once ACU’s Fall 2009 class enrolls, more than half of the student body will have mobile-learning devices provided by the university.
Brittany Kight Sophomore Major: Information Technology Corpus Christi, Texas
“
The research I am working on has given me the opportunity to learn how to program iPhone applications that I would not have been able to learn at another university. The professors understand my need for creativity, and they encourage me to be creative in my projects.” t
Student Experiences
“
In high school, a class discussion would end once we reached a level beyond our knowledge. A teacher or student saying ‘I don’t know’ left the class with many unanswered questions. However, with the iPhone, there was never an end to a discussion due to lack of knowledge. If we did not know an answer to a question, the professor would simply ask someone to research it right there in class and we would come back to the topic later. The iPhone also allows me to keep in contact with my professors a lot more than if I just had email on my laptop. My professors would send an email to my afternoon class in the morning, and by the time class started, we had everything we needed. Also, I could send emails to professors asking questions about homework and exams. I did not have to wait for office hours, and most of the time I received a reply within the hour.”
Kight and another student developed an alternate-reality game for incoming students to use on their mobile devices. The game is designed to facilitate interaction among new students as they get to know one another. Kight’s work on software and gaming programs for the mobile-learning initiative is funded by a research grant from the ACU Honors College and is supervised by Dr. Brian Burton, assistant professor in the School of Information Technology and Computing.