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Optimist the
Students go global, see page 7
Friday, August 25, 2010
Vol. 99, No. 2
1 section, 10 pages
TECHNOLOGY
COBA students to pioneer iPad textbook Jeff Craig
Managing Editor
Students in Dr. Ian Shepherd’s microeconomics class were greeted with more than just a syllabus on their first day of class Tuesday. The students were told they will be given iPads and told they
will be among the first in the nation to use a textbook on the device. The 50 students in Shepherd’s class, along with 14 students in a senior level marketing course taught by Dr. Rick Lytle, will be issued iPads with the preloaded digital text book for their course. Students
will not pay for the iPad or digital textbook, but will return the device at the end of the semester. ACU is collaborating with iPad textbook developer Inkling to investigate the textbook and platform along with some other software being used in the class.
George Saltsman, executive director of the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning, said the iPads were issued as a study to test the viability of digital textbooks. “We all believe that at some point in the future students will get their textbooks digitally,”
Saltsman said. “Student learning is a very important thing at ACU, and we want to make sure platforms for learning are as effective as they can be.” Saltsman said students at ACU, along with students at Seton Hill University and the Uni-
INAUGURATION
versity of Alabama Tuscaloosa, would not only be learning through the projects, but time conducting research. “These students have the chance to influence, at the highest level, how this thing will work,” see IPAD page 5
DEPOT
Students adapt to payment changes
No Ordinary Inauguration
Jeff Craig
Managing Editor
Moody Coliseum was packed with students, faculty, staff, alumni and various guests from the Abilene community who gathered to welcome the new president and the new school year at the inaugural ceremony and opening Chapel. The ceremony started like most opening Chapels with faculty, administrators and the presidential party filing into their seats wearing full academic regalia. They were followed by the traditional Parade of Flags
Student Financial Services has changed the way students pay their bills by eliminating paper mail statements and modifying online payment procedures. Julie Treece, associate director of billing and accounts receivable, said paper bills were eliminated to expedite the payment process and eliminate confusion. “We eliminated the paper bill because there was a lag time in getting the bills from our processor to students homes, which delayed the payments,” Treece said. “If you open your bill online, you are more prone to pay it online, which makes it cleaner and faster.” Another bill-pay change for 2010-11 requires students to make sure their financial situation is squared away before the first day of school. Treece said all students must pay their balance or set up an extended Wildcat Payment Plan before classes start. Treece said students were first told of the new policy in a June email, requiring them to set up payment before the
see CHAPEL page 5
see WEB page 5
photos by DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer
Above: Conductor Jason Missal, Associate Director of Bands, leads the Big Purple band in at Opening Chapel recessional. Below: Dr. Phil Schubert gives his Inaugural Address in Opening Chapel, speaking on the innovation to come at ACU.
Accepting presidency, Schubert reflects on past, present, future Linda Bailey Editor in Chief
Dr. Phil Schubert challenged the ACU community to “outlive their lives” during his inaugural address Monday. “The outlive your life principle gets right to the heart of our ACU promise,” Schubert said. “We make a promise that ACU will be a vibrant, innovative, Christ-centered environment that engages students in authentic, spiritual, intellectual growth equipping them to make a real difference in the world.”
TECHNOLOGY
Blackboard now accessible through mobile devices Christianna Lewis Senior Reporter
ACU students are now able to access Blackboard through their mobile devices, said Hab Adkins, manager of programming and support.
ACU updates Blackboard usually every summer to fix problems in the system as well as assimilate new features, Adkins said. However, the update to a 9.1 version from an 8.0 version has ushered
mobile device operating the app must be connected to the ACU wireless network. Students can download the free application “Blackboard Mobile TM Learn for iPhone.” A Blackboard
website
inside news Area churches offer special opportunities for college students. Find out what’s going on and how to be involved. page 8
in a host of new possibilities for both professors and students. The Blackboard app works only on a wireless connection, which means that a cellular plan will not support it. This also means that the
opinion The editorial board expresses the pros and cons of the New York City Mosque controversy. page 6
app was available last year, but it was so difficult to use that ACU did not activate the feature. It allows students to access ACU classes through the app, said Jackie Hughes, educational multimedia de-
signer. That changed this semester. “Blackboard had a major enhancement in their mobile application, so it looks a lot nicer,” Hughes said. “Now see BLACKBOARD page 5
weather photo gallery Take a closer look at opening Chapel the inauguration of ACU’s eleventh president, Dr. Phil Schubert.
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