It has been a year since the iPhone/iPod Touch program at Abilene Christian University was announced. Plenty in iPhone/iPod Touch history has happened since their announcement. We have seen the iPhone 3G, the app store open, a huge flood of applications (some useful, some not so useful) enter the market, and small pilot programs for iPod Touches in secondary schools. ACU’s “experiment” with mobile devices in higher education, specifically the iPhone, interested many due to the popularity of the device. The press releases, videos, and comments by administrators made it seem that they were looking to create something more than just an iPhone optimized website. Mitch Holt, from the Abilene Reporter-News, asked an important question last year in his article “ACU tests iPhone use on campus”…

“ACU now faces the ultimate question: Does the device help students gain knowledge and get the most from their collegiate education?”

ACU English professor Dr. Bill Rankin, later in the article, is quoted as saying…

“The iPhone is cool but frankly — if it’s just about the technology, it’s not worth it….

… Our mission isn’t to make sure our students have lots of whiz-bang devices; it’s to make sure that they’re good thinkers.”

Now that it is one year later I wonder how their work with the iPhone/iPod Touch has progressed and what benefits/roadblocks they have encountered.

Below is a video from ACU’s Youtube channel.

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