The iPad, larger than a smartphone but smaller than a laptop, was announced today by the company, and ACU’s JMC department already has big dreams for how to use it in the near future.
“We pay close attention to the way young people consume news,” says Kenneth Pybus, J.D. (’89), faculty adviser of The Optimist. The iPad is the third version of mobile media delivery pioneered by the department, following the use of the iPhone to distribute The Optimist in Fall 2007, and the use of an updated application in Fall 2008. The department is already forming an iPad task force to oversee the development of the new digital publication platform. “This is yet another opportunity for our students to make use of a cutting-edge delivery system,” says Dr. Cheryl (Mann ’76) Bacon, chair of the department.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the device’s launch today, citing it as a way to fill the gap between laptops and smartphones. The lightweight device has a 9.7-inch screen, which the company calls “the best way to experience the web, email, photos and video.”
ACU’s innovative mobile-learning program has received national and international recognition since its launch in Fall 2008. The university is currently featured in a Campus Technology magazine article, available online here.
More information about ACU’s innovative mobile-learning initiative is available here, and the university’s 2009 Mobile-Learning Annual Report can be viewed here.