Our Progress

In the fall of 2008, ACU became the first university to distribute Apple iPhones and iPod touches to the incoming freshman class, allowing us to explore a new vision for mobile learning. Now, a new freshman class has received the second-generation mobile learning devices, allowing students and their teachers to integrate technology and learning both in and out of the classroom.

Timeline from 2007 - Present   

August 12, 2009

• Forbes magazine rates ACU in the top 7 percent of colleges and universities in the nation, and fourth-best in Texas.

July 16, 2009

• ACU hosts its first Connected Online event. More than 225 people from 112 institutions in 32 states and five countries participate.  Several from Australia stay up all night - 12:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. - to attend the conference.

June 13, 2009

• ACU named a Center of Excellence for its mobile-learning program by the New Media Consortium.

June 2, 2009

• Second group of ACU Mobile-Learning Fellows announced.

June 1, 2009

• ACU named to CIO magazine's Top 100 list for innovation, one of only six universities to make the list.

• ACU's first iPhone application programming class begins, taught by faculty in the School of Information Technology and Computing.

March 6, 2009

• ACU is named the Dynamic Enterpirse Award winner by Alcatel-Lucent at a ceremony in Paris, France.  It is the first time a university or a non-profit has ever won.  ACU also receives the first-ever Analyst Choice Award.

March 4, 2009

• ACU receives the award for Institutional Excellence in Information Communications Technology from ACUTA, the Association for Information Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education.

February 27, 2009

• ACU hosts its first ConnectEd Mobile-Learning Summit, attended by more than 400 people from 119 institutions in 31 states and eight countries.

February 6, 2009

• Dr. William Rankin is named director of educational innovation, a new postiion created to continue ACU's leadership in new learning technologies and strategies.

November 5, 2008

• ACU publicly announces the ConnectEd Mobile-Learning Summit, scheduled for Feb. 27, 2009.

October 29, 2008

• Presentation at the EDUCAUSE National Meeting; ACU's sessions are held in packed rooms that seat 400.

October 15, 2008

• Presentation at the Handheld Learning conference in London; ACU is a nominee for the Handheld Innovation Award.

September 15, 2008

• The Google Bus visits ACU on its 10-campus "App to School" campaign.

August 22, 2008

• ACU is named the No. 1 "Up-and-Coming School" in the Universities-Master's western region by U.S. News & World Report.

• The New York Times carries its first story about ACU's mobile-learning initiative.

August 16, 2008

• ACU begins distributing iPhone and iPod touch devices to incoming freshmen. ACU claims the unofficial world record for the most iPhone activations in one 24-hour period: 612.

August 13, 2008

• Dr. Kyle Dickson and Dr. William Rankin are named faculty-in-residence at the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning with the commission to forward mobile learning as part of ACU's 21st-Century Vision.

July 31, 2008

• ACU is named "Innovator of the Year" in mobility by Campus Technology magazine.

June 16, 2008

• The first group of Mobile-Learning Fellows is announced.

June 12, 2008

• Presentation at the New Media Consortium's annual meeting at Princeton University. 
  Key ACU leaders first discuss hosting a mobile-learning conference at ACU.

February 28, 2008

• The Chronicle of Higher Education and Wired magazine carry their fist stories about ACU's mobile-learning initiative.

February 26, 2008

• Between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., ACU serves as much incoming Web traffic alone as it typically does for both incoming and outgoing traffic during a three-month period.

February 25, 2008

• Official announcement: "ACU to give an iPhone or iPod touch to every entering freshman."  President Royce Money informs a visiting group of prospective Presidential Scholars at lunch, and immediately following, the press release goes worldwide.

January 23, 2008

• Official premiere of the Connected video to an audience of students, administrators and invited corporate dignitaries.

January 15, 2008

• The first alpha version of the attendance tool, part of ACU's online mobile suite, is completed and demonstrated.

November 10, 2007

• Texas Region 14, "Technology Frontiers III" becomes the first external academic group to hear a presentation about ACU's mobile-learning initiative.

August 30, 2007

• Faculty are invited to submit applications for mobile-learning research projects.  So many are interested (70 percent) that the venue has to be changed three times before a large enough space is found.

July 26, 2007

• ACU begins development of a blog focused on integrating mobile technologies in higher education, overseen primarily by graduate student Brice Nordquist.

July 18, 2007

• The Mobile-Learning Executive Team approves turning the "day-in-the-life" story from the proposal into a video to be directed by senior Matt Maxwell.

July 16, 2007

• The Mobile-Learning Executive Team begins meeting weekly to set strategic goals and plan the future of ACU's mobile-learning efforts.

June 6, 2007

• A team from ACU presents the 40-page "The Apple iPhone & ACU: The Case for Devlopment & Deployment of the iPhone in Higher Education" at Apple Headquarters in Cupertine, Calif.

May 11, 2007

• Following posotive responses from LINK, the Mobile-Learning Executive Team convenes for the first time, drawing up plans for a written proposal to be presented at a previously-scheduled meeting with Apple.

May 2, 2007

• A recommendation for building a mobile-learning initiative based on Apple's iPhone is first presented to ACU's LINK team for consideration.

April 18, 2007

• The first meeting for what will become ACU's mobile-learning initiative takes place in the Adams Center.