By Jared Fields, Editor in Chief
ACU will add another team to its iPhone research group less than a month after naming faculty and staff members to research teams. The university is calling for students with iPhones to take part in research for the phone.
All interested students with an iPhone, Trio or Blackberry device can attend a meeting from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Mabee Library Auditorium to become part of student groups involved in the research of converged mobile devices.
“We want to understand broadly how people are already using these devices,” said Bill Rankin, associate professor of English and director of the iPhone educational research team. “We ask people who are willing to participate to meet, help us brainstorm, to help us with some surveys and to help us test some things.”
Also on Tuesday, Rankin said two representatives from the university will travel to Seattle to attend EDUCAUSE, the largest educational technology conference in the U.S. It will give ACU representatives a chance to participate in workshops and meet with other universities brainstorming about the iPhone’s capabilities.
ACU also applied for a $100,000 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant. The grant, which isn’t awarded until early 2008, could help fund the study of the iPhone if ACU receives it. The foundation’s task is to fund the exploration of best practices in education and technology.
Funding for iPhone research comes from operation’s budgets in Information Services and the Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, said Phil Schubert, executive vice president. He said the university is assessing other potential external sources for funding.
Students could begin testing the iPhone version of myACU. Rankin said the site, http://my.acu.edu/m, has been active for about three weeks, and researchers want to make sure it’s working before they officially release it.
Scott Lopez, senior exercise science major from San Antonio, got his iPhone the day it was released and wants to help with the student research.
“I think the iPhone is one of the greatest inventions since I’ve been alive,” Lopez said. “Anything I can do to help people see that is something I care about.”
Since the iPhone’s June 29 release date, Lopez has spent nearly four months tinkering with the device. Lopez said the device has many possibilities, and he would like to see applications like voice recording and Microsoft Office on the iPhone.
“I was waiting for a phone like this,” Lopez said. “I thought it was worth it.”
Jason Glades
posted 2/24/09 @ 9:53 AM CST
“We ask people who are willing to participate to meet, help us brainstorm, to help us with some surveys and to help us test some things,” I think that it’s great idea!
Maria Ostridge
posted 2/25/09 @ 12:54 AM CST
Thank you for writing the article, I am very pleased with how it came out.
Cathy Haught
posted 3/04/09 @ 10:11 AM CST
Am I the only one that noticed this article is over a year old?!
Angela James
posted 3/09/09 @ 4:18 AM CST
Good and interesting article, thanks!
