Apple alone is not the answer.
Apple’s mobile tools can improve and expedite the exchange of information, but they can do nothing on their own. Apple is a facilitator of creativity and collaboration, attributes the leaders of ACU’s Mobile Learning Initiative have clearly demonstrated.
Although the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch are merely tools, a tool often determines whether our efforts end in success or failure. A carpenter may own the most expensive hammer and use every ounce of his strength, but removing a screw without a screwdriver will be almost impossible.
The only thing we know about the iPad is that we don’t know its limits. We like that.
As technology challenges every aspect of traditional education, we believe the iPad could be one of the tools that allows ACU to lead the restructure and redefinition of technology’s role in education. Mobile technology has rocked the journalism boat even more than education, leaving newspapers and magazines scrambling to maintain readership and meet their readers’ needs.
For these two reasons, the Optimist staff will design an iPad interface, in addition to its iPhone/iPod Touch interface and Web site.
We understand how efficient and convenient mobile devices can be, and we realize the profound impact they will continue to have on news delivery and consumption. Designing an iPad interface will ensure you, the student, can get the news you want, the way you want it, whether it be on your computer, iPad, iPhone or iPod. It also will allow us to mirror the scenario every professional news agency is faced with: How can we use a new technology to enhance news coverage?
Soon, every student on campus will have an iPhone or iPod touch. More than 90 percent of incoming freshmen in the last two years brought a computer to campus. Two years from now, every student will have a computer and a mobile device. Any organization or medium that does not publish online regularly – and publish well – will struggle to survive.
When it comes to news that impacts your day-to-day life, don’t worry. When you pick up your iPad this year, the Optimist and the latest news updates, photos and videos will be waiting for you.
