Abilene Christian University First In U.S. To Give iPhones To Students

I could not be more proud to announce this morning that Abilene Christian University, my alma mater, has officially become the first university in the U.S. to provide an iPhone or iPod Touch to all incoming freshmen. They will use their iPhone or iPod Touch to answer surveys and quizzes, receive homework notifications, and even check their meal and account balances. More than 15 web applications have been developed specifically for this program.

ACU’s CIO Kevin Roberts recently returned from Cupertino where he presented the school’s ‘Connected’ initiative to Apple Execs, as well as leaders from Harvard, Yale, MIT, Duke, and others. They’ve put together this whole ‘Connected’ video, showing just how the university plans to use mobile connectivity to enrich students’ lives and the learning process.

The coolest part isn’t the iPhones, it’s the ideas behind them, and how they’re using advanced mobile devices to help students learn. I think it’s fascinating.

I’m really beaming right now. How cool is this.