Registration Underway for Two ACU Mobile-Learning Events

March 6, 2012 - PRLog -- Abilene Christian University (ACU) today announced registration is open for two mobile-learning events: The Transforming Learning Conference focused on K-12 in partnership with McAllen ISD on March 20 and the ACU Connected Open House on April 4-5 on the ACU campus, which will focus on higher education.

McAllen ISD may be the largest district in the U.S. working to place the latest in mobile technology into the hands of all its students—from high school seniors down to kindergarten—more than 25,000 in all. http://mcallenisd.schoolfusion.us/modules/cms/pages.phtml?sessionid=3597898b1d2a90bf3a9e8a156148c062&pageid=250492&sessionid=8ff3ab788ff812db9ebb2f7a89b8ec80  ACU Connected and McAllen ISD are partnering to explore the future of digital textbooks and 1-to-1 deployments in K-12 settings. This one-day event will bring together California Teacher of the Year Marco Torres, Apple’s vice president of education John Couch, McAllen ISD superintendent Dr. James Ponce, ACU president Dr. Phil Schubert and ACU’s director of educational innovation Dr. William Rankin. Participants will explore how digital material and devices can revolutionize the K-12 school environment.  Participants have the option for campus site visits to see firsthand how McAllen ISD is equipping students with mobile tools to transform learning.

The Connected Open House, focused on higher education, gives participants the opportunity to collaborate with ACU faculty, staff and students involved in ACU's mobile-learning initiative. Topics will center around the pedagogical use of smartphones and tablets, with a special emphasis on digital textbooks. The agenda will also provide opportunities for participants to explore their specific interests in relation to emerging technologies, including discussions of the infrastructure and deployment logistics necessary for a pervasive mobile program, new models of teaching and learning that leverage mobility, and best practices for creating and using digital texts in higher education.

Both events are free of charge. To learn more about the Transforming Learning Conference, visit http://www.acu.edu/transforming-learning and visit http://www.acu.edu/technology/mobilelearning/conferences/... to learn more about the Connected Open House.

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About Abilene Christian University In a world of search engines, social networking, smartphones and converged mobile devices, students have access to more information than one could process in a lifetime, Abilene Christian University launched a mobile-learning initiative, ACU Connected, in 2008. The initiative trains students to not merely consume these vast amounts of information, but to assess information, to synthesize thoughts, to generate new ideas, and to contribute meaningfully to conversations of global importance. ACU is committed to exploring how these technologies can be used to help people learn in new ways and discovering how these tools can aid us in its mission to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world. More than 4,500 students, including nearly 800 graduate students, enroll in ACU from 47 states and territories, and 41 nations. Visit www.acu.edu for more information.