ABILENE, TX April 12, 2011 — In its continued effort to increase student engagement using innovative technology-enabled approaches, Abilene Christian University’s (ACU) mobile-learning initiative, Connected, today announced it was awarded nearly $250,000 from Wave I of the Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) grants.
The grant money will be used to scale ACU’s mobile-enhanced inquiry-based learning (MEIBL) program demonstrating its effectiveness in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs at two schools — Del Mar College and California University of Pennsylvania — both that have low-income students who are at the highest risk of failing or dropping out. MEIBL is a blended learning strategy which helps creates an active and engaging learning environment, producing increased student engagement, independence, and persistence to course completion.
Research conducted through ACU’s Mobile Learning initiative, Connected, provides evidence that mobile device usage consistently results in creased ratings of student engagement (Perkins & Saltsman, 2011). Findings also show that student teams effectively use pre-class viewing of instructive podcasts to reduce in-class instructional time and to facilitate just-in-time review which fosters independent, collaborative and active learning processes in basic science labs (Powell, 2009; Saltsman, Crisp, Perkins & Powell, 2010).
“To provide new methods of learning to students who otherwise would drop out or fail is precisely the foundation of ACU’s mobile learning initiative,” said Dwayne Harapnuik PhD, Director of Faculty Enrichment at Abilene Christian University. “It’s an honor that the NGLC recognizes the benefits of our MEIBL program.”
Over the next 18 months, California University of Pennsylvania and Del Mar will implement MEIBL with students in biology, zoology and botany courses. ACU currently uses MEIBL with over 400 students in chemistry and biochemistry courses and will apply the MEIBL to additional classes with a portion of the grant money.
In this first wave of grant funding, NGLC awarded a combined total of $11 million to organizations developing promising education technology solution. The $20 million grant program is run by Educause and sustained mostly by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
ABOUT ACU’S MOBILE-LEARNING INITIATIVE, CONNECTED
In a world of search engines, social networking, and mobile computers, students have access to more information than one could process in a lifetime. In 2008, Abilene Christian University launched a mobile-learning initiative, Connected, which trains students to not merely consume these vast amounts of information, but to assess information, synthesize thoughts, generate new ideas, and contribute meaningfully to conversations of global importance. The university hosts live and online conferences for educators and administrators to engage in dialogue, research and idea-sharing. ACU was named one of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News and World Report in its 2011 edition. In 2010, Forbes rated ACU in the top seven percent of colleges and universities in its “America’s Best Colleges” rankings. It enrolls 4,700 students, generally from 50 states and territories, and 42 nations. For more information visit http://www.acu.edu/connected
