14 DAY TRIAL // Every once in a while, certain individuals tend to think about how much they would get paid if they were to do something worth paying for. If you ever thought about such things, I'm pretty sure you have never even imagined that one of those "worth paying for" things you could do is to attend an University.
No it's not a Big Brother-like TV show, "just for the fun of" like University. We're talking about a real one, where teachers would try to teach you stuff and where you would do anything you're capable of to escape the mesmerizing power of the actual moment you're becoming interested in learning.
Now, finally, you will actually get something in return if you decide to make the big step and choose an University. The culprit is Abilene Christian University (Texas, USA) and these guys are the ones that will give you a free iPhone or iPod Touch if you are willing to join their campus.
As they are saying on their website, the "freshmen will use an iPhone or iPod touch to receive homework alerts, answer in-class surveys and quizzes, get directions to their professors' offices, and check their meal and account balances - among more than 15 other useful web applications already developed".
I may not be quite well informed but, as I recall, Texas is not a state renowned for its avant-garde view over life's matters. People there (and I'm only saying this from what I've learned from the movies - if I may be wrong blame Hollywood for being a cynical liar) tend not to be very up to date with the latest technologies and other stuff like that.
It's not the fact that they do offer free iPhones (or iPods) to the freshmen but, to tell you the truth, I'm actually quite impressed with the fact that an University from Texas - and a Christian University too - has decided to make such a move. There are other Universities (to be read Winona State University from Minnesota) that deliver free PC or Mac laptops to offer their students access to the latest technology, but none of them are from Texas or are Christian.
Of course, offering your students free stuff can only be a good thing for business, but there is the downside to this, because you will most probably get the people that are either in it for the iPhone (or iPod) and never heard about WSU's laptop offer, or - even worse - the ones that just fell for your little marketing trap and, in my opinion, are a little off track and shouldn't be allowed to decide their own future and watch commercials at the same time.
ACU's Chief Information Officer Kevin Roberts declared: "We are not merely providing cutting-edge technology tools to our incoming students. We are also providing the web applications that ensure these tools will become critical to the students' learning experience. Because 93 percent of ACU students bring their own computers with them to college, we are choosing to take them to the next level by providing converged mobile devices."
Therefore, the University professors seem to be all in favor of expanding their future students' technological horizons to the next level and equip them with the latest mobile communication devices and, as Dr. Dwayne VanRheenen, ACU provost, said, they are also trying to revolutionize the way students perceive the learning environment: "This is exciting to me, not only because we're giving students new tools, but because we are transforming the learning environment. The extensive research that's been done on campus in the past 10 months has prepared us to launch with freshmen this fall, and research will be ongoing as we expand the program in the future."
If you're still balancing their offer with other universities' offers, then this is what you'll get, besides a new iPhone or iPod Touch, if you finally decide in favor of ACU (not my sayings, just a little quote from their website): "ACU's innovative, diverse learning environment attracts about 4,700 students from nearly every state and 60 nations to its beautiful 200-acre Texas campus. Strong academic programs include business, pre-med, theatre, physics, psychology, education and information technology."