ACADEMIC INNOVATION

Abilene Christian’s application of technology to learning has been acclaimed by industry and higher education experts around the world as an example of forward-thinking institutions and organizations.

Its Adams Center for Teaching and Learning opened in 1992 in Brown Library, spurring opportunities for innovation, focus and leadership within the community of leaders and emerging leaders among ACU faculty members.

The library’s main floor features the Learning Commons, which supports the creation of academic work in a warm, bright and inviting atmosphere. It features multiple computer stations set up for individual and group work; a Starbucks cafe; and the Writing Center.

In 2008, ACU’s award-winning mobile-learning initiative made it the first university to provide an Apple iPhone or iPod touch to all incoming freshmen. All faculty and full-time undergraduate students were provided mobile devices in 2011, integrating technology and learning in and out of the classroom. 

Also in 2011, the AT&T Learning Studio, on the top floor of Brown Library, began providing a curricular laboratory to support student, faculty and staff experiments with new media tools. Later that year, ACU’s K-12 Learning Institute began to help facilitate the training of primary and secondary teachers around the world in using new media and mobile technology for teaching and learning. It includes a prototype classroom overseen by full-time professionals in ACU’s Department of Teacher Education.

In 2012, ACU became one of 10 U.S. colleges and universities to be named an Apple Distinguished Program for its work to understand the impact of mobility in education, and to create new ways for students and teachers to learn and engage through mobile devices. 

Abilene Christian regularly is cited by U.S News as one of the most innovative universities in the nation.