I recently visited Abilene Christian University for the ACU Connected Open House. This gathering was a chanced to see what ACU has done with their iPhone initiative and see some of the solutions they have created to take advantage of these new tools for education.

One area the school is focusing on is collaboration, not just for students, but for faculty also.

Bamboo Room

This collaborative space is designed specifically for faculty. One of the great things about this space is the custom designed desk which houses outlets to charge devices and adapters that connect to the monitor. All the connections and power are stored under the little grassy area in the center of the table and run down through the table’s legs.

media:scape

For students and faculty, they have created wonderful work areas using Steelcase media:scape desks. These desks allow a team to share information quickly and seamlessly. Up to four users can plug in their devices, be it a laptop, tablet, or even iPhone, into the media:scape Puck™ on the desk, which then routes their display to the LCD monitor. Anyone can take over the monitor by touching the display icon on their Puck™. No hooking or unhooking cables. “Let me show you what I’ve done” can quickly lead to more useful collaboration.

think. make. learn.

For a good old-fashioned get-together, ACU has created booths that students can use to meet and study together. If more privacy is required, large whiteboards on casters are available as portable screens. By wheeling one down to the edge of the booth, the students can shut out distractions and create more workspace by using the boards.

As ACU looks to the future, they definitely see collaboration as part of their roadmap.

Photos © Ian Aberle. Used with permission.