Launched in Fall 2011, Anderson University’s Digital Learning Initiative (DLI) is an exploration and investigation of the use and impact of highly mobile technologies to support teaching and learning. The primary goal of the DLI is to enhance student learning and teaching. To achieve that goal, we target the development of the core skills of creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking through the integration of technology. Furthermore, the use of authentic, personalized learning experiences that promote student inquiry through the use of emerging technologies to help students and faculty realize those skills are encouraged.

 

Anderson’s DLI program is a one-to-one program in which all full-time, traditional students receive an iPad. All full-time faculty members were also provided with a device as well, which resulted in an adoption rate over 90%. To date, Anderson University is the only institution of higher education with such a program in our home state of South Carolina.

 

Anderson University views learning as a personalized experience that should foster inquiry and personal growth. Anderson faculty members have adopted this view and make significant efforts to design learning experiences that support that vision. Students enrolled in courses developed through our Mobile Learning Teachers Fellow program use their iPads in numerous capacities to support their learning. Students across all of Anderson’s Colleges and Schools use a wide range of apps to create, present, collaborate, and communicate among the entire class and with their instructors.