Anderson University is recognized as a national pioneer in integrating mobile technology in the university classroom environment. Now the State of South Carolina wants AU to make that kind of innovation possible in K-12 schools in the state.
In creating The Education Improvement Act of 1984, the South Carolina General Assembly sought to fund “Centers of Excellence” in the state to foster the creation of groundbreaking initiatives by educational leaders to improve opportunities for the state’s school children. The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education has awarded $143,000 to Anderson to establish a Center of Excellence for Mobile Learning (CEML) to duplicate the success of its groundbreaking Mobile Learning Initiative in South Carolina schools.
The Center will be housed on the Anderson University campus. Led by Dr. Benjamin Deaton, AU’s director of instructional design, the Center will prepare and examine the role of educators integrating mobile learning principles and technologies into teaching and learning in K-12 and university classrooms. Spartanburg District 7’s George Washington Carver Middle School is the partner school for this project, which will receive funding for five years.
The first year of the Center has been funded for $143,000. The goals of the CEML are to 1) develop and model a state-of-the-art teacher preparation program, 2) design and implement innovative school-based projects to enhance student and teacher achievement at AU’s partner school and district, and 3) serve as a statewide leader for training and professional development for in-service teachers, teacher educators, and faculty in higher education.
For the Center’s activities, teachers at Carver Middle School and faculty at AU will receive a weeklong professional development seminar on both best practices for teaching and technology integration. The Center aims to build upon and expand Anderson University’s Mobile Learning Initiative that is entering its third year. In that program, all students and participating faculty have been integrating iPads and mobile learning into the teaching-learning experience. That program has been recognized as transformative in expanding college learning in and outside of the classroom.