The budding scribes get iPhones. The future CEO’s get Blackberrys.
Indiana University will offer its 2,200 business graduate students discounted deals on Blackberry smartphones under a new pilot program with AT&T, the first agreement of its kind between the company and a university.
The arrangement comes on the heels of a minor kerfuffle over the University of Missouri’s plan to require that its journalism students buy either an iPhone or an iPod Touch. Before you get worked up over the evils of mandating this or that device: No one at Indiana University is forcing these phones on anybody.
The business benefits to AT&T are obvious. For Indiana, the program will help the university as it works to “mobilize” services like its course-management system and registration, said Sue Workman, associate vice president for support.
“Instead of planning our applications to be looked at on a 19-inch monitor, we’re looking at a 2-by-2 screen,” she said. —Marc Parry
Developing online and blended learning programs requires research and collaboration. Learn how top technology companies are partnering with campuses across the country to advance online learning as it becomes an increasingly important aspect of higher education.