PEORIA, Ill. – As a new school year gets underway at Bradley University, students are getting new presents to help with a new initiative.
The Digitally Connected Campus Initiative starts its first full-year this year, after a soft rollout last school year. Students receive a 10th-generation iPad enabled to be connected with T-Mobile 5G hotspots on the campus, as well as a Bradley-branded keyboard case.
Chief Information Officer Barbra Kearns says the iPad is designed to be a “digital passport” to Bradley and the campus.
“The students have access to the device, they have the connectivity, as well as access to curated apps and content,” Kearns said.
Kearns says the iPads come pre-installed with apps in the classroom from Google and Microsoft, as well as tools for outside the classroom, including the ability to call campus safety and order food.
One example from last year’s rollout, Kearns says, involved a group of biology students traveling to Jubilee State Park to record data and samples with their iPads. She says another class used augmented reality to “travel” through molecules.
Bradley University says the initiative aims to bridge a digital divide gap in higher education.
Emma Hoffman is a senior from Peoria studying finance, who says she’s always wanted an iPad. She feels it will make life in the classroom easier.
“I’m looking forward most to taking notes on it, I feel it’ll be a lot easier to transfer to phones and laptops and things like that,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman says she’s also looking forward to being able to play games on her iPad.
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