The Digital U Impact – Innovation and Creativity on Display Thanks to Campus Technology

by Emily Kesel

Seven years ago, Central Methodist University announced a bold plan. In an effort to ensure the brightest possible future for its students, the University began rolling out its multi-million-dollar education initiative known as Digital U, putting Apple iPads in the hands of all its on-campus, fulltime students and promoting an innovative new technological environment.

The iPads were distributed in the fall of 2018, and other technology was implemented all across campus. Apple TVs were installed in every classroom and lab, the Makerspace was created to give even more access to technology, and faculty members were trained on the new tech and encouraged to use and promote innovative thinking.

Spearheaded by former board president Bob Courtney, the goal of the program was to make learning more equitable, engaging, and collaborative—ensuring all Central students have equal access to technology while providing a cutting-edge experience that could give them an advantage in the job market.

Today, it’s clear that the initiative has been a great success. This summer, Central achieved the honor of being named an Apple Distinguished School for a second time, earning another three-year distinction for its innovation using Apple technology to inspire, imagine, and impact teaching and learning.

“The Apple Distinguished designation reflects our ongoing commitment to empowering learners through technology,” said Carrie Strodtman ’03, director for digital learning. “Our faculty have embraced the Digital U initiative, reimagining their curriculum to integrate technology in meaningful and transformative ways. This approach has created a dynamic learning environment that encourages students to create, innovate, and share their ideas.”

With its inclusion in this year’s list, Central became one of only 46 institutions of higher education in the United States to earn the designation of an Apple Distinguished School. Apple identifies these institutions as “centers of leadership and educational excellence that demonstrate Apple’s vision for learning with technology.”

But it doesn’t take a prestigious award to see the impact that Digital U has had on the students at Central. The technology used every day was a crucial aspect of keeping the University running smoothly during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students and faculty were able to keep in touch even as quarantine was necessary for those testing positive for the virus.

Even in more normal times, though, the vast majority of students surveyed by Strodtman as both freshmen and upperclassmen year after year say their iPads make them more engaged in class and give them the ability to work from almost anywhere. In the 2023-24 survey, 85 percent of both freshmen and upperclassmen said they use their iPads in all their classes, and greater than 90 percent said the CMUissued iPad is their primary device for class work, including writing papers, completing homework, and accessing course materials.

Many faculty members also find the iPads more accessible and convenient for both day-to-day work and projects. Secondyear English professor Erika Gotfredson says she uses technology in every class, using apps and online platforms to drive student participation and, in turn, give them feedback in real time.

“It’s so much easier to do on the iPad, because I can very quickly put up a submission portal in Canvas and have them submit a thesis statement, and then I can give them feedback during class while they’re working on other things,” said Gotfredson. “It’s better than having them hand write it and turn something in that inevitably is going to get lost.”

Gotfredson listed apps such as Notability and Canvas as the tools she and her students use most often, while a platform called Perusal has become more popular in her classes this year. Students can use the online platform to access their readings, then add comments and respond to others’ comments, which then facilitates discussion in the classroom. She also allows students to explore other programs and tools as they wish for assignments that call for more creativity, like recording a video or designing Instagram posts for literary characters.

On the surface, Gotfredson’s methods may seem far afield from the standard practice of reading stories and writing essays for an English class, but she sees the use of technology as adapting the same lessons to the changing times. For example, in her introduction to literature course, students were asked to do an analysis of a poem in a video format rather than a paper.

“It’s essentially the same format, where you have to have a thesis statement and you have to use evidence and analyze it,” she said. “The same skills are still there, it’s just in a format that they’re probably more likely to use because we live in a very tech-heavy world, and all the jobs that they’re going to be looking at will require them to know their way around different technologies.

“It’s not so much that the skills we’re practicing have changed, it’s just the ways that students are delivering their ideas look different.”

Gotfredson’s innovative and creative use of technology in the classroom earned her the Faculty Innovation Award in her first year at CMU in 2023, which she says has been a great motivation to keep pushing the technology further. Central awards both faculty members and students each year with monetary prizes for the Innovation Awards, highlighting the outstanding projects of the campus community and the technology used to create them.

“It was really nice to know that I had signed on to work at a place that valued what I was bringing to the table and then was pushing me to do it,” Gotfredson said of being an award winner. “It was incredibly affirming to me and gives me the freedom to feel like I can do more.”

In addition to feeling affirmed by the reward for innovative thinking, Gotfredson says the technological learning environment at Central is unlike any other place she’s studied or worked because all students have that crucial access to the same technology and are able to participate at the same level.

“To me that speaks volumes to how we’re thinking about accessibility and leveling the playing field, in terms of making sure that every student has access to the exact same things,” she said. “It’s really important that I can be doing some of the innovative and interesting things, and I’m not doing it to the detriment of my students who aren’t going to have access to those things. We live in a world where you have to be fluent in technology in order to say anything important and make a difference, so I don’t think we would be preparing our students for the world that they live in if we weren’t doing these sorts of things.”

As the technology we use continues evolving and changing, so does the outlook of Digital U. More research and training this year have involved virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) than ever before, and professors and students alike are learning to use both as responsibly and practically as possible.

And while some may be quick to point out the drawbacks of using generative AI in the college classroom, Strodtman knows that, like with all technology, if the tool is used properly, it can be a wonderful aid.

“What I tell my students is that generative AI is amazing if you already come with a knowledge base. If you’re already something of an expert in your field, then it’s great because you can recognize the errors it makes,” she said. “It can be helpful, but you can’t rely on it one hundred percent. And their brains are better than AI in so many ways.”

While technology continues to change, and Central Methodist continues to adapt to use it in every way possible, some things about a CMU education will always stay the same.

“Employers want our students to know how to use technology for efficiency, but we also need to figure out how to teach students critical thinking, teaching them to be creative, teach them to use language themselves so that what they’re using is actually helpful,” said Strodtman. “We’re trying to equip them with skills that can’t be replaced by an AI – that’s emotion, that’s empathy. Those are things AI doesn’t have yet.” The Central Annual Fund is our primary financial resource for fostering the academic, social, and spiritual growth of CMU students.