Ball State is moving along in the digital-era, with a the addition of a new interactive tablet magazine that promotes the university’s online and distance learning programs.
ILearn Magazine debuted Friday and is available for the iPad, downloadable for free from the Apple App Store.
ILearn is meant to spotlight online and blended classes at Ball State, and developments in online learning. It can serve as a resource for faculty and students involved with teaching or taking distance learning classes.
“I think you can learn a lot from reading on the tablet,” said Ellen Collier, the lead designer for the app . “There are different elements you can’t get with a newspaper, interactive elements. [There is information] about online education and I think students should be able to get something out of it.”
Collier, a sophomore journalism major and former chief designer for the Daily News, was selected as part of her job with the Digital Publishing Studio. For this project, she worked with marketing and communications to learn how to design in Ball State’s style, created designs to match the content and learned how to put together interactive elements.
The Integrated Learning Institute developed the magazine as a communication tool to open up the conversation about what it does — serve faculty members developing and teaching online classes.
Ball State is gaining attention with more than just the iLearn magazine.
On Monday, U.S. News and World Report released the rankings for best online bachelor’s programs, ranking Ball State at No. 20. The rankings were generated based on graduation rates, student debt post-graduation and academic and career support services.
Nancy Prater, director of Marketing and Communications, Online and Distance Education, said iLearn magazine is trying to communicate Ball State’s success in integrated learning — success that was reaffirmed with the ranking.
“We are doing a lot in the state, even in the nation that is cutting edge for online education,” she said. “This magazine is to help tell our stories. Within that ranking, we scored 11 for faculty training and credentials and that speaks well to the Integrated Learning Institute.”
The issue is the first of what will be a biannual magazine, published in the winter and summer.
Collier is going to work on the next issue, which will be released in May.
“It was a great learning experience. It’s a great clip for my portfolio; I can show someone that I have an app in the Apple store. It was all worth it,” she said.
The summer issue, which will focus on analytics and the online classroom, will also be available on the Android Marketplace
Prater said iLearn is geared toward a specific audience and for that reason, it may not reach a large following, but the right audience could benefit from it.
“This isn’t something for everyone, but for faculty members who might be interested in online and blended learning,” she said. “We’re going into a niche audience so if we had 2,000 eyes, the right kind of eyes [that would be great].”
