Responding to the iPhone’s popularity among students, many universities now are rolling out initiatives that aim to take advantage of its potential as a converged, mobile learning device.

The timing is good for such initiatives, because earlier this month, Apple Inc. moved to expand the use of its iPhone by unveiling software intended to allow third-party developers to build new iPhone applications.

On March 14, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., released a version of its web site’s home page specially designed for the iPhone.

“More and more of our students, faculty, and staff are using the iPhone to access the internet,” said Melanie Moran, assistant director of the Vanderbilt News Service. “We created a version of the Vanderbilt web site that takes advantage of the iPhone’s powerful software and intuitive multi-touch interface.”

The specially designed web page will make it easier for iPhone users to access the web site’s content, such as eMail and the online directory.

In February, Texas-based Abilene Christian University (ACU) announced plans to give free iPhones or iPod touches to more than 900 incoming freshman this fall. The university plans to study the devices’ efficacy as a learning tool.

Unlike many earlier cell phones, the iPhone is designed to allow for full web surfing. Before, some cell phones could access only those web sites specifically created for mobile phones. And even with those phones that could access regular web sites, such as the Windows-equipped Palm Treo series, the process could be imperfect.

The iPhone and iPod touch come with Safari, Apple’s fully functioning web browser, built in. Users can switch between landscape or portrait view and use a touch-screen keyboard to search and zoom in and out on web content.

Besides full web surfing, the iPhone also lets users talk on the phone, send text messages, check eMail, take pictures, listen to music and podcasts, download documents, watch movies, and more via Wi-Fi access.

“I heard the buzz about the iPhone and thought, ‘If half of these things are true, then this is a really compelling device,’” said Kevin Roberts, ACU’s chief information officer.

ACU’s first-of-its-kind iPhone initiative is part of a larger, six-year study the university is doing on mobile computing in education.

ACU already has piloted laptops, Palm handhelds, and Blackberries on a wide scale. Each was a bust, Roberts said.

Laptops have limited battery life, and when flipped open, the screen creates an immediate barrier between the teacher and student in a classroom setting, he said. University officials found the Palm handhelds had connectivity problems, and Blackberries were best for eMail only.