About

What is Digital Flagship?

Digital Flagship is a comprehensive, university-wide digital learning initiative to support educational innovation for students and economic development opportunities for the community.

This isn’t a device initiative, it is a student success initiative to blend learning technology throughout the university experience and increase student engagement and learning transformation — both inside and outside the classroom. 

Program Goals

Student Technology

We provide an immersive and engaging collection of shared tools, platforms, and learning experiences for every incoming first-year Ohio State student. 
Coding Curriculum

This program offers university-wide opportunities for students to learn coding skills to enhance their career-readiness in the app economy. 
Design Labs

Digital Flagship has created a unique space that provides an outlet for students, faculty, staff and the greater Ohio community to explore app development from ideation to prototype to market.

Digital Flagship at a Glance

  • 85% of undergraduates have a Digital Flagship technology kit as of AU21
  • 90% of devices are active on a weekly basis
  • 7,300 particpants in 82+ events at Design Labs
  • 3,343 students at Digital Flagship First-Year Success Series events
  • 4,000+ Ohio State coding course enrollments
  • 100+ public coding course enrollments 
A man and a woman work on an iPad Pro with pencil.

Technology

students working on iPads in classroom
Classrooms leverage a common technology to learn, grow and connect in new ways.
Digital Flagship provided free technology kits to all incoming undergraduates from fall 2018 to spring 2022. The kits included an iPad, Keyboard, Apple Pencil, AppleCare+, and a suite of apps for learning, productivity and creativity. In AU21 more than 85% of undergraduate students had access to common technology through the program.

Swift Coding and App Development Certification

A person sitting on a couch using a laptopDigital Flagship’s free Swift Coding and App Development courses provide the foundational knowledge to code effectively and build a great app, with no prior coding experience required. The self-paced online curriculum is divided into four competency-based courses that lead to coding and app development certificates from Ohio State and prepare learners for Apple’s Swift Coding certification test.

More than 4,000 students, faculty, staff and alumni are currently enrolled in the program. We also offer the certificate through the State of Ohio’s TechCred and IMAP programs which support employers and individuals in digital upskilling to meet industry needs. The certificate program is now available at a low cost to the general public, and we are actively working with K-12 and higher education institutions to expand the curriculum to their students and educators.

Design Lab and Community Engagement

Design Lab at COhatch Gateway
The Design Lab at COhatch the Gateway

Digital Flagship is expanding the programming outreach offered via the Mobile Design Lab, a 34-foot classroom on wheels that engaged with over 7,300 participants during the first year of operation, by developing a permanent Design Lab within the COhatch Gateway location, a co-working space for individuals across the workforce. Events in the space began in August 2021. The space will host programming including student coding courses, hack-a-thons, pitch nights, start-up gatherings and app development partnerships with local businesses.

In the past year, we began one such partnership by supporting the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), the regional public transit provider for Central Ohio serving 1.2 million residents and providing more than 19 million passenger trips annually, in the conception and design of an app to reach their community of drivers, mechanics and more with critical business, operations and safety information.

Ohio State: Wellness App

Wellness App iconThe Wellness app, developed as part of Digital Flagship, has been a resource to offer clear and timely information to help our students care for their mental health and well-being throughout the course of the pandemic. 

The app includes both proactive resources like tailored blog content written with the college experience in mind, a Wellness Plan tool, and goal tracking as well as clear instructions for getting support and accessing mental health and well-being resources at all Ohio State campuses.

    The app is available for both Android and iOS devices. Students can also access the app features through their existing Ohio State mobile app. 

    More than 64,000 unique users have visited the standalone app or the wellness features in the Ohio State app. 

    The Wellness app continues to grow and adapt to serve the needs of our students – from streamlined COVID-19 information to timely resources for understanding and discussing racism and inequality. 

    FAQ's

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    How does Digital Flagship support the university's strategic plan?

    Digital Flagship supports several pillars of Ohio State’s strategic plan, including teaching and learning and research and creative expression. Additionally, the initiative supports access, affordability and excellence by providing Ohio State undergraduates with integrated learning technology at no cost to students.

    How is Digital Flagship funded?

    Over the past few years, Ohio State has focused on efficiencies within our service offerings and operational costs. Through these efficiencies, the university has created a central pool of funding to be used for this student-focused initiative. More information can be found on the Office of Business and Finance website.