A professor at the University of Michigan has launched an iPad app that he originally developed to help large introductory college classes seem smaller and less intimidating.
iCampus is allowing a limited number of customers to get a sneak peak at its premium mobile platform package, dubbed iCampus Plus, which will be formally released in September.
Blackboard has updated its mobile app to accommodate test taking and to deliver alerts to students when changes happen to their courses without the learning management system app being opened.
Yale University has deployed a free iPhone app to provide students easy access to campus news and information.
Schools are finding ways to encourage mobile development on campus while maintaining centralized control of their brands.
Worldwide shipments of tablets increased significantly in the first quarter of 2012, driven by strong sales of Apple's iPad. But owing to a slump in Android tablet sales, overall growth was weaker than expected. Meanwhile, on the smart phone front, Apple dropped to second place as Samsung more than tripled its unit shipments in the quarter to land in the top slot.
Thrust into online learning at scale in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina--a disaster that put 45 percent of its physical campus out of commission--New Orleans-based Delgado Community College experienced the aftershock of realizing that many of its students were not "online ready." Success rates--and therefore retention and completion rates--suffered just because of a student skills gap in online education. A self-guided online learning module, DORM, has made a big difference even as a doubling of enrollment since 2006 has put further pressure on available classroom space.
Blackboard has added augmented reality (AR) to its Blackboard Mobile Central platform, giving college students the opportunity to take enhanced informational tours of their campus and surroundings.
Mobile implementations bring relevance to the institution for students and other campus constituents. But many colleges and universities over think their mobile strategies, causing needless delays in deriving value from their mobile projects. Tim Flood, a seasoned leader of mobile initiatives including Stanford University's iStanford project, points out some of the unique requirements of mobile implementations, and urges institutions to move more quickly on mobile.
A company that addresses mobile security has released a free security app and location tool that lets the user track down the whereabouts of his or her smartphone and wipe data remotely from its memory.