News
Blackboard Acquires MobilEdu Developer
Blackboard today announced that it has acquired ed tech developer Terriblyclever Design, the maker of MobilEdu, a campus communication application designed for iPhone and other mobile devices.
MobilEdu is a standalone tool that lets users connect with professors, receive news updates, browse course catalogs, e-mail other users, receive schedule updates, view a map of their campus (with GPS support), and engage in other forms of communication. Uses can also access iTunes U and YouTube through the software and view video content, such as course lectures. And it offers open APIs to allow institutions to customize their interfaces for use with MobilEdu.
As Blackboard described it today, "MobilEdu allows education institutions to deliver a rich set of campus life services and content to mobile devices, uniquely branded for each institution, to better connect current students, parents, faculty, prospective students and alumni to the campus experience in a way that wasn't possible before."
MobilEdu is available on mobile platforms that have built-in Web browsers.
"We're proud of the technology we've developed, and excited about the prospect of bringing it to a wider community of institutions," said Kayvon Beykpour, co-founder of Terriblyclever, in a prepared statement released by Blackboard today. Beykpour has joined Blackboard as vice president and, according to Blackboard, will now lead the company's mobile education technology efforts. "We started MobilEdu because we wanted to empower students and faculty by allowing them to engage with their university in a powerful and mobile way. Joining forces with Blackboard was the best way to work towards that vision, and we couldn't be more excited."
Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Further information about the technology and acquisition can be found here.
About the Author
Executive Producer David Nagel heads up the editorial department for 1105 Media's education publications — which include two daily sites, a variety of newsletters and two monthly digital magazines covering technology in both K-12 and higher education.
A 21-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art and business publications.
He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/profile/view?id=10390192 or follow him on Twitter at @THEJournalDave (K-12) or @CampusTechDave (higher education). A selection of David Nagel's articles can be found on this site.