SiteMinis Opens 'Mobile in the Classroom' Initiative to Institutions Worldwide
The "Mobile in the Classroom" initiative launched last year by mobile Web platform and services provider SiteMinis will grow as it enters its third semester, with the company opening potential partnerships for classroom utilization of its CliqLaunch mobile Web site platform to universities worldwide.
Previously, the company partnered with eight universities including Ball State University, University of Tennessee, Michigan State University, and Western Michigan University to deploy use of the platform primarily in advertising, graphic design, marketing, and public relations classrooms. Included in these initial partnerships was use of the CliqLaunch platform, video demos, customer support from SiteMinis, and a Facebook group for knowledge sharing among students and faculty members.
Positive response from partner universities and professors has spurred the company to offer these partnerships to institutions worldwide, according to a SiteMinis release.
"This partnership and resulting instructional innovations have helped build an active learning environment for the students and answers some fundamental issues that are challenging today's educators, such as how to introduce the latest digital technologies into the classroom effectively, how to better meet the trial and error learning style of this generation of students, how to customize our instruction to meet individual needs of each student, and how to narrow the gap between what is taught in the classroom and what is needed in the ever-changing mobile marketplace," said Hairong Li, professor of advertising at Michigan State University, in a release.
Siteminis' CliqLaunch is a mobile Web site launch canvas that allows users to create and launch mobile Web marketing sites without the need for an IT interface or any special coding. The crux of the company's idea is to put mobile Web site design and deployment in the hands of marketing teams to improve the speed to market for mobile Web sites, improve command and control through administrative process, reduce costs of mobile site deployment, and remove required interfaces with third-party mobile developers and internal IT resources, according to the company Web site.
Universities interested in joining "Mobile in the Classroom" can contact Tim Canada of at [email protected] or Aaron Zeanah at [email protected].
About the Author
Kevin Hudson is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Oregon. He can be reached at [email protected].