The Mobile Garage

SPU Mobile - Engaging Students on Their Terms

Seattle Pacific University (SPU) had been exploring a mobile solution knowing that they needed to establish a long-term mobile strategy in order to develop and sustain an active relationship with their students. SPU decided to partner with Blackboard Mobile because they did not have the available resources to develop and maintain a native app that would fulfill the needs of their community.

In a recent article about SPU’s decision to go mobile, David Tindall, Assistant Vice President for Technology Services at SPU, discusses their motivation to pursue an all-encompassing mobile strategy, explaining that the nature of student behavior has changed and as a result, the way that they communicate with their students must change as well. Mr. Tindall indicates that: “Like most colleges, our students spend so much time on their smartphones – text messaging, accessing social networks and enjoying multimedia… Giving them access to key campus information on the devices they use most often is the most effective way to engage them.”

SPU's goal is to provide their students with a meaningful set of modules that promote frequent usage and ultimately help to increase the level of engagement that they have with their constituents. And SPU Mobile is doing just that. Since their initial launch in February of last year they have expanded the functionality of their app and seen almost 2,000 downloads, more than half of their undergraduate population. With SPU Mobile students have access to everything from interactive campus tours, library and athletics information to class schedules, directories and their Banner portal. 

Read the full press release to learn more about SPU's mobile strategy and why they chose Blackboard Mobile as a partner to help them achieve their goals.

Download SPU Mobile, for your iPhone, Android, Blackberry, or Palm webOS device.

RUB mobile – one month after the German HigherEd Market Launch

RUB mobile is a Blackboard app developed specifically for Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), one of Germany’s largest universities as well as one of Germany’s strongest research universities that has made it to the final round of Germany’s Excellence Initiative in 2007 and 2011.

RUB mobile was officially launched during the on campus RUB Mobile Day on 22 November 2011, organized by RUB to introduce the RUB app to students and staff. The event was, without a doubt, a big success! Not only did the RUB Mobile Day generate a large amount of media attention (Artikel Ruhr-Nachrichten vom 16.11.2011, idr - Informationsdienst Ruhr vom 22.11.2011, Interview mit Radio CT am 10.11.2011, Interview mit Radio CT am 22.11.2011) – it also created a lot of attention among students and staff. Only one month after the official launch of RUB mobile, the RUB app has already been downloaded more than 8,000 times!

Since the start of the “RUB mobile project”, the RUB eLearning staff has continuously encouraged students and staff to provide their feedback on the app, thereby keeping the RUB community engaged in the further development of RUB mobile. During the RUB mobile Day, students and staff were invited to provide their feedback and ideas on post-its.

Sorry Mom, That Knit Sweater Won't Cut It: My Tech Wish List for 2011

Holidays are a time for giving gifts to those you love so dearly and though I appreciate the dreidel and the Hanukkah gelt from fellow blogger Stephanie (@StephieLeighB), I am hopeful Santa may still be shopping. I have made a list of tech gifts I am dying to have.

 

 

 

 

MATC 2 Go: Reaching Today's Non-Traditional Students

Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) is one of the first technical schools in the state of Wisconsin to launch a mobile app. Brian Carlson, Manager of Teaching and Learning Technology, took a few minutes out of his busy winter schedule to talk to us about MATC's decision to go mobile and what they have in store for the future of MATC 2 Go.

 

 

Q: Why did MATC decide to go mobile?

A: It's all about the students. Annually, MATC educates over 50,000 students within more than 200 programs, spread across 4 campuses in the Milwaukee area. The focus of these programs is to provide our students with the education and skills that they need to be successful in their careers. Our students are unique in the fact that most of them are working full time jobs, and taking a full course load, so we needed to provide a mobile solution that would enable them to stay connected to their coursework and everything happening on campus whether they're traveling between campuses, at work, home, or anywhere else.

 

m.Clemson 2.0: Bringing More of Clemson to the Palm of Your Hand

Clemson University just announced the release of the latest version of m.Clemson, the University’s official mobile app.

The latest version—m.Clemson 2.0—includes new modules developed wholly from student requests and recommendations, including:

• Places – Find computer labs, residence halls, and places to eat on campus. (Clemson students told us they most appreciate the 'dining' feature as it saves them time when trying to decide where to eat!)
• Directory – Find people at Clemson, add them to your contacts, send an email, or call them right from your phone.
• Lab Finder – Get real-time public computer lab usage statistics and availability on campus, updated every 60 seconds.

The release of m.Clemson 2.0 went hand-in-hand with a full marketing campaign: table tents were placed in all dining halls and food courts, door hangers were hung in all campus dorms and apartments, posters were placed at the entrances of all dining halls and food courts, and an email was sent to the entire student body.

The latest version of the app for iOS devices also now includes direct access to Blackboard Learn™, providing students with instant access to all of their Blackboard Learn course content on the go.

More than 12,000 people have already downloaded the iOS version of the app since its launch in September 2010. m.Clemson is also available for Android, BlackBerry and all other web-enabled devices through the mobile web at m.clemson.edu.