The Mobile Garage

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.

Mobile Innovation Award Nominations Now Open

The 2012 Blackboard Catalyst Award nominations are now officially open! Does your school offer an award-worthy Mobile experience via Blackboard Mobile? If so, here is what you need to know to enter:

• Nominations are due by February 29, 2012.
• You can nominate yourself and/or a colleague.
• There are 2 Blackboard Catalyst Awards for Mobile Innovation:

The Mobile Innovation Award for Teaching and Learning: for Blackboard Mobile Learn clients that have formalized, implemented, and measured the impact of Mobile Learning at their institution

The Mobile Innovation Award for Campus Services: for Blackboard Mobile Central clients that have utilized the Blackboard Mobile Central SDK or Mobile Technical Services to provide a unique campus service via the mobile platform            

Additional award descriptions, evaluation criteria, and the nomination forms can be found here. You can also “Like” the Blackboard Catalyst Awards page on Facebook for news, updates, and inspiration from previous Catalyst Award winners.

Cuyahoga Community College - There's An App For That

Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) has been hard at work promoting their app, Tri-C Mobile, which launched just before fall semester. Tri-C mobile provides students on the go access to essential college life information and services like campus maps, Blackboard courses, financial aid information, and campus news.

“Our students differ from traditional four-year college students in that many our students leave the campus each day and go on to work a job or two in addition to many having family responsibilities, whereas the four-year students generally don’t have those obligations,” said Jerry Hourigan, VP and CIO at Tri-C. “The best thing we can do is make it as easy as possible for our students to be able to stay connected to the college, even during the hours they’re doing something else.” Hourigan goes on to add “Our job is to provide the tools and resources to ensure our students are successful and have a positive educational experience during their time here at Tri-C and Tri-C Mobile is one more way to show that commitment."