14 DAY TRIAL // Blackboard Inc. announced today the launch of its Blackboard Mobile Learn for Blackberry, Android and iPhone OS handsets in Europe, Middle East and Africa. According to the company, the new solution is set to bring two-way teaching and learning to phones, while offering full access to course information straight on smartphones for millions of students.
The already available Blackboard Mobile Central application offers news, events, maps and sports to users, providing them with a mobile campus experience. With the new release, the company has brought the classroom experience and learning content on step further through making them available on mobile devices. Through this solution, campuses can easily address the increasing demand from students interested in being able to do more from their mobile devices.
The new Blackboard Mobile Learn app is similar with the solution delivered to users of an Apple iPad device, and has been made available for download for free via various application stores. The solution is meant to recreates and enriches the course experience of Blackboard Learn, the popular online teaching and learning platform. The company has delivered specific applications for each of the aforementioned mobile operating systems.
“We’re delighted that Blackboard’s mobile solutions come from an educational background and are clearly being developed to meet student needs,” said Aline Hayes, Director of IT at Sheffield Hallam, the first European institution to implement Blackboard Mobile Learn. “We don’t see our students reading 1,000 page reports on mobile devices, but we do anticipate them using their devices to keep up to date with campus life, participating in online discussions, checking for notifications, and sharing ideas with other course members. These activities are common amongst students in other online communities but which haven’t previously been leveraged in an environment that supports mobile learning.”
Blackboard Mobile Learn can be enjoyed in the form of native applications developed for some of the most popular mobile platforms around the world, including Android and BlackBerry smartphones, not to mention the Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The Blackboard Mobile Central can be accessed via Apple and BlackBerry devices from the mobile web.
“Blackboard’s mobile solutions are already helping students worldwide find their way around campus, check directories and catch up with news and events,” said Kayvon Beykpour, Vice President of Blackboard Mobile. “The evolution of mobile devices has created so many opportunities, particularly for mobile learning and overall student engagement, and with Blackboard Mobile Learn we’re very focused on bringing two-way teaching and learning to the mobile phone.”