Higher Ed

The Scenario

Your college or university needs a mobile application to better connect with students, faculty, and alumni, on the go, and often in their preferred medium.

The Opportunity

According to Pew Internet research, 85% of American adults own a cell phone and now use the devices to do much more than make phone calls. Furthermore, a new eMarketer report found that nearly 90% of students in the class of 2016 will own a smartphone by the time they graduate.

As a result of this increase in mobile usage, along with increased demand for university-student interaction, more and more schools are turning to mobile apps to better engage their community.

This infographic, which illustrates data from a Pew Internet survey, illustrates some key metrics around digital engagement and higher education.

Specifically, we’re excited to see that there is plenty of expected growth for students using mobile devices to engage with their curriculum.

Here are the three stats that we found most interesting:

• 77% of surveyed college presidents say their school offers online courses.
• 60% of respondents believe that by 2020, hybrid classes will combine online learning with less-frequent on-campus, in-person class meetings. (A trend also known as blended learning!)
• 84% of college graduates say going to college was a good investment for them.

In the past ten years, technology has changed so much in our everyday lives, and education is no exception. Yet for centuries, a core concept of education has remained the same: group learning stimulates greater learning.

In other words, we boost our knowledge by connecting with others.

Recently, four common myths associated with social learning were debunked. A fifth myth could be that social learning is just for students. Yes, social learning is revolutionizing the student experience, but it’s a powerful tool for educators as well.

Why give and take when you can give and give?

This holiday season, educators who give their students more course content within their Blackboard Learn course will also help give new books and critical resources to children in low income families.

It’s special. It’s simple. Educators, here’s how:

1. Make your course dynamic by adding content from our digital content partners McGraw-Hill, Pearson, WileyPLUS, and/or Cengage Learning to your Blackboard Learn course. Get easy-to-use tools that make teaching more effective and learning more exciting.
2. Blackboard will make a donation of $1,000 to First Book in the name of all institutions that pair a course by December 28, 2012, as well as the individual names of the persons who pair the course.  Our donation will be generously matched by our digital content partners.
3. Let us know when you have paired your course!

Take advantage of this opportunity to give…and give again.

See how easy it is to create a better learning experience—for everyone. Learn how to pair your courses.

A major question facing parents and schools in the rapidly evolving, technology-driven classroom is how we should educate students to become good digital citizens.

What constitutes good digital citizenship? As this Technapex article puts it:

“It’s a tricky time to be a student. The digital age has brought about amazing innovations in education, but there’s also a darker, less safe side of technology that can be difficult for students to navigate: cyber bullying, online safety, and plagiarism are among a few issues that have arisen in recent years as a result of the proliferation of social media and technology.”