Oregon Community College
Mobile Initiative
October 2012
Overview
Q: How can our community colleges meet
the evolving mobility demands of
students, faculty and the community?
A: Provide your community on-demand
access to essential campus information,
when and where they need it, helping to
retain students, reinforce your brand,
maximize your existing campus resources
and drive student engagement
How?
Approve a project to implement Blackboard Mobile Central across
the Oregon Community Colleges.
Why Mobile?
Smartphone penetration increases with
younger generations – even those
earning low annual income
Additional Resources:
The 60 Second Guide to
Smartphones in Education
(edudemic)
Mobile: It’s Time to Get Serious
(EDUCAUSE Review)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/25/smartphones-digital-divide_n_1546899.html
Why a Mobile App?
Time spent on mobile apps
surpasses all other web
consumption
http://mashable.com/2012/06/06/mobile-site-mobile-appinfographic/
Apps provide a more personalized
and engaging experience
Why Mobile for Community Colleges?
Campus Computing Project surveyed IT leaders: have you activated
mobile apps or will you in the coming academic year?
Institution Type
2010
2011
Public Universities
32.5%
55.3%
“Yes” responses tripled for
community colleges in 1 year.
Community Colleges
12.4%
40.9%
Are you staying competitive?
October 2011: http://tinyurl.com/9lonbgh
"For a community college…mobile meets the needs of our unique
student body — they often juggle coursework with full-time careers and
personal and family obligations. Mobile increases the opportunity for
students to connect and engage with the campus community when it
fits into their lives, not just when they are on campus.”
Patrick Bauer, CIO, Harper College (EDUCAUSE
Review)
Mobile Project Results
Graduating More Students
2-Year Institution
Harper Mobile was a strategic part of the new student
completion rate plan to break down the interaction
barrier, foster a higher level of involvement, and
deliver more relevant support to students.
Goal for implementing new plan:
Graduate 486 more students Yr 1
Status: Early numbers show that
they are on track to graduate an
additional 2,298 – exceeding their
goal by 376%
Increasing Enrollments
Within one year, Northern Arizona
University’s online applications via
mobile DOUBLED.
In just one weekend, 20 students
accepted offers through NAU Mobile.
NORTHERN
ARIZONA
UNIVERSITY
This is Your App
This is your ERP access
This is your learning
environment & course
information
This is part of your
marketing strategy
This is one of your
many campus life
tools
Conceptual mock up
Benefits of a System Mobile Approach
• Provides a common landscape for mobile users across the
system
o Enables shared innovation
o Leverages technology skill sets at one school for all schools
o Creates a community of practice to identify & share top methods
• Lowers the overall cost of ownership
• Builds on momentum of system-wide Blackboard Collaborate
agreement for cohesive project
Blackboard Mobile Central Offering
Centralized, branded mobile presence for campus life: native apps for iOS,
Android & Blackberry – mobile web for all other devices
Athletics
Maps
Courses
Augmented
Reality
Directory
Compass
Integration
Places
Events
Images
Tours
Analytics: Track the number of
app users and number of app runs
by type of device, day of the
week, and much more
Marketing Support: The Bb
Marketing Team has ready-made
resources to help you plan and
execute a marketing launch for
your app(s).
Transit
Library
Videos
News
Links
Bb Learn
Help
Software Development Kit (SDK):
Clients who purchase an annual
license for Blackboard Mobile
Central are given a set of tools
that aid in developing new custom
applications.
Additional Materials
•Blackboard Mobile Central Implementation Guide
•Blackboard Mobile ROI
•Blog post featuring 3 Community College IT Leaders: Bb Mobile Central & Meeting the Needs of
Community Colleges
•Download sample apps: NRCC Mobile, Harper Mobile, NAU Mobile (also in Google Play)