Learning On-the-Go with Blackboard Mobile Apps

In a recent article by Inside Higher Ed, ‘Students Are Using Mobile Even If You Aren’t’, the importance of mobile phones and tablets were highlighted for their role in transforming teaching and learning.

“Beyond its function as a classroom tool, mobile technology is the primary conduit for some students’ learning experiences. Broad data on the different permutations of mobile learning are hard to come by. In a 2018 survey by Learning House and Aslanian Market Research of 1,500 exclusively online students, nearly 80 percent said they complete some, if not all, of their course work using a mobile device. More than half of respondents said they access course readings and communicate with professors from their smartphones, and more than 40 percent said they conduct research for reports and access the learning management system on mobile devices.“

Further, EDUCAUSE has presented research around the importance of mobile devices to students and their educational experience through the ECAR Study.

In addition to the use of the LMS and online collaboration tools, the importance of mobile access to campus resources was highlighted in the report.  Most notable was the importance of checking grades, content, and accessing the LMS (eg. Blackboard). Checking grades and accessing content via mobile was rated extremely important by students.

Reading this article, along with the ECAR report, generated some interest among the eLearning team in looking at GVSU’s data as it relates to access to the university’s LMS, Blackboard by mobile devices. Here is some of the data from Blackboard mobile app analytics reporting:

• In the past year there were 2,340 unique logins to Blackboard using mobile apps.

In addition, here is some of the data from our Google analytics reporting enabled on our Blackboard environment:

• 9% Mobile Users and 1% Tablet
• 80% of Mobile Traffic is from iOS Devices, followed by 18% Android

Statistics are gathered based on browser and operating system:

• Chrome was used by 57% of users
  
• The most used operating system was Windows at 57%, followed by Macintosh at 24%
  

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Go mobile and access Blackboard on-the-go!

Blackboard Instructor Mobile App

The Blackboard Instructor mobile app is now available for free download in Apple and Google app stores! Manage your courses, send announcements, and connect with students on your phone or tablet. Download Blackboard Instructor:

Blackboard Student Mobile App

Access your courses on the go with the Bb Student mobile app! Access grades, course content, and more – right from the Blackboard app on your phone. Available for free download today on iOS, Android, or Windows.

GRADE-on-the-GO with Blackboard Grader Mobile App

As a faculty member, you are busy and need to maximize your time. Along with the flexibility of mobile devices, you can now grade student assignments and work on-the-go and from wherever you are with the Bb Grader app and an iPad.

Here is a video that highlights the key features of the Bb Grader app:

If you use rubrics to grade assignments, you can use this to quickly assess student assignments while also providing video and audio feedback to students using the built in feedback workflow.

The mobile app also includes features from the Student Retention Center.

Learn more about this app on Blackboard Help and the Bb Grader web page.

NEW & FREE – Introducing the Bb Student Mobile App

NEW this semester and also FREE, students at Grand Valley State University can take advantage of a mobile app to access their course materials easily and seamlessly from anywhere.

Learn More about the Bb Student app on Blackboard Help.

Download the app on: Apple, Android, and Windows

More information about Blackboard at GVSU can be found on our
Teaching with Technology (Blackboard) web site.