BlackBoard CMS Goes to the Small Screen

From the NPR All Tech Considered Blog
Hey Teacher, Leave My Cell Alone!

"Could there come a day when teachers actually ask students to turn on their smart phones for class?

Blackboard, which is best known for creating course management systems, recently announced plans to further expand into the mobile universe. The company is launching a mobile application called Blackboard Mobile Learn that will be available for smart phones and Wi-Fi-enabled devices in June.

Blackboard says the app will bring "two-way teaching and learning" to mobile devices so students will have the ability to look up assignments, check grades and access all of the same course materials they can presently do from a computer."

What do you think? Are cell phones the bane of your teaching existence? Or just another tool that creative teachers could use to their advantage? Will the small screen open up Internet access - and online learning? - to adults who have limited access to computers?

Computer Skills Needed for Successful Transitions

Fresh on the heels of the ABE Transitions conference, here is further confirmation of the need our adult learners have for computer skills training. In this news report from Minnesota Public Radio about a new program called "Free Geek" (which aims to address the "digital divide" in the Twin Cities) an adult learner at MCTC plans to participate in the program because:

Going back to college has been a big adjustment, especially when it comes to technology. His professors require assignments to be submitted online...

"It's kind of embarrassing to be the oldest student in class and to be the most challenged and then to have to hand in the paper hard copy. They just look at me and think I'm a grandpa," he says.

Ouch.

As adult educators, I think we have a real opportunity to improve the success rate of older adult college students by strengthening their technology skills before they get to this point of feeling stigmatized.

What are you doing in your program to help adult learners succeed on campus? I'd love to hear your success stories!