Mobile IT in Higher Education, 2011 Report

Discussion about mobile IT in higher education is ubiquitous, but attaining benefits of mobility does not come easily. The ECAR mobile IT study gathered quantitative and qualitative data from a representative sample of 209 higher education institutions. Most respondents to ECAR's 2011 study report little progress in making institutional services, applications, and websites accessible on mobile devices. The average respondent institution has enabled only a few services for mobile access. Institutions that have invested more money and those that have larger numbers of staff assigned to mobile-enablement initiatives show greater progress. Mobile enablement of student-facing services has taken highest priority to date, and we see considerably more mobile progress in areas that are given higher priority.

Development strategies for mobile computing include mobile web, native apps, and mobile frameworks. Institutions pursuing a portfolio approach to mobility—using different development strategies for different services—show greater progress in deploying mobile services.

ECAR Recommends

A mobile device provides anytime, anywhere access to a wide array of information and services, and a higher education institution whose presence in that environment lags is putting its students, faculty, and staff at a disadvantage. To move forward, consider these steps.

Take an organized approach toward development of mobile IT, securing dedicated staffing and funding sources.
Prioritize thoughtfully and carefully to make the most of limited resources.
Be intentional with development strategies, but maintain enough flexibility to use different approaches to accommodate different kinds of services and changing needs.
Don't be shy about participation in cross-institutional collaborations. Such approaches hold considerable potential, but they depend on support to gain momentum.

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ECAR Resources Resource Center Browse EDUCAUSE Publications EDUCAUSE Quarterly (EQ) EDUCAUSE Review Podcasts Additional Resources		Mobile IT in Higher Education, 2011 Report Discussion about mobile IT in higher education is ubiquitous, but attaining benefits of mobility does not come easily. The ECAR mobile IT study gathered quantitative and qualitative data from a representative sample of 209 higher education institutions. Most respondents to ECAR's 2011 study report little progress in making institutional services, applications, and websites accessible on mobile devices. The average respondent institution has enabled only a few services for mobile access. Institutions that have invested more money and those that have larger numbers of staff assigned to mobile-enablement initiatives show greater progress. Mobile enablement of student-facing services has taken highest priority to date, and we see considerably more mobile progress in areas that are given higher priority. Development strategies for mobile computing include mobile web, native apps, and mobile frameworks. Institutions pursuing a portfolio approach to mobility—using different development strategies for different services—show greater progress in deploying mobile services. ECAR Recommends A mobile device provides anytime, anywhere access to a wide array of information and services, and a higher education institution whose presence in that environment lags is putting its students, faculty, and staff at a disadvantage. To move forward, consider these steps. Take an organized approach toward development of mobile IT, securing dedicated staffing and funding sources. Prioritize thoughtfully and carefully to make the most of limited resources. Be intentional with development strategies, but maintain enough flexibility to use different approaches to accommodate different kinds of services and changing needs. Don't be shy about participation in cross-institutional collaborations. Such approaches hold considerable potential, but they depend on support to gain momentum. Slide Presentation (login required) PPTX \| PPT \| PDF Publicly Accessible 2011 Report Table of Contents Infographic The EDUCAUSE Mobile Computing 5-Day Sprint ECAR subscriber-only materials for this report open to the general public five months after publication date (December 1, 2011). For ECAR Subscribers login required View subscriber list. 2011 Report Data Tables Infographic Slide Presentation PPTX \| PPT \| PDF Survey Instrument Not a subscriber? Buy the listed resources: For Institutions For Corporations IT Integration \| Mobile Application Development \| Mobile Computing \| Mobile Infrastructure \| Mobile IT \| Mobile Support \| Mobile Website \| Smartphones Login or register to post comments 9244 reads Bookmark/Search this page with:
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