WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Access to smartphones has
more than tripled among high school students since 2006, according
to a survey report from Project Tomorrow®, a national education
nonprofit organization, and Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB).
The report, Learning in the 21st Century: Taking it
Mobile! shows that students now view the inability to use their
own devices in school, such as cell phones, smartphones, MP3
players, laptops or net books, as the primary barrier to a
successful digital education.
Today's students are taking increased responsibility for their
learning with mobile devices and instant access to the Internet,
according to the report, and feel strongly about the potential for
mobile devices to enhance their learning and to help them be more
productive.
"We are beginning to see mobile learning take shape in pockets
around the nation where a small but growing number of innovative
educators are finding ways to leverage the once banned mobile
devices for learning," said Julie
Evans, Chief Executive Officer of Project Tomorrow.
"Educators have an opportunity to help students learn more
effectively and deeply by leveraging students' preferred learning
tools and strategies."
The report also reveals a shift in thinking by parents and
educators who are now beginning to accept the role of mobile
devices as instructional tools, in part because they are active
users of mobile devices in their own personal lives. In some cases,
educators have embraced mobile devices as a catalyst for making
learning a more student directed experience. At Jamestown
Elementary School in Virginia, for
example, students use mobile devices to create multimedia projects,
improve their writing skills and collaborate with their peers. High
school students in Onslow County
Schools in North Carolina use
smartphones to learn algebra, geometry and calculus.
"A little bit of creativity and focus can have amazing results,"
said Jeff Billings, Information
Technology Director at Paradise Valley Unified School District. "I
tell other educators considering a transformation like this to give
their frontrunners freedom and be creative to establish new models
and let the others follow in those footsteps."
"We see mobile as a transformative technology for engaging
students," said Brett Frazier,
Senior Vice President at Blackboard. "As these results show,
educators and parents have an opportunity to leverage students'
growing interest in mobile devices to engage them in a more
personal learning experience that doesn't end when they leave the
classroom."
The report was released at the Wireless EdTech Conference in
Washington, D.C. Project
Tomorrow's Speak Up National Research Project annually collects and
reports on the views of more than 350,000 U.S. K-12 students,
parents and educators about online education and 21st century
learning. The report also includes interviews with educators and
students representing a range of school districts and schools to
provide additional context for the survey findings.
The full survey report, Learning in the 21st Century: Taking
it Mobile!, is available at:
http://www.blackboard.com/Solutions-by-Market/K-12/Learn-for-K12/Leadership-Views/Education-in-the-21st-Century.aspx.
About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) is a global leader in enterprise
technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of
millions of students and learners around the world every day.
Blackboard's solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12,
professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend
teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and
security, and communicate more effectively with their communities.
Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia
and Australia.
About Project Tomorrow
Speak Up is a national initiative of Project Tomorrow, the
nation's leading education nonprofit organization dedicated to
ensuring that today's students are well prepared to be tomorrow's
innovators, leaders, and engaged citizens. Since fall 2003, the
Speak Up National Research Project has annually collected and
reported on the views of over 1.85 million K-12 students, teachers,
administrators and parents representing over 23,000 schools in all
50 states. The Speak Up National Research Project dataset
represents the largest collection of authentic, unfiltered
stakeholder input on education, technology, 21st century skills,
schools of the future and science and math instruction. Education,
business and policy leaders report using the data regularly to
inform federal, state and local education programs. For additional
information, visit www.tomorrow.org.
Any statements in this press release about future
expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard and other
statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans,"
"expects," "will," and similar expressions, constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ
materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements
as a result of various important factors, including the factors
discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our Form 10-Q filed
on August 9, 2010 with the SEC. In
addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press
release represent the Company's views as of October 29, 2010. The Company anticipates that
subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views
to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company
specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These
forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as
representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to
October 29, 2010.
SOURCE Blackboard Inc.
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