Blackboard Learn Mobile App

The Blackboard Mobile Learn app is now available for NSCC faculty and students to download and use for free. The Blackboard Mobile Learn app is available for Android devices (on 2.3.5 +) as well as iPhones and iPads (on iOS 7+).

About

The Blackboard Mobile Learn app is primarily a consumption app and allows for the easy viewing of course content on a mobile device. Using the Blackboard Mobile Learn app, faculty and students will be able to access course content, read announcements, see grades (students), and participate in discussions, blogs, and journals. The following features are natively supported in Blackboard Mobile Learn 4.0 and translate well to a mobile device.

• Announcements
• Blogs
• Content
• Discussions
• Grades (viewing)
• Groups
• Journals
• Mobile Tests
• Roster
• Tasks

Non-native features, such as Calendar, Email, Assignments, Roster or Video Everywhere, etc., will display via the in-app browser. It is highly recommended that students submit assignments and take tests on Blackboard Learn through the browser on a computer.

Some recent updates to the app include: 

• Create Favorites - You can "Favorite" your most used course content, discussion threads, etc. for easy access at a later point.
• Customization - You can edit your course list by hiding, coloring, and reordering your courses.
• Rich Content - Additional support for rich content styles like bold, underline, italics, hyperlinks, and more.
• Unread Counts - Quickly see what is new in your courses (not currently available in iOS).

Directions

1. Search for and download the Blackboard Mobile Learn app from the App Store or Google Play.
2. Launch the Blackboard Mobile Learn app and search for North Shore Community College in the "Search for your school" field.
3. Select North Shore Community College to be brought to our Blackboard Learn login page.
4. Login using your Pipeline credentials (under Faculty and Staff Login).

The Blackboard Mobile Learn app for Android devices can be downloaded from Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blackboard.android&hl=en).

The Blackboard Mobile Learn app for the iPhone or iPad can be downloaded from the App Store (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blackboard-mobile-learn/id376413870?mt=8).

Resources

• What Can You Do With Blackboard Mobile Learn? (a nice overview of the app features) https://www.blackboard.com/resources/mobile/mobile_learn_splash/desktop/portal-nonsprint.html
• Mobile Learn 4.0 Feature List
  http://goo.gl/keRpiQ
• How to Use Mobile Learn
  http://help.blackboardmobile.com/customer/en/portal/topics/556493-how-to-use-mobile-learn?b_id=2825 

If you have any questions about the Blackboard Mobile Learn app, please email the Blackboard Helpdesk at bbhelp@northshore.edu.

Best Apps for Teaching

In May, I went to a 1-day conference on by "Tablets, Handhelds, Smartphones; Oh My: Challenges and Solutions in Supporting Mobile Devices and on Campus" by NERCOMP.  In one session, they spoke about great apps for teaching that are certainly worth sharing:

Poll Everywhere
http://www.polleverywhere.com
Platform(s):  Any device with internet access.
Cost:  Free account with limitations on size of polls.
This a classroom response system that uses mobile phones, Twitter, and the web.  This is similar to clicker technology except online and without having to use clickers.

Socrative
http://www.socrative.com
Platform(s):  Works on all platforms and web-enabled devices.
Cost:  Free with registration.
This is a smart classroom response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational exercises and games via smart phones, laptops, and tablets.

Flipboard
http://www.flipboard.com
Platform(s):  Apple & Android Devices
Cost:  Free with registration.
With the latest version of this (2.0), you can not only look at the news that you care about but you can save and collect things that you love into your own magazines.  Examples: "Cars I Like" "Best Vacation Offers."

Evernote
http://www.evernote.com
Platform(s):  Any device with internet access.
Cost:  Free with registration.
This is a suite of software and services that allows you to take notes and archive.  It supports many operating platforms.

Cloud On
http://site.cloudon.com
Platform(s): Apple & Android Devices
Cost:  Free with registration.
This brings Microsoft Office to your iPhone and iPad and links it to your Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and SkyDrive accounts.


Air Sketch
http://www.qrayon.com/home/airsketch/default.aspx
Platform(s): iTunes
Cost: $9.99
This allows you to turn your iPad into a wireless whiteboard.  You can also annotate PDF documents and images live.
1-2 Educational Uses

What apps to you use in the classroom to help with student engagement?

For Ever and Ever and Evernote...

I thought I would deviate from my usual ANGEL tips and mention an app on the iPad I have started using called Evernote.  This free app allows you to capture and store a variety of different things, such as pictures, notes, and articles and then allows you to share them across your different devices.  Evernote is a great tool for helping you organize your documents or "notes" into what it calls “Notebooks”. You can have many notebooks and even notebooks within a notebook.

I downloaded the app to both my office computer and my iPad and the program will sync between the two automatically (or I can manually sync if I want to be doubly sure!). I find it very useful when I am at a meeting and want to record my notes but not carry a big, cumbersome laptop.  I bring my iPad, type my notes and then I can either email them or access them on my PC when I get back to my office. Evernote  automatically stores your notes in the Cloud so you can find them on either device.  Your “ notes" automatically save and sync. 

Evernote also assigns you a custom email address that you can use within your account. You can email pictures, notes, etc. to that account and it will show up in your Evernote account. Or you can quickly email your notes to someone.

There are a couple of apps that Evernote works with.  It connects with the drawing tool, Skitch.  You are able to annotate, label, and markup with arrows, shapes, word phrases, etc. to make your point and then share it with others. It can demonstrate a point quickly and highlight what is important. Again, what's great is that it will automatically sync across your devices too. Once you download the app, it will ask you if you would like to create a new notebook in Evernote called “Skitch” to house your images. 

There are great ways that these tools can be used.  Imagine this – you are an instructor of horticulture. You are in a meeting and have a really interesting speaker who is demonstrating how to diagnose a particular plant disease.  You can type your notes on your iPad, take a snapshot of the plant, show the diseased leaves by pointing to it with an arrow and voila, when you get back to your office it shows up on your computer! Or you could email it to your class and quickly point out the information! 

Another interesting Evernote app is called WebClipper.  It will easily clip part of or all of any webpage, including text, graphics and links.  With it you could collect anything that interests you and keep it forever, even if the original site goes away.  It is not a free app but an interesting one.

Any apps that you would like to share?  We would love hearing about them!