Download: 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.
