By Liz Reisberg. No one doubts the phenomenon of “massification” that has resulted in more access to higher education for more students worldwide.  This is certainly a good thing.  But as we have discussed in past blogs, massification introduces many new challenges.  When higher education was an elite undertaking, entering students often came from elite primary and secondary schools, making it more likely that they had the necessary preparation to continue tertiary studies through to graduation.  As participation rates move from 6 or 16 percent to 46 or 66 percent, the cohort includes more students from public primary and secondary schools where the quality of education varies dramatically. The growing participation in postsecondary education parallels economic growth, particularly notable in Latin America and Africa where rapidly growing economies demand higher levels of skilled labor. Read more...

By Eric Stoller. I spent a couple of days in California last week at the offices of Blackboard Mobile. As you already know, I'm a fan of the apps from the fine folks at Bb Mobile. Mobile Central and Mobile Learn brought major shifts in user interface, design, and creativity when they were launched "back in the day." The newest solution from the Bb Mobile team is called Mosaic. My mission for this visit was to use Mosaic to create my own app. To get ready for this endeavor, my "handlers" at Bb Mobile had me download Xcode (it includes an iOS emulator for app demos/testing) and acquire developer credentials for the Apple Store as well as for Google Play. My "homework" also included suggestions for my app assets - icons, load screen graphics, background images. Read more...