 "Photo: Megan Shelby")
Mobile Campus, the Student Government-sponsored mobile advertising service, is in the preliminary stages of considering teaming up with Blackboard, the online academic network, to provide students access to their course information on their cell phones.
The proposed project could allow students to receive class announcements via text messaging. If the idea moves from the exploration stage, Information Technology Services, which manages the Blackboard system, and Mobile Campus will get input from students regarding what they would like to see, said David Cook, ITS associate director.
"There have been some discussions to have a mobile enabled Blackboard," Cook said. "The idea is currently being explored in terms of financial and technical feasibility."
Sean Greenberg, a philosophy senior, said receiving Blackboard announcements would be useful for him.
"I didn't check Blackboard for about a month, and I missed out on an assignment," Greenberg said.
However, Katy Burk, linguistics and Middle Eastern studies freshman, said she would not use the service. She said she does not want to be bothered by messages from teachers after she has left the campus.
"Teachers already expect you to be accessible 24 hours-a-day," she said. "I don't want to be responsible if I miss a teacher's message."
Some students have informally shown interest in the possible program, said Keith Nelson, ITS director of telecommunications and networking. Many UT professors use Blackboard, Nelson said. The program will allow students to receive course-related announcements as they are posted, he said.
Other universities have implemented similar programs that have been successful, Nelson said.
Montclair State University in New Jersey has a program where students can access Blackboard, check shuttle bus locations, chat with other students and alert the police if they are walking home alone on their cell phones, said Travis Misurell, Montclair student representative associate. The program has been running for about a year and the student response has been good, Misurell said. More than 30 percent of the students at the university use the program.
"At least 90 percent of students carry mobile phones," he said. "If you always have your phone, you always have access."
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