CPUT students and lecturers now have free access to the mobile MyClassroom/Blackboard app. The Blackboard app is a simple and easy to use, mobile learning app for the on the go, goal-oriented learner and lecturer. Designed specifically for students and lecturers the app is your one stop-shop for announcements, content, communication and even assignments and assessments.
The lecturers’ app is called ‘Instructor’ while the students’ app is called ‘Blackboard’.
Providing easy and ubiquitous access to educational content and other learning activities is a prime objective of the Centre for Innovative Educational Technology (CIET). “We will explore opportunities to allow all students access. Mobile data cost remains a problem in South Africa, but in the Western Cape we have many initiatives by the provincial government and even private network providers to create free WiFi access. CPUT took these ‘anytime and everywhere’ access opportunities into consideration when we looked into the provision of a dedicated educational mobile application” says Sakkie Smit, Director of the Centre.
Sisekelwe Bokolo and Asiphe Mgedezi are 2nd year Real estate students and have recently downloaded the Blackboard app. “I live in the res and have no laptop. Before the app I had to go to a computer lab. Now I can access all my emails and contents from my room. I even did my revision test through the app,” says Sisekelwe.
Asiphe adds that the app uses very little data: “You don’t have to go to an internet cafe. It’s cheaper and easier to access than the website. I even do my assignments on the phone now and submit it through my app. We like it very much.”
The app is available on the Google App store both for Android and IOS devices.
When you first login, please type in Cape Peninsula University of Technology as your institution. Your user name and password are the same as your usual web login.
Teaching staff can contact the CIET team for more information on how to redesign their courses for mobile learning. See the CIET website at http://www.cput.ac.za/services/ciet for contact details.
