- Spotlighting the mobile application challenges faced by K-12 schools and universities, Partnerpedia today released the results of its Education Mobility Survey. The Partnerpedia survey confirms the need for the right tools to distribute and manage mobile apps in the learning environment, mirroring the challenges faced by many enterprises.
- “Technology has long held the promise of transforming the classroom in the same way that it has catalyzed innovation in business,” said Mark Sochan, CEO of Partnerpedia. “This survey validates the need for seamless integration, from procurement to distribution and management of mobile apps across multiple platforms and devices prevalent in the classroom.”
- Initiatives to leverage mobile devices for learning are nothing new, but the Education Mobility Survey found that the classroom of today requires the support of multiple devices and platforms. Support for tablets is needed by 78 percent of those surveyed; for laptops, by 76 percent; for smartphones, by 52 percent, and for other devices including e-readers, by 8 percent. Given the popularity of the iPad, more than 75 percent need support for iOS systems. Sixty percent require support for the Windows operating system, and 30 percent need support for the Android platform.
- Like many enterprise IT managers, educators are leveraging a mix of policies to expand the reach of mobility in the classroom to more effectively engage students. The large majority surveyed, 73 percent, plan to issue school-owned mobile devices, with 59 percent also adopting a policy of “BYOD” (bring your own device).
- Additional findings from Partnerpedia’s Education Mobility Survey:
- Overwhelmingly, 68 percent of the schools plan to purchase mobile apps as their app-procurement strategy. Thirty percent plan to both build and buy, and less than 2 percent plan to exclusively build apps.
- Over the next 12 months, nearly half of those surveyed (46 percent) will acquire up to 10 apps. More than 53 percent will acquire more than 10.
- Schools are also planning rapid adoption of mobile-app management solutions. Fifty-eight percent plan to implement a solution in the next 12 months.
- The findings of the Education Mobility Survey included data collected from attendees of FETC 2013, the leading education technology conference, which took place Jan. 28-31. Respondents included IT support, electronic resource managers and technology educators.
- Partnerpedia recently announced it has tailored its flagship enterprise app store solution, Enterprise AppZone, to help the education market deal with app management, license auditing, shared device management and BYOD.
