According to a case study from the ed-tech company Open LMS, the college adopted the Open LMS mobile learning management system app in January, rebranded it as “MyCCMoodle” and made it available in mobile app stores by searching for “Casper College." The case study noted that about half of the college's student body have downloaded the app since January, using the tool 11 times a week on average.
Casper College’s Digital Learning Center Director David Siemens said the tool's accessibility has been met with a positive response from students, many of whom live in regions where Internet connectivity is still either unavailable or unreliable.
“It’s available anytime you need to get in there,” he said. “In the past, we ran into [connectivity issues] quite a bit — not being able to access the LMS or needing to go to a public library or something like that. Now they can just access it through their phone.”
Open LMS Managing Director Phill Miller said the tool was designed and developed for a generation of higher education students who have come to expect mobile access to course content. Through the app, he said, learners can download and access course content items using their university credentials, including quizzes and assignments and grades, as long as their phone has service and data available. Once the student reconnects to Wi-Fi, the app syncs up with the university system.
“We are seeing students continue to move to mobile more and more, and our platform is especially set up for that. Because of the remote nature of Wyoming as a very population-distributed state, there are some unique aspects of that, that I think make mobile usage more important there than it might be in other places,” Miller said. “One of the most interesting aspects of our mobile app that Casper College uses is the fully offline capabilities, so if you’re in an area where you don’t have Wi-Fi and you don’t have cell connection, you can still [go to] your course and sync up later.”
According to Miller, Open LMS currently provides similar ed-tech software solutions to about 1,500 higher ed clients across the world, including large universities such as University of Barcelona, University of New South Wales in Australia and Louisiana State University, as well as smaller colleges such as most community colleges in North Carolina.
While learning management systems have become commonplace in recent years at universities and colleges across the U.S., Open LMS’ Vice President of Higher Education and Strategy Brad Koch noted that their download capabilities make the tool stand out among others amid an increase in student demand for online learning options.
“I’ve seen students write what appear to be entire essays and papers with their thumbs on a phone,” he said. “So, there is a growing learner demand to have full access to their learning environment via phone or laptop … This is a way for these institutions to meet the learners where they are and provide resources in any mode.”
