Flipping IT Departments In Universities - Use Of Mobile Devices To Enhance Learning And Educational Opportunities

Mobile devices are ubiquitous in the era of smart phones and tablets, millennial require greater connectivity from their education providers. This study argues that mobility and mobile devices offers a range of additional opportunities and benefits that enhance students’ education experience. Thus, there is a need for university IT departments to include mobility in their thinking when considering their IT strategy and IS delivery models, particularly in the age of cloud computing and access anywhere computing. Mobile devices, such as smart phones, iPads, tablets, book readers, etc., enhance and streamline how faculty and learners communicate, interact and operate in their personal and business lives, and enable new ways of working with new applications that had not been considered previously. Universities are exploring ways to utilise this new capability to enhance the delivery of education and the experiences of students and staff and are using innovative learning technologies as a differentiating mean in an overcrowded Higher Education market place to be seen to be ‘leading / cutting edge’ and more attractive. As a result, there is growing strain on the IT department, as their role needs to include delivery across multiple platforms and multiple device types, and with the additional complexity and considerations that is derived from this new mode of delivery and interaction