Iowa State is looking into a WebCt upgrade that can work with students on the go.

WebCt recently was bought out by Blackboard, and now an upgrade is available that includes new features, including an application for Apple products. 

Allan Schmidt, assistant director for Center of Excellence in Learning and Teaching, said right now there is no guarantee Iowa State will get the upgrade and that Iowa State is using the fall semester to test run the program.

“Right now we are just thinking about it, we are not making a final decision at this point,” Allan said.

The upgrade features the ability to download a free application that allows students to access Blackboard on their iPhone, iPad or iPod. This will allow students to access Blackboard anywhere there is wireless Internet. 

While there is no application for the Blackberry or Android yet, there is the possibility they will be added later to Blackboard.

“A lot of people will find this exciting,” said Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science. “It’s the future of education.”

The upgrade is currently in its trial stage, with 10 classes testing the new technology. Steffen’s class on American history is one trying the upgrade out. More than 160 of his students are using the program in conjunction with the class.

Steffen said he enjoys the new program because it features significantly advanced information and solves a lot of the problems that older version of WebCt had, including issues with e-mail.

Some of the features include the ability to create a class Wiki for class assignments or projects, and the ability to embed YouTube videos to Blackboard.

There is also the ability for students to create groups for team building or projects.

“It’s using social networking as a learning device — it’s like an academic Facebook, and I stress the academic part,” Steffen said.

Students aren’t the only ones the new features benefit. Teachers can easily switch from teacher mode to student view to ensure items upload correctly. For Steffen, it makes things a lot easier and saves time. In the old system, the professor would have to log out and then log back to see the changes.

One feature Steffen enjoys is the e-mail option. Before, if a teacher sent out an e-mail to students, it would stay in WebCt. With Blackboard, it also sends a copy to the student’s ISU e-mail account.

The feedback Steffen has received from the students in his class is that the upgrade is a lot faster than previous versions.