From disaster recovery to Mobile Learning: a case study

Implementing distant delivery programmes using Mobile Learning (m-learning) technologies can bring about a number of benefits such as increasing student enrollment, enhancing retention and lowering tuition. However, m-learning will change the organisation and technological infrastructure of institutions. Since most organisations and people are resistant to paradigm changes, the migration from a traditional institution to an m-learning campus can take decades to be successful. Nature can sometimes quicken this change. This paper describes how Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) succeeded in becoming an electronic-learning campus after Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina in particular. In addition to providing basic continuous education to its displaced students, the institution was able to migrate and utilise m-learning to move forward with its mission of providing higher education to students from diverse backgrounds.