This year’s annual Campus Computing Project survey was released last week at the Educause conference in Seattle. The survey polled officials at 555 colleges and universities on their technology use via an online questionnaire. The report provides some interesting information concerning security issues, the expansion of wireless access in the classroom, the adoption of open-source applications (apparently more attractive in theory than in practice), and the prevention of illegal file downloading.

The survey reveals, of course, that 2007 has been a milestone year for converged mobile devices. PDAs are becoming more popular, and the iPhone has colleges wondering how to handle the potential increase in Internet traffic caused by dozens of handheld WiFi devices surfing the Web and downloading music during class. To date, campus IT officials have preferred not to deal with mobile phones and PDAs on campus networks. However, as Kenneth C. Green—the founding director of the Campus Computing Project— suggests: “That will have to change with the arrival of a new generation of network compatible phones and PDAs in the coming year.“

For more on the Campus Computing Project 2007 survey, check out the official summary or Inside Higher Ed’s full article.

While we may consistently exhibit a slight (or not so slight) Apple bias, we are truly interested in the educational potentiality of converged mobile devices in general. It is in this democratic light that we report the upcoming release of StudentBerry, a new tasking application for the Blackberry designed specifically for students.

Of course, students have long been left in the dark when it comes to BlackBerry applications. They are often forced to make enterprise applications work for their task management. To remedy this, StudentBerry is designed to streamline standard tasking programs and eliminate business focused, expensive third party applications, providing students with a simple and conveniently organized mobile alternative. Features of the application include:

• A weekly breakdown of assignments, organized by class and due date
• Easy to use grade tracking
• Intuitive large project management
• Course Information
• Tracking for important dates like exams, guest speakers, etc.

To keep your eye on the progress of StudentBerry or to contribute to forums concerning its construction, check out studentberry.com.