Mobile Education – Using Your iMagination For Your School’s SmartPhone Outreach
Roger Casey
With numerous colleges throughout the country releasing native apps for iOS, Android, and the ever-growing iPad as portals for interaction between teachers, students, alumni, and other constituents, the writing is certainly on the wall for major changes in the way schools think about digital communication with their constituents. Mashable Tech writer Jeff Kirchick’s recent article about “5 Ways Higher Education is Leveraging Mobile Tech” will definitely jog your imagination about what mobile development might be able to accomplish for you as an innovator in your institution’s technology department.
As a fairly recent graduate, it’s very exciting to watch the proliferation of mobile development in academic institutions first-hand. The idea of having a University of Virginia app probably would have seemed a touch ridiculous while I was still slogging through McIntire, but now that I’m on the ground floor of university app development, it’s a little hard to believe that I relied solely on e-mails and desktop-based collaboration portals for information that could have been walking with me the whole time. But we’re not just talking about tonight’s homework assignment or the hours for the career services office – Kirchick’s article shines a light on functionality that makes a university mobile app more than just a simple tool of convenience.
Imagine grabbing your textbooks in a crowded school bookstore and checking out with a single swipe of your SmartPhone rather than painfully waiting in a long line with about 30 pounds of paper on your back. Imagine touring a campus with the ability to point your iPhone or Android camera at a building to get its full history and purpose. Imagine instantly polling all of your students on a classroom question with graphically-displayed outputs on the projection screen in real-time.
Guess what: there’s really no need to imagine – these things are already here. Kirchick’s Five Ways are just a sampling of some of the marvels that our grade-school teachers probably smiled about in their sleep that are now at the behest of any academic institution willing to take the leap.
We at WillowTree Apps are certainly doing everything we can to lead the charge. With our robust iOS and Android apps for educational institutions like the University of Virginia, Syracuse University, and the McKinney Independent School District, we are working with academic institutions to keep them on the cusp of mobile academic innovation. Find our apps in the iTunes store or the Android Marketplace and see for yourself how we can help your institution bring your imagination to life.
Syracuse University iPhone App is Live
Tobias Dengel
We were honored to have been selected as the company to design and develop the Syracuse University iPhone app. Android and Blackberry coming soon!
UVA Launches Radio Coverage Site for Mobile
Tobias Dengel
WillowTree worked with UVA to launch a mobile website allowing users to quickly access local radio stations carrying the Virginia game based on their location: http://vasportsradio.willowtreemobile.com
Two new Blackberry Apps go live…
Tobias Dengel
The Virginia Tech Key Play Blackberry app and the JMU School Spirit Blackberry app both just went live. We designed and developed these blackberry apps in partnership with nTelos. Check ‘em out!
Apple ranks UVA app as top University app in “What’s Hot”
Tobias Dengel
Apple once again has recognized WillowTree Apps’ University of Virginia iPhone app — today the iTunes store listed the app (again) as the top University app in “What’s Hot” in Education. Check out the attached screenshot of the iTunes store ranking the UVA app….
UVa iPhone app v2.0 launches
Tobias Dengel
The new UVa update went live last night — some sweet new functionality:
- HoosBus now included so you can track buses around Grounds
- Take a picture and submit it for inclusion in “Week in Photos”
- Live scoring for almost all sports
- Notable Alumni
- Ability to set alerts to only certain sports
- Direct links to stories from alerts
- Better links between apps (e.g. linking names in course directory straight to the contact info)
Check out info about the UVa education app here or download it from iTunes here.
Great article about the UVa app in Daily Progress today….
Tobias Dengel
Daily Progress does a great job of writing up the new UVa iPhone app that we launched this week. Thanks!
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