This is the fourth post in a four part series on The Mobile Campus. This series examines how students are using smart phones and the impact on higher education. To read the first post on mobile application use click here. To read the second post on Foursquare for universities click here. For the third post on iPad textbooks click here.
For the last post in The Mobile Campus series I wanted to focus on university mobile apps. Several universities have launched mobile applications for their student body, including Penn State, the University of Maryland, and Texas A&M, but none have been as comprehensive and useful as the app and mobile website developed for Stanford University.
It seems fitting that the prestigious university near Silicon Valley would have a good app, but I didn’t expect this many features. The Stanford app literally does everything and contains everything a student could need. There’s a good reason for this; it was developed by a group of Stanford students. Who needs a website? Stanford truly understands the needs of its student population by offering them anything they could need in their pocket. And students love it – the app has over 1400 five star ratings in the iPhone app store. The features speak for themselves. They include:
- Athletics: View Athletic schedules, scores, news, and events.
- Balance: Students are able to check their bill and current balance on their account.
- Courses: Browse and search course descriptions, times, locations, and view your grades when they are available. If a student has a question or wants to get more information on a course, they can contact the professor directly through the app.
- Directory: A Mobile Campus directory with department, student, and faculty contact information. If you find a student or professor you need to reach dial them directly with one click or add them to your contacts.
- Emergency: Access important numbers and report emergencies.
- Events: Search and keep track of all of the events on the Stanford campus., including concerts and lecture. Users are able to browse events by name, subject, date, or location.
- Game: Through CreditU students can get points and earn rewards for going to class. This makes college like a game – which is popular in geolocation apps like Foursqaure and Gowalla.
- Images: Browse and save images from across the Stanford campus
- Itunes-U: Stream lectures, concerts, and other video and audio.
- Library: Find library books by call number and see current availability. Users are also able to access other Library resources.
- Maps: Lost? Search campus buildings by name and see where they are located relative to your own current location. Looking for the bus? The app also includes real-time bus routes and schedules on the map.
- News: Read about news from all across the Stanford campus. All departments and all sources – from the Daily to the Graduate School of Business.
- Radio: Listen to the college station KZSU live.
- Ride: Request a safe ride home from anywhere on campus.
- Tour: Take a Tour of the Stanford campus.
- Trivia – What do you know about Stanford?
- Videos – Access hundreds of hours of Stanford video content from across the university and stream it directly to your phone.
As campuses across the country develop their own apps and mobile websites, they need to look at Stanford’s app as the benchmark. No other institution is meeting students where they on the Web are and responding to student needs like Stanford.
To learn more about Stanford’s mobile initiatives visit http://mobile.stanford.edu/
To visit Stanford’s mobile website check out http://m.stanford.edu/
To download the iStanford app for the iPhone click here.
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