Smartphone app to connect students to campus

By spring 2012, Georgia College will be launching a smartphone application incorporating essential campus information normally accessed only from a computer. The project has been at the forefront of Evan Karanovich’s goals as SGA President, and now that GC has gotten a contract with Blackboard Mobile, the plan has been set into motion.“Technology needs to be at the students’ fingertips,” Karanovich said. “This ease of access will make their lives easier.”

The application will model similar programs offered at schools such as Stanford and Duke and will be a larger application made up of different smaller applications. These “sub-applications” will include myCats and GeorgiaVIEW and a campus directory, as well as information about news, events and athletics on campus. The athletics component will even provide score updates during a sporting event.

“The idea is to just have a portal where students can go to everything,” Karanovich said.

The incorporation of myCats and GeorgiaVIEW will help students to manage class information, contact classmates and professors, review degree and graduation information and even add and drop classes all from their mobile device. Other components such as the campus directory will incorporate technological efforts that have already begun on campus.

One such effort is the use of quick response codes on fliers and posters on campus to give students additional information on their electronic devices. By scanning these codes, students will get contact and location information about different departments and professors on their phones.

“It all goes back to accessibility,” Karanovich said. “Although Georgia College is small … so much is being able to be done on our phone and it would be a shame not to use it to its fullest potential.”

There will also be an incorporation of applications other organizations have created, such as SNAP and the Career Center application. As as developments in technology occur, the application will grow and expand with it.

“It’s a fluid app,” said Kyle Brogdon, director of publications and marketing. “The launch is in January, (but it) won’t be the final app. It will constantly change … we won’t be locked into an old version.”

This means that more features can be included in the future based on students’ needs.

“A meal plan would be nice,” said senior community health major Jared Holmes. “It would be good to know what type of foods we’re having for lunch or dinner ahead of time.”
There is also a hope that the application can eventually be used in place of the Bobcat Card. However, implementing this will require a complete overhaul of the current system. Once the application has been in place for a while, it will become easier to discover what is needed and expand accordingly.

“If we didn’t have something, we would almost be letting a great opportunity pass us by,” Karanovich said.

Ultimately, the focus is on student connections on campus.

“I think it will help grow our tight-knit community,” Brogdon said. “I think being informed is vital to maintaining our community … it’s very important that we utilize all available technology to make life as easy as possible for our university community.”

Posted by Noelle Brooks on Oct 6 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.