There's pretty much a mobile app for everything these days. From fitness to news and parking to food, there's really no topic left untouched. When it comes to schools, it's a slippery slope. Apps can provide endless opportunities for learning and growth. Yet, they come hand in hand with mobile devices — which can be pretty big distractions in the classroom.
A Mobile App Brings New Learning Opportunities, but That's Not All...
Yes, a mobile app can prove very useful for learning, offering eBooks and educational games designed to boost creativity, improve memory and more. However, there are several other important functions it can fulfill on a daily basis. Operating a mobile hub of information means increased communication between the school and its student body, not to mention parents. A college administration might use an app to:
- Deliver important news and bulletins, schedule changes or class cancellations.
- Provide useful tips to new students on acclimating to college life.
- Encourage school spirit and advertise events, conferences, fundraisers and school clubs/organizations.
- Post school policies as well as directions and campus maps.
- Allow students to submit forms, surveys or feedback directly to teachers and administrators.
- Create an online community board for students to connect.
- Offer ways to pay tuition or fees electronically or purchase items from a school bookstore.
- Communicate news and events to parents.
Keeping Students Safe – One Tap at a Time
Safety on campus is a paramount concern for any school administration. Apps can be programmed to have features that track the user via GPS and allow the user to send safety alerts/notifications to friends and loved ones. They can also act as a siren or flashlight in times of distress. With the rise of active threat events and sexual assaults on campus, knowing you can signal for help with one single tap can bring peace of mind to both students and their parents. Having students hold possibly life-saving information in the palm of their hand or in their pocket during a disaster or emergency is a powerful thing. It's not possible to predict how people will react when chaos erupts, but giving them the critical knowledge they might need — from Campus Safety to Active Shooter Response — is a significant first step.
What about Mental Health?
College life, as with anything, presents its own set of personal and emotional challenges. With the stress of schoolwork and pressure from peers, anxiety and stress disorders as well as depression can certainly become issues on campus. By offering guides, how-tos and other helpful content on these topics on a mobile app, you can reach students using a tool very familiar to them and that they rarely leave home without – their phones. You might provide information on stress management, emotional well-being and even budgeting.
For more school safety information and tips, visit the CDC and RAINN websites.
The QuickSeries® Resource App comes equipped with 15+ modules, including an Alerts & Safety Check module that allows administrators to notify all app users of impending or current disasters or emergencies and also prompt users to check in following an alert to confirm their safety. Enrich students' lives by putting the information they need at their fingertips. Book a demo now!