School mobile application - Pro's and Con's?

[Joe-WLS]

Hi there again,

 

No idea if this is the right forum to post this is - Mods, feel free to move this to elswhere.

 

Myself and other members of the I.T team went to a meeting the other day to discuss how we can improve the usage of I.T within school - a consultant from another school mentioned that his school have just recently released an iPhone and Android application to make it a little easier to share information about the school to parents, the pupils and staff members.

 

So we are looking to do the same (the developers have offered us a fantastic price so we are seriously looking into this).

 

I am compiling a list of Pro's and Con's for the next meeting, so can you guys think of any? I'm mainly asking just incase I have missed something critical out.

 

Thanks very much.

[elsiegee40]

Just make sure that pupils can't use it as an excuse for using their phones in school... which is likely to be against your behaviour policies!

 

No phone policies aside, I can see plenty of uses for it!

[SYNACK]

Apps are good just don't restrain the content to just the app shutting out people without those phones. Good to target multiple platforms and have a web only fallback. I'd target WP7 too just because that it my personal prefference

[TechMonkey]

My personal opinion is that it is a gimmick but if it works why not.

I imagine it is one of those build-a-free-app jobbies that uses the school RSS feeds and some static pages. You may as well build a nice web app that would be cross device compatible and be done really.

[Joe-WLS]

Just make sure that pupils can't use it as an excuse for using their phones in school... which is likely to be against your behaviour policies!

 

No phone policies aside, I can see plenty of uses for it!

 

We are an infant school so the App is going to be used mostly by parents and staff. The information is there for the pupils if they need it but I don't see many of them carrying mobile phones around!

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

Apps are good just don't restrain the content to just the app shutting out people without those phones. Good to target multiple platforms and have a web only fallback. I'd target WP7 too just because that it my personal prefference

 

We do have a website in drastic need of updating and modernising which is something that I need to crack on and do when I get a spare hour! We have also looked into WP7 but the developer wants double the price to submit the application to Windows.

 

Thanks!

 

My personal opinion is that it is a gimmick but if it works why not.

I imagine it is one of those build-a-free-app jobbies that uses the school RSS feeds and some static pages. You may as well build a nice web app that would be cross device compatible and be done really.

 

We are using a local web application developer to help us create this application. Ironically the founder of said company is the assistant head teacher of a local school!

 

Thanks!

[glennda]

Personally I would go down the lines of a mobile website rather then a physical app - helps with cross platform compatibility and reduces somebody complaining because you don't support there device

[Joe-WLS]

Personally I would go down the lines of a mobile website rather then a physical app - helps with cross platform compatibility and reduces somebody complaining because you don't support there device

 

Thanks for the reply! We are already in talks with the developer for the application so I am afraid its all system go, but we will see what is left in the budget to produce a mobile-based webpage too.

[LosOjos]

Thanks for the reply! We are already in talks with the developer for the application so I am afraid its all system go, but we will see what is left in the budget to produce a mobile-based webpage too.

 

If you're developer can incorporate RSS in to your websites news feed then cross platform websites and automatic app integration should be easy; it'll ensure that all sources show up the same information

[Duke5A]

Couldn't the goals of this custom app be met with a free school Facebook and Twitter account? The devices you're trying to reach already have social media entwined with their functionality.

[jamesfed]

A propper mobile website is the way to go

Costs less to develop and requires no special skills to run.

[Joe-WLS]

If you're developer can incorporate RSS in to your websites news feed then cross platform websites and automatic app integration should be easy; it'll ensure that all sources show up the same information

 

We are indeed incorporating an RSS feed into the new school application. This is going to feed directly from the actual school website to ensure that both the app and the website have the same information on. Thanks for the reply!

 

A propper mobile website is the way to go

Costs less to develop and requires no special skills to run.

 

The developer has offered us this service at around 1/4 of the price that he would offer the public or small business. I think this makes it about on-par in terms of cost as a dedicated mobile website.

 

Thanks for the reply!

[Edu-IT]

The developer has offered us this service at around 1/4 of the price that he would offer the public or small business. I think this makes it about on-par in terms of cost as a dedicated mobile website.

 

Thanks for the reply!

Indeed but in the long run the mobile version of your site might be more flexible. You'd need someone to update the app if you ever wanted to add new features.

[enjay]

Couldn't the goals of this custom app be met with a free school Facebook and Twitter account? The devices you're trying to reach already have social media entwined with their functionality.

 

Agreed - put the information somewhere that they already check anyway. The parents already read their email, and I suspect the majority of them (especially since you're a primary school) also check Facebook and Twitter every few days, so why give them somewhere else they need to go for information? I would rather spend the time into getting a decent presence on existing social media and/or using email, rather than spend time and money on an app, especially since there will be parents with WP7, Blackberry and no smart phone, and you don't want to exclude them.

[Joe-WLS]

Agreed - put the information somewhere that they already check anyway. The parents already read their email, and I suspect the majority of them (especially since you're a primary school) also check Facebook and Twitter every few days, so why give them somewhere else they need to go for information? I would rather spend the time into getting a decent presence on existing social media and/or using email, rather than spend time and money on an app, especially since there will be parents with WP7, Blackberry and no smart phone, and you don't want to exclude them.

 

Brilliant, thank-you! I have put the fact down that users of Blackberrys and WP7s will be excluded from using the application - and lets be honest, they make up a fair proportion of the market.

 

Thanks very much.

[Joe-WLS]

Couldn't the goals of this custom app be met with a free school Facebook and Twitter account? The devices you're trying to reach already have social media entwined with their functionality.

 

This is a very good point, I have mentioned this.

 

Thanks!

[enjay]

Brilliant, thank-you! I have put the fact down that users of Blackberrys and WP7s will be excluded from using the application - and lets be honest, they make up a fair proportion of the market.

Also consider how parents might want to access the information about your school. Yes, I have a smart phone so could check your app for information, but unless it is urgent (e.g. your child is ill, school is closed, bus back from trip is delayed), I would rather access information about upcoming events, newsletters etc on my PC.

 

Also also, remember that an Android app is not as straightforward as an iApp as you have all the different versions of Android and different hardware to contend with - there are lots of apps which work on my phone but not my tablet.

[enjay]

Has anyone asked the parents what they want?

[Joe-WLS]

Also also, remember that an Android app is not as straightforward as an iApp as you have all the different versions of Android and different hardware to contend with - there are lots of apps which work on my phone but not my tablet.

 

Another brilliant point! Thanks!

 

Has anyone asked the parents what they want?

 

We are compiling a short survey for the children to take home to their parents about this.

 

Thanks!

[ToyHeartsFan]

Using an App will limit who can access the information which isn't fair on people with older / basic phones. Not everyone has a contract and has the latest £200+ phone.

 

We use groupcall to send bulk text messages to staff / parents when needed i.e. school closed because heating isn't working etc...

[enjay]

We are compiling a short survey for the children to take home to their parents about this.

Would it not have been sensible to wait for the results of that before launching down the road with an iApp writer to the point that (in your own words) "its all system go, but we will see what is left in the budget to produce a mobile-based webpage too". Seems like your school has already made a decision that you're going to communicate with your parents via an App and your survey is to find out what they think about this.

[enjay]

We are compiling a short survey for the children to take home to their parents about this.

Look at surveymonkey and similar, so the parents can fill out your survey online rather than someone have to collate lots of paper replies.

[Joe-WLS]

Would it not have been sensible to wait for the results of that before launching down the road with an iApp writer to the point that (in your own words) "its all system go, but we will see what is left in the budget to produce a mobile-based webpage too". Seems like your school has already made a decision that you're going to communicate with your parents via an App and your survey is to find out what they think about this.

 

You do have a good point there but other members of the IT Department have indeed decided that we are going to produce this application. The survey is going to tell us how many users we can expect for this service.

 

Look at surveymonkey and similar, so the parents can fill out your survey online rather than someone have to collate lots of paper replies.

 

Thanks for that!

[enjay]

You do have a good point there but other members of the IT Department have indeed decided that we are going to produce this application. The survey is going to tell us how many users we can expect for this service.

 

Let's hope a lot of them want it, otherwise you'll be wasting a lot of money...

[Joe-WLS]

Let's hope a lot of them want it, otherwise you'll be wasting a lot of money...

 

Well another local school is using a mobile application to share information, again, which will currently only available on iPhone and Android and they have had brilliant success with it. Because they have the school dinner menu on there, they've seen a significant increase in school dinners and that is just one of the advantages they have experience by developing this app.

 

Thanks for your input! we will certainly talk to the developer about the possibility of it being available on WP7, although the simple reason that it generally wont be is because it will cost around double.