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DEVELOPING AN APP FOR COLLEGE STUDENT APPLIERS
Running head: DEVELOPING AN APP FOR COLLEGE STUDENT APPLIERS
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Developing An App For College Student Appliers
University of
Cover Letter
Student Portal SchoolNess
Part I: Introduction and Context
The past few decades have seen technology integrated into different parts of human life. Mobile applications have especially been a robust area supported by the advent of smartphones and the internet. Many interesting mobile applications have since been developed and have helped to solve various problems. In the current study, an exploration of the development of mobile applications to support the university’s application processes is evaluated. This aims to help students to access a mobile application that makes the application process easy and more convenient. It also aims to help the university to collect data in a modern way thus maintaining electronic data records and eliminating the challenges associated with traditional paperwork. Paper works are not only tiresome but are criticized for its redundancy, negative environmental impact, and problematic handling and sharing. For student applications into college, the process takes longer leading to a negative experience for students which in turn creates a negative experience on students and that could subsequently affect their perception of the school the entire time they will be enrolled there. As such, integrating a mobile app into the college application process boosts the college’s image, improves its data management, and enhances its student application process.
Each year, the university of Maryland like other universities enrolls students in its diverse college programs. The university prides itself as one of the oldest educational institutions in the US. Founded in 1856, the university has maintained a culture of leadership in research and development in various capacities. As of fall 2021, the university had a student population of 30,922 enrolled in undergraduate programs (University of Maryland, College Park, 2022). The total student population including those undertaking postgraduate programs was slightly above 40 thousand. Assuming that each of these students undertook on average, a four-year course at the university, it would plausible to suggest that the university enrolls about 10,000 students each year. Further, the university offers more than 100 undergraduate majors through its 12 colleges (University of Maryland, College Park, 2022). Allowing interested candidates for joining campus as such can face challenges in choosing the course, and college they wish to join without a proper channel of information. There is thus a need to develop a source of information that is integrated with the application process to enhance the program’s efficiency.
The need and integration of technology in the education sector have been explored before. In an article describing a mobile application to manage the education process remotely, Abildinova et al. (2016) detail that the many technological developments and innovations in education have operated on the purpose of simplifying the education process. This includes the development of electronic books and libraries and the integration of personal computers. In supporting smart education, the authors demonstrate the development of a mobile application based on an android operating system that helps monitor students’ acquisition of required skills. The application proved to be viable and could be rolled out to simplify the education process and make it more effective. Similarly, insights from this article can be integrated into the development of an application to simplify the application process for college students.
Many factors are considered when developing technology solutions. One issue considered is the impact of technology on user experience (Hussain et al., 2017). This is affected by among other factors usability of the application. As a general rule, the application should be easy to use and one needs no technical knowledge to use. This way, it enhances the usability of the application. Usability consideration also looks at the target population. This should be suitable for college students who have mastery in using and understanding multiple mobile applications but who have little knowledge about college programs offered by the university. Zhang (2018) explains that multiple stakeholders in the design of a technology resource system for education need to be brought on board. In this case, applicants, already enrolled students, educators, and other staff need to be engaged to give insights on the development of the mobile application.
Part II: Literature Review and Available Models
The integration of mobile applications and related technologies in the education sector is widely documented. Most literature documents the integration of mobile applications in teaching and learning. For instance, Oliveira, Pedro & Santos, 2021) explore students’ perceptions and real usage of mobile applications in learning in a higher educational institution. The authors interviewed 77 participants from the University of Aveiro who attend online classes for various theoretical subjects. He finds out that the most commonly used applications for learning by the participants were social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram. While access to these apps by college students is quite high, the researchers found out that the students were bound to distractions by networking applications. This leads to negative perceptions about learning through social media mobile applications. Unfortunately, there are still many colleges and instructors who use mobile applications to teach students. Unknown to them is that effectiveness of this process is negated by distractions from the messaging applications.
The need for universities to have a mobile application system has been explored also. The problems of using already existing social media applications although that qualify in terms of their capability to be used for education have been demonstrated to be effective. According to Taneja & Goel (2015), mobile applications have become viable, especially with the ability of smartphones to use the internet. This helped to overcome key barriers to information access on mobile devices. Further, about 1.5 billion people of the world’s 2.4 billion with access to the internet, do so using mobile devices. Janssens (2019) explains that mobile applications in education are attractive innovations because they provide real-time service and that they also allow contextual adaptation. This way, learners can engage with the school content wherever they are and in a near real-time experience. Also, rather than using general networking applications like Facebook, customized college-specific mobile pops are important as they adapt to the culture and context. As such, there is a need to develop campus-specific mobile applications to aid in real-time service solutions and the ability to support context.
The adoption of mobile applications in the college application process is an evolutionary innovation. Einav & Wolf (2019) illustrates the evolutionary nature of mobile apple for use in application processes like in healthcare by drawing insights into the evolution of television since its invention in 1939. The author explains that application processes like in healthcare should take on an evolutionary process to improve their performance. According to a 2013 report, about 78% of college students have access to mobile phones, a number that has moved up to date (Taneja & Goel, 2015). About 68% of college students have visited their college’s online platform or website in the past month. The report also indicated that about 73% of college students had an interest in downloading the college-specific application. This shows a high number of college students are already using their mobile applications and many more are willing to download the application. Many universities too have implemented mobile applications and the few that have not are reviewing how to implement one. 888 suggests that it is important to consider policy changes in designing and improving future recruitment processes. The author demonstrates this through a review of college policies’ impact in short term and long run.
Insights in the development of mobile applications for college students’ enrollment should draw insights from other areas where mobile apps have been applied. Chowdhury & Nath (2022) explain that the government of Bangladesh, in its digitization vision 2021 that was initiated in 2008, committed to supporting technology in various sectors of the economy. Some of the sectors already that have adopted technology in Bangladesh include online recruitment, product order and delivery for small businesses, payment of utility bills, and a robust online booking system for public means of transport. These areas are closely related to the college application process and thus demonstrate its viability. Integration of technology in the education process will improve the quality of education (Chowdhury & Nath, 2022). This is because, when information is managed through online systems, data integrity is maintained through high-security features like blockchain. The existence and integration of technology in education are inspired by the results of research and development. Mosteanu, N. R. (2020) agrees with Chowdhury & Nath (2022) and writes that digital transformation in education offers quality assurance in teaching and learning. This is achieved through the use of actual innovative inputs in managing the organization which achieves better and more advanced technology.
Part III. Analysis and Synthesis
From the literature review above, two broad ways can be used in handling student college enrollment. The first model is the traditional paperwork method. this has been criticized as ineffective and long. As the number of students and the number of courses diversify, managing this process becomes tiresome and problematic. Digital solutions have been fronted as potential ways to solve the student college enrollment solution (Pérez, Daradoumis & Puig, 2020). Though currently, the digital system is used using desktop applications, the university seeks to explore even more innovative solutions including the use of mobile applications. this is a promising idea that is supported by many young people with access to smartphones and also access to the internet on their mobile devices. A mobile app will thus help to increase access to the university’s student application system or portal, and a wide variety of information arranged in a more readable and easily accessible manner.
Application of mobile applications has also been shown to have two possible implementation pathways. The first pathway is by relying on currently available mobile applications that are accessible to students. This could include Facebook or Instagram among others. The second option is for the university to pay mobile application developers to come up with a unique application for the university. The two options are important and can be selected based on multiple criteria. Using existing social applications like Facebook is cheap and is often free. Thus, the organization can easily create its social media presence and use this to reach out to potential candidates and enroll them in the programs. This further needs no outsourcing and thus is not only cost-effective but saves time in implementation. Moreover, existing applications are more accessible even to candidates who have not heard about the university or its programs, as this can be promoted in a paid advertisement. However, as identified in this paper, existing networking mobile applications can distract students leading to errors and non-understanding of important information needed to make decisions on courses to apply to. Poor decisions at this point affect the student’s outcome and progress in undergraduate university programs.
Developing own mobile application on the other hand has its pros and cons. Among the pros are that the university will be able to develop a more adaptive mobile application, that takes into consideration the contexts and culture of the university. This way, a customized mobile application will transfer more than the exact wording of the application. This gives the students a more positive experience and thus enhances their perceptions of the university. Even though this is not hosted on a popular website like Facebook, it can still be promoted on any website including social media platforms. It has however some drawbacks that could hinder its implementation. For instance, its implementation could be hindered by the long process it requires to design and implement. In the selection of either mobile application, care should be given to selecting which platform gives better results on the part of the university and which gives a better experience to the applier.
Part IV: Proposed Solution
Drawing from insights from the analysis section, this study proposes the university develop its unique mobile applications for use in student college enrolment. Though the application will be less accessible than already known social media applications, it will be promoted on social media platforms to counter this effect. As a result, the app will become available to all that need to join the campus. It will also be advertised on multiple media where the university’s enrolment and intakes are advertised including on television and in newspapers. As such, this option is selected because its negatives can be countered.
Further, the choice of this platform despite its high cost is made because of its benefits over other options. First, the use of the mobile application has benefits over traditional paperwork. it makes the application process more convenient and interested candidates can make an application in real-time wherever they are, so long as they have access to the internet (Nayak & Narayan, 2019). This opens the opportunity of application to potential candidates who are employed and cannot easily get offs during the day when the university brick and motor university offices are open. Secondly, it has benefits above the modern technology that uses desktop applications. This is because mobile applications are more convenient and more accessible.
Implementing the mobile application for use in student enrolment will benefit the university immensely. First, the university will increase access to the application process for many students. It will then enhance efficiency in enrolment by reducing the time consumed at enrolment. These will have a positive impact on the student at enrolment which affects their perception of the school in general. The enrolment process makes a significant part in the first impression the applicants have on the university. Lastly, the student will get access to more accurate information about available courses and colleges conveniently and help them select their course well, which reduces course to course transfer or possible dropout.
Part V: Conclusion
In conclusion, technology has proved a viable solution to many human problems. Smartphones especially have been implemented in areas of information, socialization, entertainment, and education among many others. The current study evaluates the development of smartphone apps for college student enrollment. The study finds that some universities use already existing mobile apps like Facebook and Instagram while others develop their own. While the use of existing apps is cheaper and more accessible, it is limited by the inability to tackle the context and culture of the company. The study as such proposes the university develop its mobile application for use by students enrollment. The university should as such implement its unique smartphone app that will create a more convenient, accessible, and cheap student enrollment process. This will boost the students’ experience and perception of the college while also enhancing the university’s management of student information and reducing the time and labor consumed during enrollment. Future research should assess the viability and scope of implementation of the mobile application. This includes decisions on whether the university should cloud host the app, and how it seeks to deal with such issues as system down and hacking.
References/Bibliography
Abildinova, G. M., Alzhanov, A. K., Ospanova, N. N., Taybaldieva, Z., Baigojanova, D. S., & Pashovkin, N. O. (2016). Developing a Mobile Application” Educational Process Remote Management System” on the Android Operating System. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 11(12), 5128-5145.
Chowdhury, M., & Nath, A. D. (2022, June). Limitless: A Mobile Application Featuring Next Generation Library Facilities For the Bangladeshi University Students. In 2022 2nd International Conference on Intelligent Technologies (CONIT) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Einav, G., & Wolf, H. (2019). From Interactive Television to Digital Health: Insights for Industries in Transformation. In Digitized. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Enescu, F. M., Bizon, N., & Ionescu, V. M. (2021, July). Blockchain technology protects diplomas against fraud. In 2021 13th International Conference on Electronics, Computers and Artificial Intelligence (ECAI) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Enescu, F. M., Bizon, N., & Ionescu, V. M. (2021, July). Blockchain technology protects diplomas against fraud. In 2021 13th International Conference on Electronics, Computers and Artificial Intelligence (ECAI) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Hussain, A., Mkpojiogu, E. O., Musa, J. A., & Mortada, S. (2017, October). A user experience evaluation of Amazon Kindle mobile application. In AIP conference proceedings (Vol. 1891, No. 1, p. 020060). AIP Publishing LLC. doi:10.1063/1.5005393
Janssens, J. (2019). Digital Transformation journeys in a Digitized Reality. In Advanced Methodologies and Technologies in Business Operations and Management (pp. 282-294). IGI Global.
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Oliveira, D. M. D., Pedro, L., & Santos, C. (2021). The use of mobile applications in higher education classes: a comparative pilot study of the students’ perceptions and real usage. Smart Learning Environments, 8(1), 1-15. doi: 10.1186/s40561-021-00159-6
Pérez, J. Q., Daradoumis, T., & Puig, J. M. M. (2020). Rediscovering the use of chatbots in education: A systematic literature review. Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 28(6), 1549-1565.
Taneja, S., & Goel, A. (2015, February). Mobile applications in educational institutions. In 2015 IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence & Communication Technology (pp. 789-794). IEEE.
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Zhang, W. (2018, August). Analysis on the Application Difficulties and Improvement Strategies of Professional Teaching Resource Database of Vocational Education in China. In 2018 2nd International Conference on Education Science and Economic Management (ICESEM 2018) (pp. 700-703). Atlantis Press. doi:10.2991/icesem-18.2018.162