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UCSD might have started something big.
Heeding the call of millions of college iPhone users around the United States, one college has taken it upon itself to create a unique application for its students.
University of California San Diego (UCSD) is the first public University in the U.S. to put this into action and judging by the popularity of the phone, this might be the start of a new trend popping up on campuses all over the country.
The application itself is free; a definite plus for starving college students and it plans to offer a multitude of features making college life easier.
To begin with, the app will offer information to UCSD students about athletic, courses and current faculty. The software also features an interactive campus map that will direct students to the classroom a course is taking place in. In addition, it also provides students with a way to call text or email instructors of their classes.
Needless to say, all of these things are essential to any college kid and what UCSD is doing here could revolutionize communication between a college and its students.
If the app is successful, school officials plan to expand the iPhone application program to include podcasts of in-class lectures.
Own a BlackBerry instead of an iPhone?
Well, UCSD is also developing the same application for BlackBerry users on campus.
This is definitely a great idea they have here and it should have been the centerpiece of the University of Missouri’s move to “require” its journalism students to purchase an iPhone or iTouch for class.
Of course, if you missed it, that touched off a debate as to whether those Apple products were useful in the classroom and we chimed in with an alternative, the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen that might make more sense to students.
However, if the University of Missouri and other colleges follow suit with the podcast feature, the iPhone may just become a force to be reckoned with on college campuses across the nation.
Over 2,000 students at UCSD have already downloaded the application and you can bet that the number will dramatically increase with the release of the iPhone 3G S and when the fall semester gets closer.
This is a new trend that parents and students everywhere should be following closely.
For more info: Contact Adam: admillios@gmail.com
Comments
though ucsd seems to be one of the few to do this, it looks like they're not the only ones. check out medu.com - Looks like "terriblyclever" is doing this with a few schools
@james, definitely, thanks for the link.
I had heard about iStanford before...I'd just like to know what they are calling the UCSD one? iUCSD? No idea.
Thanks for reading.
Adam
Texas A&M has the same type of application
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