Presenter
- Navneet Johal, Research Analyst, Education Technology, navneet.johal@ovum.com
The Institutional Imperative for Mobile
- Why must higher education re-think mobile?
- On my way here, my driver and everyone around me was on their devices! It was a little scary, but highlighted the fact that they’re everywhere and growing
- 80% of Americans are using the Internet via mobile, and most are using apps on their devices.
- Students often have 6-8 devices
- Drivers: proliferation; student mobile consumption; rising cost of higher education; remaining relevant as an institution – it’s a survival strategy.
- Barriers: Lack of institutional funding; device & platform complexity; lack of in-house expertise to manage mobile strategies
Cross-Industry mobile usage
- Retail banking; healthcare; government; industry
- Police departments use mobile apps to increase efficiency – Palm Springs department is using an app to help complete paperwork in-the-field.
- Retail banking: Citibank allows transfers and deposits via their app, i.e. “Snapshot”
- Retail industry: improve sales, increase loyalty; shop-on-the-go; retailers are analyzing mobile data to understand mobile behaviors, and predict customer purchasing behavior.
State of the union: higher education and mobile
- What does this mean for higher education?
- Helps increase efficiency and productivity
- Drive differentiation
- Improves value and increases loyalty
Best practices
- 93% of 16-24 year olds have access to a smartphone
- It makes sense to claim a mobile footprint where students are already spending a lot of their time!
- Institutions need to understand the range of mobile options available
- 1st wave: basic use – general communications, no personalization, high adoption rates, low student engagement
- 2nd wave: some mobile-enabled instruction and administration, some personalization, high adoption rates, low student engagement
- 3rd wave: innovative use, mobilizing teaching, learning and research; leveraged fro marketing; native apps for smartphones and tablets; customizable and integrated; high adoption and engagement. Once mobile is used for teaching and learning, that’s when we’re going to start seeing really innovative use.
- Build or buy? Depends, but integration with existing enterprise applications is crucial!
- Partnering with Experts: must provide high quality, pre-defined functionality; focuses on ease of use; saves time; assumes end-to-end responsibility for the mobile project; contributes new ideas to mobile strategies; views the mobile project as a journey and not a destination.
Recommendations
- Make mobile strategic to achieving institutional goals: think of mobile use cases first, then search for the apps; research exactly what students want on mobile in order to increase satisfaction; plan for the cost of a mobile initiative – build or buy
- Get ahead of the mobile curve: showcase mobile success in-house to build buy-in from stakeholders; showcase mobile success to the outside world towards new student recruitment; question vendors on their investment in services.
