Category: Technology

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Technology

Mobile Trends

Presenter:  Andrew Yu, Founder and CTO of Modo Labs (@kurogofwk)

Andrew came from MIT, working on the mobile platform there.

We expect students to have more than one mobile device these days, and they have big expectations.  How do we meet those expectations?  Slide showed an arrow pointing up…i.e., things are going up:  bigger, more, faster, smarter, (hopefully) cheaper.

Network Side

The question is no longer Can you hear me now?  but Can you see me now?  All major carriers have rolled out 4G tech, especially LTE.  Mobile speeds where LTE is available is often faster overall than WiFi!  So, the world has moved “up” in the realm of speed.  There is also more competition among carriers…Google is even in the game.  5G will come sometime, probably in the 2020s…I think we can look to the Tokyo Olympic games for the first public implementations.

Faster Network = Better App Experience

Google Maps now defaults to satellite photo view instead of a plain map view.

Devices

“No One is Going to Buy a Big Phone”  – Steve Jobs

Well, that’s not true, and of course Apple now offers the iPhone 6 Plus.  Unlike phones / phablets, tablet growth is slowing…it’s currently at single-digit growth numbers worldwide.  Wearables are now a part of the ecosystem, and it’s worth exploring what these devices are capable of so we can deliver functionality to them.

Low energy bluetooth (iBeacons) are something to consider as well.  iBeacons can do push and proximity-based notifications, which is useful in tours, treasure hunts, vendor coupons, etc.  For campuses like Notre Dame with lots of interesting locations, this would be great for a tour app.

NFC

Mobile payments, physical access, Google Wallet, etc.  This will be important for implementation of campus OneCard systems.  Higher Ed is a prime vertical for this sort of integration.  Georgetown University is doing a Proof Of Concept for student ID, which includes two factor authentication (photo, QR code, more).

World is Becoming Mobile Friendly

Google Mobilegeddon:  search “Golf”  The world is being forced in some ways to be mobile-friendly.  If your site is not mobile-friendly, it will be indexed as well particularly for mobile searches.  Check here to see if your web site is mobile friendly:  https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

Are We Done?  We’re Just Getting Started

Demographics are changing.  Our survey indicates that mobile applications are prioritized for:  1) current students, 2) new students and 3) prospective students.

Features to Consider:  Mobile Engagement

  • Customized UX
  • In-app social
  • Share pictures and videos (leverage existing SoMe channels)
  • Push notifications (not just for emergencies)
  • Anonymous messaging?
  • New Student Orientation and Move-in day

Global Audience

For international students, your mobile app is often the ONLY experience a potential student will have before setting foot on your campus.  Consider how you are reaching your various audiences – they use different modes.

Mobile Apps – More and Easier

There is an app for that > Many apps mode.

  • Unbundling phenomenon:  intentionally  and hopefully useful.
  • Apps are broken out into separate functions (Facebook and Messenger, FourSquare and Swarm, etc.)
  • Harvard has a mobile campus app, but also Tour, Financial literacy, and hospital apps.
  • Challenge with unbundling and the “many apps” strategy is that there can be confusion about which app is “official”
  • App discovery & distribution is a way to help get a handle on the many apps strategy.  Apperian is a vendor that has a product to help this.

Easier to Make, Maintain, and Share

  • With Kurogo, you can now assign many different module tasks to specific departments, i.e. embedding responsive web pages, new student orientation application, updating emergency contacts

Mobile Mind Shift!

  • Consider “micro moments” and the “mobile mind shift.”  Example quickly update / refine processes like personal calendaring.  Casual and quick updates.
  • Google Now is a great example of this “mobile mind shift”
  • “Mile IQ” is another example:  it’s an app that allows you to manage your mileage for IRS reporting.
  • Notre Dame’s “o’Snap” provides Uber-like functionality that allows students to summon a cart for travel on campus.

Transforming the University Experience

  • Think Mobile
  • Engage
  • Personalize

 

 

 

Categories
Technology

Welcome to the Conference

Ron Kraemer:  VP and Chief Information & Digital Officer

Notre Dame

  • 1842
  • 12,000 students (2/3 undergrad)
  • Research funding:  100 million+
  • Endowment:  $8-9 Billion (12th largest in country)

Notre Dame’s Innovation Park

  • Opened 2009
  • 55,000 Sq. Ft.
  • 501(c)3
  • Mission:  transform university innovation to viable marketplace ventures
  • Houses faculty, students, alumni, and partners
  • Provides tailored space and services
  • Works closely with Admin, Tech Transfer, Office of Research and Deans

I urge you to please walk the campus!  The basilica and administration building are deliberately located next to each other.  If you have the chance, please check out the grotto, it’s gorgeous especially this close to graduation. ” Touchdown Jesus” artwork on the library is actually a mosaic.  A lot of our artwork is deliberately named with football themes.  There’s a $400 million investment underway around the stadium, including a digital media studio for video and mobile production work.

Mobile

Slide showing difference between 2005 and 2013:  Catholic papal events – first shot from 2005 has one person holding up a phone to take a photo, the second shot from 2013 shows EVERYONE holding up a phone to take a photo.  Pretty dramatic.  Our partnership with Modo Labs has allowed Notre Dame to deliver value to our campus.   In higher ed, our ability to collaborate and share with other institutions has been a huge benefit.  We’re in this game because we want to help our students positively change the world.

“In a digital world, influence no longer emanates from the top of the heap, but from the center of the network.”

 

Categories
Technology

Kurogo Conference Opening Remarks

Presenter:  Stewart Elliot, CEO, Modo Labs

The opening keynote of any conference usually portends the overall content and feel of the event.  A nice breakfast preceded, so for now, at least my stomach is happy.  Let’s see how this goes…

kurogo crowd shot

First items:  The conference app itself was made with Kurogo Publisher, and a thank-you to the sponsors:  Apperian, Double map GreyHeller, Radius Networks.  Also, a shout-out to the folks who travelled the farthest and Mr. Andrew Yu, the man who started the whole thing.  Cal State University was well-represented with five campuses sending reps to the event:  CSUCI, SacState, Fresno, East Bay, and of course CSUN.  Cal State has eight campuses using the platform.   PHSC:  Pasco-Hernando State College from Florida is also here (Dr. Melissa Harts from PHSC is actually sitting next to me as I type this – her presentation later is “What’s the Point?”).

Modo Labs is 5 years old this month!  One of the overall goals of the platform is to enable non-technical users to “do mobile” without having to code, i.e. publishing.  2.3 is out now, and 2.4 is coming in a couple months.  We’re proud to be able to deliver new iterations quickly.

“The Race to 2.0”

Fresno State beat Notre Dame to version 2.0 by 2 hours, so Cal State gets bragging rights as the first to implement 🙂

Modo Labs

Becca is new director, and changed a number of items:  logo, web site, etc.  The Modo Labs “ball” idea has been likened to an 8-ball, a bowling ball, and a party ball.  Modo’s new logo is a building block / chevron.  Modo = “the way of”  Visit the new web site here:  https://www.modolabs.com/

modo logo

We want all universities to bring in students to develop on our platform, whether they have coding skills or not.  We urge our customers to do this.

The New Frontier

Where is the demand coming from, what are customers asking for?  In big demand are micro sites and multi-sites.  We’re helping one of our customers scale up their installation to 400+ different experiences.  In this case, crowd-sourcing becomes very important…how do you get people handle the challenge of managing all this stuff?

Modo Labs

Only independent company in this space, we’re growing 100% year-over-year.  This has allowed us to strongly reinvest in our product.  We also have customers in very large enterprises, hospitals and other verticals.  We recently moved into a new facility that is twice the size, the space itself was designed by Eric Kim.  We’d be happy to host you and your folks if you’d like to come visit us (and play foosball…it’s a big thing in our office).

It’s Just a Pen

Slide featured a Blackboard pen.  When we entered the market, Blackboard was our biggest competitor, with about a 70% market share.  Our product has grown by leaps and bounds, and Blackboard is now about 40%.  Ellucian is really big in this space, too (and experiencing challenges from WorkDay).

Why the pen?  We need to be humble about our product.  Competitors can easily move into this space and change the market in unpredictable ways.

kurogo tech support
The tech guy running the soundboard and video presentations.

 

 

Categories
Technology

…and the 2015 Kurogo Conference Begins!

After an uneventful flight from LAX to O’Hare and a two-hour drive, I arrived at Notre Dame University yesterday afternoon about 4:00 PM local time.  The Kurogo folks put on a nice mixer at the Morrison Inn for attendees last night from 6:00 – 9:00 PM, and I got an opportunity to meet a number of folks from around the US and Canada who are using the platform.  I’m eager to see how people are using and extending it to meet their campus needs!

The facility that we’re using for the event is the Notre Dame Innovation Center, which I’ll post picture for in a future update.  A very cool space, it’s really ideal for meetups, hackathons, and incubator-type activities.  I wish we had one of these at CSUN!  The reception desk of the center has a whole set of “that was easy” Staples-inspired buttons.  If you’re wondering, yes I pressed every one of these 🙂

that was

This conference is a number of “firsts” for me:  first time at Notre Dame, first time at the Kurogo conference, and first time at a mobile-focused conference.  I’ll do my best to capture what’s being presented here, along with a bit of the event’s flavor.

Watch this space!

Categories
Accessibility Technology

The 2015 CSUN Mega Post

Hey there!

When I come to the CSUN conference, I write about every session I attend.  When I’m all done with the conference, I make sure I gather up all my posts into one <echo>MEGA POST</echo>.  In the past, I felt strongly pulled toward the more technical web track sessions, because I run a web development shop.  This year, I sprinkled in some legal and compliance sessions, because the technical stuff doesn’t exist in a vacuum.  That, and I find myself being asked to weigh in on accessibility concerns in senior-level conversations more frequently these days.

I may be a glutton for punishment, but whenever I attend a busy conference that has lots of concurrent sessions throughout the day, I try to attend as many as I can…with no breaks in between.  This year, I got to 18 sessions, and it was pretty tiring.  I think it matters that I get the most “bang for the buck” for attending, and it’s important that I don’t keep what I learn all to myself.  So I take notes.  A LOT OF NOTES.  This helps me stay focused when my mind starts to wander, and it may be useful to others.

I hope you find it useful.

Wednesday, March 4 Session Notes

  1. The Implementation of PDF/UA and Standardized Access to PDF Content
  2. Digital Accessibility: 2015 Annual Legal Update
  3. Accessibility at the BBC
  4. Do We Need to Changes the Web Accessibility Game Plan (Redux)?
  5. Real-Time Conversations:  From TTY to Real-Time Text (RTT)
  6. Aiming for Excellence at a Fortune 50 Company (aka TARGET)

Thursday, March 5 Session Notes

  1. CSS, Accessibility and You
  2. Scaling Web Accessibility From Specialist Niche to Business-As-Usual
  3. Web Compliance Evaluation Strategies – All In One
  4. Accessibility in the Web Project Lifecycle
  5. Accessibility in an Agile World
  6. Revised Maturity Model: Case Study of the CIA

Friday, March 6 Session Notes

  1. Choosing an Accessible UI Framework
  2. Evaluating the Accessibility of Your Website:  New Resources and Tools
  3. 7 Lessons from Developing an Accessible HTML5 Video Player
  4. The Digital Accessibility Maturity Model for Measuring Program Success
  5. A Digitally Inclusive Future for Canada’s National Broadcaster
  6. Purchasing Accessible EIT Products:  A Suggested Campus Procurement Process