Meet students where they are, on their mobile devices.
By: Hind Kanderian on Jan 7, 2020 8:02:37 AMMeet students where they are, on their mobile devices.
By: Hind Kanderian on Jan 7, 2020 8:02:37 AMReady Education has developed a Connection Platform that makes communicating and sharing timely information with your students very convenient and simple.
Many institutions use portals, email or social media to communicate with students on campus which are all great outlets to share information to students throughout the semester. However, how can you relate campus-specific and student-specific information easily and ensure that your students actually receive and read your message as quickly as possible?
Over the past two years, I have been working very closely with many Universities and colleges helping them develop successful mobile communication strategies. Sharing important information and communicating with students has repeatedly come up as a challenge for many of my partners. Depending on the number of students enrolled in your institution and the campus layout/culture, you will face different challenges in sharing important information quickly. Often times I hear challenges from the financial aid office, for example, related to emailing students about important deadlines only later to find out that the students never opened their emails. Today, your students are overwhelmed with the volume of information they consume daily coming at them from social media channels and it is becoming more and more challenging to compete for their attention.
Ready Education believes that it's easier for you to meet students where they are, on their mobile devices. Let me explain what I mean.
We have developed two mobile communication features on our Connection Platform which makes it easier for you to send information to your students right to their mobile phones. We had you (administrators) in mind when we built these features. Imagine this, you are sitting in your office and you need to let your campus know that there is an important deadline coming up, you need to do this fast and you need to ensure that everyone gets this message. We have made it easier than ever before for you to complete this task. Type up a simple message and click send on your campus app. Your entire campus will receive a push notification alerting them of this deadline in real time. Done. Your campus app will make it easier than ever before to share important information with your students on-time, and ensure that it received and read as quickly.
Two key features that will help you tackle your communication challenges.
#1- The Campus Wall
Imagine a private digital white space where you can share information with your students in real time and with one simple click. This feature is similar in nature to your Linkedin and Facebook walls. The great thing about this feature is that it’s visible only to your current students that have logged in with your institutional email address. If they are not a registered student, they will not be able to see your campus wall. You can compose messages by using plain text, pictures and hyperlinks making for a more interactive and visual experience. When you click send, your students will receive a push notification on their phones notifying them of your message. They can conveniently like, comment, or ask a question, which helps to increase engagement. Your campus wall will not only let you communicate information to your students but it will also give your students a space to ask questions and interact with you. You’ve hit two birds with one stone, you got the message across easily and you have also allowed your students to have a voice. We have noticed that the campus wall has also become a space where students create a community and make friends. They can share pictures from events they have attended on your campus, ask questions and also receive support during stressful times in the semester. Students will post a question and other students will jump in to answer it for them. This will eventually save you time but also give your students the chance to get instant answers from their peers which is now their online community.
Example: Students using the campus wall as an outlet during stressful exam season.
#2 - Personalized Notifications:
We have kept you in mind while developing this feature as well. This year we made it smarter and easier than ever before to target and share information with specific students on your campus. Let me explain how. You are a professor and you have noticed that a student in your class is struggling to focus due to recent personal challenges and you know they are too shy to come forward and ask for help. What do you do? You can send a notification directly to this student’s mobile phone and let them know that you have noticed their struggles and you would like to help. You can then ask your counseling department to send another targeted push notification to this student’s mobile phone and let them know that they would recommend the student to come in and talk to them. You have just made your student feel supported, you have extended a hand to help and you have made it easier for your student to get back on track. The best part about it is that this communication will be saved in your student’s virtual profile on your mobile platform for future reference.
Let’s look at another example. Let’s say you need to let your female athlete students know that practice is cancelled today. You can login to your campus app management platform, compose a new message, click the checkboxes for female students and athlete students to create a targeted message for your female athlete students. Your campus app will know exactly which students are part of this category since we link to your SIS and LMS systems. Compose your message and click send. It’s super simple and convenient.
Ready Education strives to make your life as an educator easier by giving you the tools to share information with your students easily and ensure that they receive and read the message. Email is a great communication tool but it might not reach all of your students quickly. Meet students where they are, on their mobile devices!
Email is a great communication tool but it might not reach all of your students quickly.
If you have any questions please email us at hello@readyeducation.com. We have a full team of client success consultants that will be delighted to help you out and answer any of your questions.