lowed all the students’ coverage on twitter because they had their mobile technology with them.” Other university courses at Red River
College are adopting the technology, as well. It has been integrated into Cana- dian literature courses through eBooks to lighten the book load. Critics say the device is costly and
students shouldn’t be forced to buy an expensive piece of technology. However, Kenton argues it’s cheaper in the long run to purchase textbooks electronically. He’s cut out two expensive textbooks in his classes which together equal the cost of an iPod Touch. “The biggest waste of teaching is a
teacher standing reading a textbook,” he insists. “Te classroom for me is about the discussion. It’s about opinions. It’s about expressing them and having a dynamic conversation.” He says the smart phone technology accomplishes this by engaging teachers and class members and prod- ding them to be active participants in the discussion. Post-secondary institutions are also us-
ing apps on smart phones to connect with their students. Te University of Saskatch- ewan was the first Canadian institution to develop its own app, which students can download for free from the Apple app store. Te app gives students access to class schedules, the library search engine, cam- pus maps, classroom announcements and grades. “It knows what day it is. It can tell you these are your classes today, these are your classes tomorrow,” says Eric Neufeld, head of the computer science department at the university and one of the developers of the iUSask app. Te iUSask app was launched in 2009
and so far has had around 5,000 downloads out of a student population of about 20,000, Eric says. Chad Jones, an instructor at the university, spearheaded the development of iUSask and soon institutions from as far away as Australia were contacting him to learn how to develop their own version. “People from around the country and from around the world were asking, ‘How did you build this?’ ‘Can you build this for us?’ Aſter I got the 40th request, I though maybe this could be a real business.” Tis led Chad to found College Mobile,
a company dedicated to helping postsec- ondary institutions develop their own apps. Now Chad is programming apps for schools like Alberta’s Red Deer College, Western Oregon University in Monmouth,
Keeping in touch by smart phone.
Learning about the human heart on-screen.
Ore., and Wiltshire College in England. Launch of the iUSask app led the univer-
sity to launch another vernture, developing the first iPhone programming course. Te half-credit, second-year course, which Chad instructs, teaches students about the app world, how to build the soſtware and sell it in the app store. Chad says this gives computer programmers an important skill
for operating in today’s world. Smart phones are becoming a part of
our schools and postsecondary institutions have to embrace the technology, Eric says. “I think universities have to realize that those smart phones, those iPads, they’re already in the classroom and what univer- sities have to do is figure out a way to make their teaching work with them.” S
SMART careers | Early Spring 31
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