Scenario

The Office of Alumni Relations approaches Angela, the vice president for IT, with a proposal for a mobile app that would let users access schedules for athletic events and up-to-date player stats, buy tickets to sporting events, coordinate meetings for local alumni chapters, and donate to the Alumni Association. Access to the alumni directory—which is limited to alumni and university staff—would be useful as well. And with so many graduates going back to school, the app also should let alumni order official transcripts from the registrar’s office. Angela shudders as she considers the complexity of building an app that could do all this and work on nearly any device. About 75 students in the physics department are piloting a program in which they all have identical mobile devices, which were funded through a grant, but alumni number in the thousands and they carry every kind of device made.

As Angela investigates options for developing such an app, she hears about mobile apps that other campus users want. Some apps would be easy, like the one that shows the daily menus in each of the dining halls, but most app ideas extend functional tentacles into enterprise systems and through password-protected barriers. Commercial providers tell Angela they have—or are deep into development of—mobile apps that offer all of the functionality the campus needs. The prospect of waiting to see whether those providers can deliver is appealing, but Angela recognizes that she risks finding out that third-party apps don’t meet the institution’s security requirements or are otherwise incompatible with existing university systems.

In conversations with the physics students about their pilot program, Angela confirms that the app development in that model does not extend easily to other kinds of devices, but she also learns that some of the most valuable functions are unique to the device in that program. She hears about the benefits of mobile apps for teaching and learning, though a colleague reminds her that such apps must provide content in a way that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. A member of her IT staff points out that the university’s network is not prepared to support many more devices, but Angela also recognizes the excitement and potential surrounding mobile devices and knows that mobile app development, in one form or another, is now part of the IT department’s mission.

1. Mobile, Mobile, Everywhere

By some estimates, two-thirds or more of college students have smartphones today, and rates of ownership continue to rise. Other mobile devices, including an emergent class of tablet computers, further broaden the landscape of mobile computing, and large numbers of faculty and staff are also adopting mobile devices. Users increasingly expect that mobile apps will allow them to do virtually everything their laptops can do (if not more), in a smooth, integrated experience. Mobile users want to check the availability of a resource in the library, for example, and then have a mapping app guide them to it. Or receive notifications about campus events and seamlessly share that information on social networking sites. Or read a review of a new band, buy its hit song online, see when the band is coming to town, and purchase tickets to the show—all from a mobile device, wherever they are.

Complicating matters is the range of mobile devices and operating systems and the rate at which they are changing. The challenge of creating a consistent, reliable experience for all users, not to mention maintaining that experience as the tools evolve, might make any institution feel like it is trying to catch a train that has left the station. Still, there is little disagreement that mobile computing will be—or already is—an essential element of IT operations, and so the question facing many colleges and universities isn’t whether but how best to pursue mobile app development.

2. A Fork in The Road...?

The initial decision point for any mobile development program would appear to be between native apps and the mobile web. Native apps are developed for a particular device and/or operating system, such as the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or others, whereas mobile web development pursues device-agnostic applications that work on virtually any device with a mobile browser. Each path has benefits and drawbacks, and the unique context and needs of each institution might argue for the trade-offs of one approach over the other.

Well-built native apps often provide a richer user experience, with greater control over the look and feel of the app, as well as access to device-specific features such as GPS, accelerometers, or cameras. In addition, native apps are more likely to work when the device is not connected to the Internet. Developing and maintaining a separate version of each app for numerous devices can be prohibitive, however, and native apps might be subject to the development standards of the hardware maker, which might also require developers to share revenues with the vendor’s app store. Alternatively, an institution could standardize on a single platform, require all users to own or have access to it, and develop for it. Some have done this to good effect, but for many institutions, such an approach is not feasible.

By contrast, mobile web apps can allow for a single development and support process, irrespective of the list of supported devices. Mobile web tools typically depend on Internet connectivity and often have less functionality than a native app, but most mobile web apps will work on a very wide range of devices. Unlike native apps, mobile web apps do not need to be downloaded and installed, and the tools for building web apps are growing in sophistication, providing a user experience that increasingly rivals that of native apps. If the benefits of native apps don’t justify the additional overhead, the mobile web could be an effective approach.

3. ...Or a Third Path?

Some contend that the debate between native apps and mobile web might represent a false choice—that it’s not an either/or proposition—and some initiatives appear to support this position. As mobile activities become more commonplace on campus, particularly for academic tasks, access is vital—either everyone must have the same device, or the apps must work on all supported devices. Standardizing on a single platform would be a high bar for many institutions to get over, but the “lowest common denominator” experience might be unsatisfactory. Some vendors provide tools that allow a developer to build an app once, and that code is then “translated” into native apps for multiple platforms. Such tools hold considerable potential, but they remain relatively new.

Another option, which is being pursued by at least one statewide university system, is to create a “base” mobile web app, one that ensures compatibility with all supported devices and meets institutional standards for factors such as security and appearance. Developers can then build enhanced versions of that app, without having to worry about the underlying usability guidelines, and can take advantage of device-specific features. With this model, a balance is established between access and innovation, and sophisticated native apps are developed while guaranteeing a base level of access to a broad range of devices.

4. Anticipate Integration

Regardless of the approach to development, institutions will likely find that apps range from relatively trivial to implement to highly challenging. Apps for directories, maps and shuttle schedules, news, and events calendars, for example, tend to be straightforward. Tying into library or registrar’s systems that require login and transmit data that the institution is legally bound to protect adds layers of complexity, both in terms of technology and policy. Beyond that, apps might allow users to conduct transactions—register and pay for classes, sign up for community events, and complete and submit assignments. Such integration with enterprise systems is a step that most mobile initiatives will have to take sooner or later, and having an integration plan upfront might shape decisions about an overall app development strategy.

5. Potpourri of Apps

In many cases, the mobile landscape fundamentally changes the role institutional IT plays in app development. “Third-party developers” might be students, admissions staff, the library, faculty, campus health centers, or open-source communities. Most providers of cloud computing are developing mobile versions of their services, as are LMS providers. Policies and culture at each institution will determine how the growing, fluid ecosystem of mobile apps works together (or does not), which ones will be institutionally supported (centrally or otherwise), and how much integration is feasible. New partnerships and consortia—among institutions, with vendors—might bring some order to the turbulence surrounding mobile apps.

6. Full-Featured, Internet-Connected
Computer...in Your Pocket

Mobile devices are easy to lose or steal, and they often don’t have password protection enabled. If someone gains unauthorized access to a student’s smartphone, for example, how much risk do the mobile apps pose for sensitive data or the university systems integrated with those apps? Are policies governing mobile storage of sensitive information effective at minimizing risks? Controlling—or even knowing—exactly how mobile apps use, store, and transmit data is increasingly difficult, and yet institutions are responsible for protecting electronic data and IT systems. All security represents a compromise between usability and protection, and mobile apps introduce new factors in that balancing act.

7. Accessibility Opportunity

Many institutions continue to grapple with accessibility. Retrofitting existing IT systems to be accessible for users with disabilities can be very expensive, and at many institutions it has become an elephant in the room. With mobile apps, colleges and universities have an opportunity to ensure that accessibility standards are included in the upfront design, ensuring compliance with accessibility regulations while avoiding the expense of adding it later. And, particularly with mobile apps, this makes sense: In many cases, the design decisions that make IT services function well on mobile devices (fewer images, scaled-down displays, simpler navigation) are the same steps that benefit accessibility.

April 2011

© 2011 EDUCAUSE
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
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