This fall, Dalhousie University launched a new campus app that allows students to create groups and connect online and in person.
Today’s college students are digital natives, familiar with technology and expectant of systems to utilize digital solutions.
A fall 2023 Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse found students are looking for campus technology to feel more connected to campus, particularly through peer-to-peer interaction.
“If students are able to connect and have better interactions with people using an official college app, it will not only help the community to grow as a whole but also genuinely find groups of students who are passionate about the same topic quickly without having to physically look for such students and having the possibility of not finding all of them,” one survey respondent wrote.
This fall, Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, launched a new mobile application, powered by Pathify, to do just that, drawing on learners’ insights and preferences for additional digital connections for in-person engagement.
The background: During remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Dalhousie launched a mobile app to keep students engaged with one another.
The initiative worked fairly well, but administrators noticed some students would dominate or troll message boards, which would impact other students’ engagement levels.
The app also was limited in its capabilities, requiring separate connections to access the grade book or view campus events, for example. A 2017 study from Ellucian found 85 percent of colleges had a centralized app but 42 percent of students still logged into an average of three to four platforms.
The university was looking to overhaul some legacy tech systems to better collect data and connect with learners, says Erica Zwicker, vice provost for student affairs.
Administrators identified Pathify as a potential tech partner because of the ability to connect the mobile app with a desktop or web platform, as well as build community.
How it works: The new DalU app launched mid-fall and community members have adopted it, Zwicker says.
Student groups and faculty members use the platform to create forums to communicate with learners and appreciate having an official university channel to do so. Users must sign up using their university-provided credentials, which helps maintain privacy and reduce irrelevant users or messages.
It’s now a one-stop shop for students to talk to each other, from looking for roommates or identifying housing to student clubs like the Dungeons and Dragons society, Zwicker says.
Students Say
The Student Voice survey found 34 percent of respondents believe an online events calendar would be most helpful in increasing their awareness of campus events; 27 percent indicated an events calendar in a campus app would be most helpful.
Students can also view academic and course-related information in the app, promoting access and timely support when they need it.
Online and in-person connection: While the old Dalhousie app was focused on keeping learners connected during distance learning, the new platform helps students get out and engage with their peers on campus.
One feature that has been a benefit to students is the campuswide events calendar, which pulls data from Dalhousie’s web-based calendar and incorporates user-created events made in the app. The writing center, for example, can highlight its office hours and academic support offices can feature study hours and slots for private coaching sessions.
Pathify also allows users to create a QR code to check in, helping track attendance.
Administrators have noticed fewer students are the loudest voice in the digital conversation and it feels more well-rounded, Zwicker says.
This next fall will also be the first opportunity to engage incoming students, and staff plan to create a space specifically designed for them to get plugged in.
One piece of feedback administrators learned was, while students enjoy the security of a university-sponsored platform, having more casual communication is also important to them, says Graeme Gunn, communications and media specialist. When staff respond to a message, they use a friendlier and more relaxed tone that isn’t like a dean or university president.
“You can’t guess what students want,” Zwicker says, so keeping learner feedback at the forefront has been key.
The impact: The platform has benefited groups that weren’t initially a focus of the shift, including international students who previously had difficulty finding each other on campus and didn’t all share the same messaging platforms, like Facebook.
While faculty and staff have the ability to make their own groups, most prefer the Dalhousie intranet system for now and continue to use that space. Practitioners have opted into the platform to talk more directly to their students, however.
Staff will track analytics, including content interaction, platform usage, event check-ins and engagement patterns to identify communication strategies and gauge students’ experience with the tech. Another metric leaders will watch is the growth in groups created in the app to see where additional connections could be made.
Dalhousie is also considering how the platform can be used to support alumni after they leave the university.
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