Presentation given at ALT Annual Conference, 5th September 2019, Edinburgh

1. ALT Annual Conference, 5th September 2019 Marieke Guy (Royal Agricultural University)
Making our students ‘appy –
how we successfully rolled out
our student mobile app

2. The Royal Agricultural University
Cirencester, Gloucestershire

3. The Royal Agricultural
University
• At the forefront of agricultural education for more than 170 years
• Around 1,200 students – undergraduate, postgraduate, international
• Courses cover agriculture, animal science, business, environment,
equine science, farm management, food, real estate and rural land
management
• New blended learning courses being developed
• Have digital aspirations - https://digitalrau.wordpress.com/

4. From this… To this this…
Last year @ ALT

5. • Increased use of mobile – need to improve the user experience when
accessing through a mobile phone
• Potentially increase student use of VLE through improved usability
• Offer single sign on - allowing access to the information most commonly
used by RAU students
• Reduce the need for IT intervention due to integration and intuitive design
• Allow targeted communications and interventions through push
mechanisms
• Move into the 21st century 
Why a mobile app?

6. • Callabco’s myday portal (https://www.collabco.co.uk/)
• MS Azure based solution that uses cloud technologies
• Desktop and mobile versions
• Integrates with existing systems
• Used by many other unis (Herriot watt, Teeside, Cumbria) and
lots of FE colleges
• Targeted tiles –
audiences set up using Azure groups
• Opportunities to develop own tiles –
‘developer enabled feature’
What software?

7. Alun Dawes, head of IT
“As a university with a focus on agriculture, food production, and the
related land-based industries, efficiency, sustainability, and
environmental matters are a core element of our teaching, research,
and consultancy – and providing a truly digital campus is the next
logical step forward for us.
“Working with Collabco’s myday app, we will provide students and staff
with the ability to communicate and learn more efficiently from
wherever they are and at any time via their chosen device. We’ll also
be able to deliver the wider university eco-system in terms of
extracurricular activities and services that wrap around student life,
and use it in the student recruitment process at open days by giving
prospective students access too.”
https:// https://www.rau.ac.uk/about/news-and-events/news/rau-delivers-digital-campus-collabco

8. Integrations

9. Implementation
Deciding on a name
Student user testing
Integrations set up
Submitting app to app
store and Google play
Decision on applicant
portal
Soft launch
Go live

10. Selling it
• Posters, digital screens, flyers
• Inclusion on fresher treasure hunt
• Video for academic staff
• Page on website and VLE
• Blog posts on SU and digital transformation blog
• Mention in IT and library induction sessions
• Stands at fresher and returners induction sessions
• Student star training sessions
• Monitoring and support through out
https://www.collabco.co.uk/blog/collabco-blog/royal-agricultural-university-guest-blog/

11. • Student expectations – lightweight versions of apps
• Uptake: “It doesn’t work”, password issues
• Calendar issues
• Information Architecture: “I keep ending up in Gateway”
• Office 365 – the black box of an app
• IT don’t own it
Issues

12. Ongoing work
• Farms check in
• Campus maps
• Surveys:
• Interim module feedback
• NSS/SSS
• Internal news feed
• More news feeds – research papers

13. Future plans
• Need to give them a reason to visit…
• Applicant portal
• Attendance monitoring
• More links with marketing – more internal news
• Surveys
• eChamps
• Video
• Culture
• It takes a whole institution to raise an app

14. See myRAU in action
http://bit.ly/myRAU-short

15. • HELF discussion – ‘to app or not to app?’
• Needs to fit your plan:
• Brighton: Using it as our student portal. Notifications when
lectures change.
• York SJ: Development will involve custom dashboards for PG etc.,
and delivering pre-arrival content to incoming students for next
year
• Abertay: Using for surveys, development with Evasys
• Case studies: https://www.collabco.co.uk/case-studies/
• Other software: Modolabs, CampusM app (now owned by ExLibris)
• Apps for everything…?
• Chatbots? AI? Hybrid apps? Payment systems?
Is an app the best approach?

16. • Blog posts: https://digitalrau.wordpress.com/category/myday/
• Collabco: https://www.collabco.co.uk/
• Jiscmail: MYDAY@JISCMAIL.AC.UK
• Myday ideas: https://ideas.collabco.co.uk/portal_session/new
• Myday status update: https://status.mydaycloud.com/
• myRAU app store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/myrau/id1359199977
• myRAU on Google play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mydaycloud.app.rau&
hl=en
• myRAU video: http://bit.ly/myRAU-short & http://bit.ly/myRAU-long
Further information

17. Twitter: @mariekeguy
marieke.guy@rau.ac.uk