The App: Learning Development a Mobile Future

The Learning Development team (Centre for Achievement and Performance - CfAP) at the University of Northampton is placed in a unique position: to be able to think and plan for the future, outside of the box and at a unique time: a new purpose built campus is being designed and there is currently a University wide review of Learning and Teaching. CfAP places the student body at the heart of any of educational developments, and therefore is able to illicit a proactive response to changing student needs. At present the team is also privileged to have the support of UN’s Application team. This allows for the development of software that will enhance the student support and experience.
Following on from the creation and adaption of the CfAP booking and reporting system, CfAP has spent the past year working with the application team to create a mobile app. This session will present a critical account of working collaboratively and the creation of the app from a vision to a live application. The original system put CfAP at the forefront of best practice, accessing learning support, for all students, home and abroad. It was imperative for the team that this progress continued and that the inter-professional working relationships with the Application team where utilised.
The session will focus, throughout, on how the development of this technology was designed to help address the challenges of underrepresented students. It will demonstrate how we hoped the app would attract these students. How this was considered at all stages of the process, from how it looked to how students could use it. It will examine the actual impact on this group the app actually had. By removing all perceived barriers to support did these students then attend?