It was not so long ago that going to class at Mount Allison meant something very different than it does today. E-mail and laptop computers have gradually entered the classroom over the last two decades, revolutionizing the way we learn and communicate. Now a device threatens to improve even further the efficiency of our learning environment, and you may be able to find it in your pocket.
The iPhone, manufactured by Apple Inc., created quite a splash when it hit the shelves in 2007. Trumping virtually every comparable device on the market at the time, it boasted exclusive access to Apple’s “App Store.” Here, users can wirelessly download applications to turn the phone – or the similar-looking iPod Touch – into just about anything.
The University of Saskatchewan is the first Canadian university to cash in on the platform's versatility. Students now have access, free of charge, to a campus-centric App Store application known as iUSask.
Since the application’s launch last month, students can get help finding classes with their personalized schedule and map, access their library account, and can even get updated marks including feedback from the course instructor from the touch-screen hand-held device. The application also has up-to-date information regarding sports, campus events, and research, as well as showing live streaming feeds from webcams placed around campus – perfect if you want to check out the progress of a game from the confines of the library. The excitement of digitizing our campuses has long since passed, making way for this next step in convenience: mobility.
Although iPhone sales in Canada have been hugely successful (ordering one in August would leave you waiting at least a month before backlogged orders were filled), New Brunswick has seen a comparably low number of units being purchased. As a result, it is unclear whether a similar application could now be viable at Mount Allison. However, rest assured: for those of you who can’t muster the willpower to drag yourself to your desk to check your marks, a mobile future is certainly on its way to all schools.