Have you taken that sales call yet from someone wanting to develop an iPad, iPhone, or Android recruiting app for you? You might want to wait.
Unless you have a strategy to enter your prospective students' "circle of app trust", you may want to hold off on that marketing initiative.
New research from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project indicates that 68% of smartphone owners open five or fewer apps per week. According to Pew estimates, approximately 42% of U.S. adults have phones with apps. "The novelty wears off," says Pew researcher Kristen Purcell.
While faster data networks and fancier phones have steered more Americans to embrace apps software, the appeal of instantly downloading the latest apps loses its luster quickly, according to Roger Yu at USA Today.
But the ones with staying power really do stick. Android phone users spend about 90 minutes a day on their phone, about two-thirds of that on apps, says Monica Bannan of media research firm Nielsen. "We see a very familiar behavior with (iPhone users)."
Tricked-Out Smartphones ... or Not
I was speaking with an industry colleague late last year on the topic of smartphone usage among high school and college students. At DemandEngine, we've recently completed some soon-to-be released research on how high school students and adult learners participate online and through mobile devices. We were discussing some of the initial findings.
While the perceptions is that students are walking around campus with the latest tricked-out smartphone or tablet, this may not be the case. According to my colleague, we may think that the student body owns an iPad and a smart phone, but in reality they are walking around with the cheapest phone with texting capability.
High School Students Use Laptops for Online Channel Access ...
At DemandEngine, we found that 66% of high school student respondents use a smartphone phone for texting while a higher percentage access other common online channels using laptops and desktops.
... And the Laptop is the Device of Choice for Adult Learners
We found similar results for adult learners (ages 22-50) with laptops playing a more dominant role.
There is no denying the role that mobile devices will play now and in the future in higher education. Look for no better example than what is happening in the college textbook industry today.
But realize that technology initiatives have what Gartner Research calls the "over-enthusiasm" or hype cycle. Your challenge is to rationalize technology choices in light of your goals and resources.
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