NEWS The fact that several higher educational institutions in the United States have already produced iPhone applications (“apps”) is hardly surprising, including advanced apps from schools such as Stanford University. Umeå University is now Sweden’s first university to launch an app intended for students.
"We are working on several plans to improve and develop various mobile services for our students," says Sören Berglund, head of IT at Umeå University. "The first app is focused on information feeds from social media. We will build upon this with additional services and develop the technology for it to be used on other types of mobile phones."
Version 1.0 is in Swedish and includes a news feed from the university, feeds from the university’s pages on Facebook and YouTube, as well as vacant positions at the university. It is free of cost to download.
The application was developed by Johan Forssell, who works at the Ladok division of Umeå University. It has been a sub-project within a larger project of IT strategic initiatives, which seeks to develop and improve the IT-based services for university students and staff.
"Writing an iPhone app was really fun and I have lots of ideas for the upcoming versions," said Johan Forsell.
The development team is currently working on new and exciting functions for the upcoming versions.
"We plan to present the university programme and course catalogue, and a search function for staff and students in the future updates," says Arne Vedefors, head of telecommunications at Umeå University. "We are currently working on a map device that will make it easier to find your way around campus."
Contacts:Sören Berglund, Head of IT, Umeå UniversityPhone: +46 90-786 53 56Mobile: +46 70-666 69 03
soren.berglund@adm.umu.seArne Vedefors, Head of Telecommunications, Umeå UniversityPhone: +46 90-786 68 88Mobile: +46 70-663 13 51
arne.vedefors@adm.umu.seJohan Forssell, Project Manager at the Ladok Division, Umeå University
Johan.forsell@ladok.umu.se
Editor: David Meyers/Carina Dahlberg