Incorporating Mobility Technology Into
The Campus
Jeffrey C. Huskamp
Pam Burton
D. Britt Reynolds
Skip Warnick
mobility.umd.edu
Panelists
Jeff Huskamp
VP & CIO
D. Britt Reynolds
Associate Director
Undergraduate
Admissions
Pam Burton
Director
User Support
Services
mobility.umd.edu
Skip Warnick
Mgr, Portal
and Web
Services
UM Campus
• Research university
• Celebrated 150th anniversary in 2006
• 25,857 undergraduate and 10,157 graduate
students
• Total budget $1.4B
• Located just inside the Beltway in
Washington, DC
mobility.umd.edu
By the Numbers
• Employees
• Faculty – 3,752 (full-time and part-time)
• Staff – 4,829
• Graduate assistants – 3,873
• University structure and degrees
• 1250 acres
• Land grant institution for the State of Maryland
• 13 colleges/schools (no medical school)
• 127 undergraduate majors
• 112 graduate degrees
mobility.umd.edu
But most importantly…
• 3500 wireless access points
• Starting deployment of 802.11n this fall
• WiMAX test bed coming in fall semester
• 5 year total network refresh to begin this
academic year
• Students looking for an integrated seamless
mobility experience
mobility.umd.edu
Open Source Initiative
mobility.umd.edu
mobility.umd.edu
Program Goals
• Enhance the classroom learning experience.
• Promote interaction between faculty and
students
• Provide students with a tool to help them
manage their time and navigate the campus
(physical and administrative environments)
• Enhance the personal safety of our students
• Create an impression about the university’s
world class status through innovation and
technology
mobility.umd.edu
Campus Infrastructure
• Partnership between Undergraduate
Admissions and OIT with Provost support.
• Steering Committee (faculty and students,
staffed by OIT and Undergraduate
Admissions).
• Pilot group: ~150 incoming students; all
members of two scholarship programs; used
as a recruitment incentive.
mobility.umd.edu
Distribution Plan
• Password protected website created to allow
students to choose the device
• Website includes FAQ’s for pilot participants.
• Devices ordered through AT&T
• Delivery at Terrapin Technology Store at move-in
• AT&T and OIT reps available to activate the phones.
• OIT Help Desk available for trouble shooting and
replacement of broken or stolen devices
mobility.umd.edu
Expectations of Students in Pilot
• Take ownership of the device
• Select the device to meet their needs
• Participation in a series of faculty-led group
meetings to test the integration of the device
into classroom-like experiences
• Group meetings also includes focus group
activities to assess their success
• Participation in assessment activities.
• Seminar “for credit” offered in the spring
mobility.umd.edu
Classroom Integration
• Faculty participation is key
• Identify classrooms with technology to
enable device usage
• Consolidation of classroom devices (e.g.
clickers)
mobility.umd.edu
Challenges
• Timing with release of new Apple devices.
• Assessment – what kinds of pre-tests are
available to measure student/faculty
engagement post pilot?
• Academic relevance.
• Faculty participation beyond the Steering
Committee.
• Launching the project beyond the pilot.
• Funding…
mobility.umd.edu
Maryland Day
mobility.umd.edu
Academic Computers for Terps (ACT)
• Discount purchase program
• Offers products from two vendors, Apple,
Inc. and Dell Computer, Inc.
• Since inception in 2006 has saved university
community in excess of $3M dollars in
discounts over and above educational
discounts
mobility.umd.edu
Terrapin Technology Store (TTS)
• On campus retail location provides walk-in
sales and opportunity to demo products
• One-stop shop for hardware, software and
departmental purchases
• Operated by ACT program manager and
student staff
mobility.umd.edu
Mobility Initiative Pilot
• Pilot to examine use of mobile platforms in
academic, social and cultural areas of campus
life
• User Support Services (USS) supporting the
pilot through project management, hardware and
software distribution, and help desk/warranty
desk support
• Pilot hardware (iPod touch/iPhone) distributed
through the TTS
mobility.umd.edu
Pilot Implementation
• Applications, bookmarks, etc. preloaded on
hardware when possible
• Other software available online as it is released
• Warranty support for hardware and OS provided
by the OIT Warranty Desk
mobility.umd.edu
Pilot Implementation
• Application documentation available through
the Pilot program website
(https://mobility.umd.edu)
• Support provided by the OIT Help Desks
• UM Internal Review Board (IRB) release
mobility.umd.edu
Total cost of ownership
• Partnership with AT&T
• As of August 3, 82 student participants
chose iTouch; 40 student participants chose
iPhones
• Warranty support on-site
mobility.umd.edu
Promotion & Publicity
• Regular emails from Undergraduate
Admissions Office
• Web site (http://mobility.umd.edu)
• Campus IT meetings
• Terrapin Technology Store
• ITforUM& TechKnow articles
mobility.umd.edu
Challenges for support of Pilot
• Logistics of distribution of units, in particular
the activation of iPhones
• Coordination of stakeholders, participants
and vendors
• Software distribution
• Coordination of training, documentation and
support
mobility.umd.edu
mobility.umd.edu
Maryland’s Mobile Portal
• One portal multiple, presentation
layers
• Contains a sub-set of applications
• Changes made on mobile device
update portal proper
mobility.umd.edu
MyUM
• Access To
• News Reader
• To-Do List
• Targeted University
Messages
mobility.umd.edu
Academics & Testudo
• Access To
• Registered Courses
• Books
• Exam Information
• ELMS (Blackboard) Courses
• ELMS Organizations
mobility.umd.edu
Student Services
• Access To
• Eating
• Meal Plan Information
• Recreation
• Campus Recreation Center
membership information
• Transportation
• Bus schedules
• Campus map
mobility.umd.edu
MyeVyu
• Quality of Life
• Education
• Social/community
• Safety
• Transportation
• Support for
• Students
• Faculty
• Staff
• Visitors
Integrate university services and enhance them with
context (time, location, security, ...)
mobility.umd.edu
MyeVyu Client Device
• Panic Button
• Location and ID
• Audio and Video
Stream
mobility.umd.edu
MyeVyu Dispatcher’s Console
•
•
•
•
Location and ID
Status
Audio Stream
Video Stream
mobility.umd.edu
Avaya Mobile 1x Portal
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Easy to use Graphical User Interface
One business number access
Location Transparency
User control of Avaya one-X Mobile
Dialing from Call logs, Contact lists and corporate directory
Access to Avaya Communication Manager features
Single voice mailbox and Visual Voicemail
mobility.umd.edu
Maryland Day
mobility.umd.edu
Keeping Our Eyes Open
• Must be relevant to the academic experience
• Must get faculty buy-in
• Must get faculty to use in class
• Must provide enhanced services at a
reasonable cost (the value proposition)
• Must provide local support (including
hardware support)
• Must provide robust applications to make a
competitive difference
mobility.umd.edu
Where to spend our effort
• Mapping/location awareness
• Calendars
• Portal integration
• Strong integration with local student systems
• Encourage and support departmental and
student application development
• Facilitate social networking (?)
• But need a more robust interface to iPhone
information through the API
mobility.umd.edu
Vision Going Forward
• Development of a consortium for
iTouch/iPhone applications for higher
education
• Clearinghouse for functions available
• Open source availability
• Cooperative development to avoid rampant
duplication of effort
• Quality assurance stamp of approval
mobility.umd.edu