Carleton PhD student Gail Carmichael has designed a new mobile application to guide students around campus as they arrive this fall.
The CU There app, running on the Apple operating system, will be released for orientation week to help students navigate campus and build Carleton spirit.
“We really want people to learn about Carleton’s buildings and services. That is why we want students to physically go places so they learn their way around,” Carmichael said.
The tour by CU There will take between one and two hours, she said.
“You don’t have to do it all at once, so it will save your progress if you close the app and you can continue where you left off,” she said.
Carmichael said CU There begins by asking students to select their faculty. The app then guides them across campus to their faculty-specific buildings. At each building they scan a code before the next location becomes available.
The last location is the Student Experience Office, where students will have the chance to fill out a survey.
As a bonus, if students fill out the survey, the have a chance to win one $100 gift card to the Carleton University Bookstore, or a number of $20 gift cards.
Carmichael, whose main research area is interactive storytelling and games, said the app isn’t just meant to direct students to various locations. It’s to build something bigger.
“From a research perspective we want to know how useful it is to go to a specific location. And not only that, but does it help them learn and build community?” she said.
Bernard Llanos, a second-year computer science student at Carleton, helped to review the app story.
“It’s a good way of showing all the services Carleton has to give students,” he said.
Llanos was a transfer student and arrived in January, he said, with no orientation provided by Carleton.
“I talked to my academic adviser and then made my way over to Robertson Hall to ask about awards. I went to the registrar’s office a few times, so in a nutshell I almost did the tour provided by the app without realising it,” he said. “I think the app is great because it should give people all the places they need to use.”
Chujia Wei, a second-year master’s student in computer science, also had a chance to use the app.
“It’s very simple, and even the words and instructions are very straightforward,” she said, adding that if she had this app when she was in first year, she would have known campus better.
Carmichael said CU There began as a side project and has been in the works for two years.
