Academic Technologies has released GW Mobile Web, a mobile web version of GW Mobile, which can now be accessed from Blackberry and other web-enabled devices.
A free mobile app created by Academic Technologies last January, GW Mobile is also available on Apple iOS and Android devices.
There have been more than 13,000 downloads of GW Mobile since its creation. The app connects users to university alerts, information, news and events.
“We have the opportunity to help shape the delivery of new services through mobile technologies in support of academic excellence, and will continue to partner with the GW community to build innovative new features for the mobile app,” said P.B. Garrett, associate provost and chief academic technology officer.
In the past year, Academic Technologies has added many new features to GW Mobile, including direct access to email, library resources, the GW Bookstore, real-time shuttle schedules, driving and walking directions through campus and access to individual schools’ events, news and social network feeds.
Last summer, Colonial Inauguration was also added to the app, which provided incoming students and parents with the CI schedule. The alumni portion of the app, added last March, provides graduates with upcoming news, events, social networking feeds and other services.
The GW Mobile project has been recognized both internally and by organizations outside of the university. Academic Technologies won the 2011 GW Departmental Service Excellence Award for its development of the app, and the department presented on GW Mobile at the 2011 Educause annual conference in Philadelphia last October.
The next app enhancements include faculty and staff focused features, push notifications and custom alerts, expanded administrative services and increased cross-institutional collaborations.