FDTC mobile app rolled out to improve student experience
By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
Students at Florence Darlington Technical College now have an easier way to keep up with their classes, tuition payments and college announcements, according to Ty Jones, Associate Vice President of Information Technology at FDTC.
Jones reported during the Florence Darlington County Commission for Technical Education meeting Jan. 23 that the college’s mobile application is now live in the Apple and Google app stores.
Jones said that the school was using a ‘student first approach’ when rolling out the app, hoping to streamline the processes students use to keep themselves abreast of things going on at the school.
“This is going to be a one-stop shop for our students,” Jones said. “If we have class cancelations or anything like that, students can wake up in the morning, pull out the mobile application and connect to the institution. If they can save a trip to campus (because class is canceled), they can find that here. These are tools that we have designed and built for our students and with our students in mind.”
The college’s bookstore is linked with the mobile app and Jones said work is being done to make the buying experience even easier for students.
“We are working on a project right now with the bookstore where students can utilize their financial aid to make purchases and things like that from within this interface,” Jones said.
Other features in the app include a map of each of the college’s locations. Now, new students or someone unfamiliar with the main campus or a satellite campus can pinpoint the exact building that they need to visit and even get directions.
“If you are visiting the campus, you can go to the map and see our campus,” Jones said. “All of our buildings have pinpoints on them. All the satellite campuses are within the mobile application as well. If I needed to navigate to those campuses, (and I’m) not familiar with the organization, I can click on the pin and I can get directions right there. It is going to reach out to Google for me and I can start navigating there.”
The app is laid out simply so that navigation is easy.
“Within the mobile app, academics is categorized as well as campus information, it is tied into our Facebook, social media and everything for our students,” Jones said. “So within the application, students can now reach into different pockets of technology here on campus. This is probably one of the first of many technological changes and transitions that we’re going through at the institution.”
Areas of the app such as courses and finance are secured so that a student’s information can be accessed safely.
