Web traffic to school district and campus sites has been growing for years as more families are connected to the internet. But recent internet traffic growth is taking a completely different path. Mobile devices are increasingly accessing school sites. Users are increasingly looking at information on their tablets and smart phones. The massive adoption of apps on both Android and iOS (iPad & iPhone) has clearly shown that users prefer to consume the mobile web in app form, rather than through mobile browsers. Traffic from these devices to school sites is growing and is not going to slow down anytime soon. How will you address this without spending lots of funds on paying a third party to develop apps for you? Most districts can’t even compete to hire a mobile developer. In this presentation Judson ISD will show how we easily created an app for both iOS and Android, without hiring an outside company or additional specialized IT staff. A short demo of creating an app will be included, to give attendees an idea of how easily a basic application can be developed.
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Developing mobile apps- you can do it, too -- February 2013 TCEA
1. Developing Mobile Apps - You
Can Do It, Too!
TCEA, February 7, 2013
Steve Young, Chief Technology Officer
Gabe Landes, Webmaster
Joe Gautreau, Web Application Programmer
Judson ISD
2. Why Did We Go Mobile?
• Our Google analytics had our mobile traffic at
>10% of site visits.
• 14% for January 2013
• More people (both parents & students) are
surfing via mobile than ever before
• Mobile traffic growing at a dramatic rate and has
huge upside growth potential
4. Smartphones & Tablets will
Help Drive Mobile
• Smart phone adoption continues to grow at huge
rates:
– 2011 – Smart phones accounted for 42% of all phones
in the United States (up from 27% in 2010) (Workforce Management, June 2012)
– 2012 – Smart phones account for 48% of the United
States’ 172 million mobile subscribers (Mary Meeker, Analyst at KPCB,
12/2012).
• And tablet growth is surging - 29% of U.S. Adults own a
tablet or eReader (like a Kindle) — up from 2% in 2009 (Mary
Meeker, Analyst at KPCB, 12/2012).
• Tablets are here to stay, but we have not seen anything
yet….
7. Ignoring mobile could increasingly mean you are
ignoring a constituency
http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/desktop-mobile.png
8. But why develop an App?
• Mobile users increasingly prefer to
consume mobile web via apps….
• This can be seen in huge app boom
across Android and iOS
• Users are now spending more time using
mobile apps
– Albeit a lot of that is using Angry Birds,
Facebook and other related apps
• Mobile apps are easier to access and
more convenient than mobile web
10. Ok – So We Need an App, but We
Don’t Know How to Make One
• You don’t need a high paid app programmer
• There are several web-based rapid web
development tools that let you repurposed existing
web content and data into a mobile app
• Some of there tools are so easy, even a CTO or
teacher can make an app!
• Your existing webmaster and/or other staff can
easily develop and maintain the app
11. Advantages of Web Based App
Dev Tools
• They let you roll out or make changes to
an app quickly
• The usually utilize existing web content,
like social media feeds and RSS feeds
• Require less or no programming
knowledge than writing an app from
scratch
12. Non-Technical Sites To Assist
School in Developing Mobile Apps
• Conduit Mobile - http://mobile.conduit.com/
• School Connect -
http://www.schoolconnectservices.com/ (this is an app
that contains many school districts in one app)
• Applite - http://applite.co.uk/
• Appsbuilder - http://www.apps-builder.com/en/home
• Buildanapp - http://www.buildanapp.com/home
• Mobile Roadie - https://mobileroadie.com/
• My App - http://myappinc.com/
13. Conduit Mobile
• Free or low cost
• Easy to use
• Publishes to both major app platforms
• Demo of and
Conduit Mobile live build a district app
14. Caveats
• Just like a web site, you need great
content before you can make a great app
• App publishing to both app stores does
cost $$
• Custom graphics for branding and app
promotion need to be created for both app
stores
• The app publishing process can be
confusing (especially for iOS)
• Apple requires a Mac for the final app
publish
15. Content for Your App
• Events, social media, news, photos,
calendars, menus, sports schedules
• Can use push notifications
• Bully and crime reporting
• More advanced: grades, attendance, etc.
• Or segment your app:
– Athletics App
– Band App
– Newspaper App