Author: BWild

The University of San Diego’s IT department is using geolocation technology for interactive instruction.

The IT department at the University of San Diego (USD) has recently launched the World Interactive Study Environment (WISE), which uses location based technology to help students to drop pins from wherever they are around the globe, and to add comments, videos, and pictures, in order to encourage greater interaction and discussion among class members.

The pilot of the WISE platform is being run throughout this summer by a 10 student class.

The members of that class will be heading to London as a part of an art history study program. Previously, the platform has already been used in 2015 since its launch, when the location based technology was brought throughout lower income neighborhoods in San Diego by social science students. It was also used by those students for documenting trips that were taken to their local farmers market.

The location based technology is being tested in a number of different contexts and functions.

The development team behind the WISE platform is now working on creating native iOS and Android versions. Currently, this geolocation technology functions with Google’s Cloud Storage, its App Engine, and its Maps.

The data from the early adopters is integral to the team at the university that is continuing to work on the WISE geolocation platform. They will be collecting the feedback from the pilot programs in order to continue to evolve and enhance it for improved use. They are also considering marketing this platform in order to sell it.

The reason is that there is a nearly endless list of potential learning uses for location based technology, so there is a considerable amount of potential to make money if they are able to sell the tech to the right organization. This is particularly true in the higher education fields, where there is currently a struggle in boosting the interactivity of lessons within the classrooms. The student population is now made up of people who have grown up with the use of digital tools and have a certain expectation as to the types of resources that should be available to them throughout their studies.

Millenials show significant interest in mobile commerce and shopping online

As mobile commerce continues to grow, more Millenials are beginning to use their smartphones and tablets to purchase products online. Millenials represent a demographic that has been born around the year 2000, and these consumers tend to be tech savvy and very comfortable with mobile devices. Shopping applications are becoming one of the most favored way for these consumers to shop for and purchase products. A recent survey from Forbes suggests that mobile shopping apps are becoming the most popular category of applications in the mobile space.

Survey shows that many consumers opt to download mobile shopping applications

The survey from Forbes shows that 47% of consumers have downloaded a mobile shopping application. Women are more likely to download these applications than their male counterparts, and the iOS platform was most popular among male shoppers. Notably, retailers are  the most aggressive demographic in the app space, as merchants are working aggressively to find ways to effectively engage mobile consumers.

E-commerce proves to be very popular among young consumers

Among young consumers, mobile apps represent a convenient way to purchase products online. E-commerce has long been a sector that Millenials have been comfortable with, but the advent of mobile commerce is beginning to change the behavior of consumers. As more people begin to use apps to shop online, retailers are working to find ways to provide consumers with enjoyable shopping experiences that will ensure the loyalty of consumers.

Retailers are finding effective ways to engage mobile consumers

Retailers will have to find new ways to participate in the mobile commerce space, as many consumers have shown that they quite fickle when it comes to the kind of applications they use to shop online. Notably, companies like Amazon, Etsy, and Forever21 have managed to capture the attention of the mobile audience. These retailers have shown that they have the ability to compete in the increasingly aggressive mobile commerce market. Apps are likely to continue playing a major role in the mobile space for years to come.