Mobile Student Intranet (CSU – Innovation Grant)


Opportunity for Innovation

The Mobile Student Intranet is designed to deliver mobile-first engagement across the Student Life Cycle. With our Student Experience-Based Dynamic Content Strategy, students stay informed whenever and wherever via the devices of their choice, including wearables.

The Dynamic Content Strategy employs the concept of hybrid information “buckets” (http://tinyurl.com/FSM1stUX) designed around hierarchy and priority, as well as a student’s current phase within the Student Life Cycle, allowing for a highly customized experience combining information a student both needs and wants.

The proposed framework for the Mobile Student Intranet (http://tinyurl.com/FSM1stTI) is designed to distribute digital information relevant to students. This Communication Hub is the place to publish and consume content of all sorts, i.e. integration of SIS, LMS, and event systems. Based on the core Information Object Model (rules – metadata and behaviors – tags), a Rule based engine (AI) is designed to facilitate persona-based (needs) and individualized (wants) information.

The technology stack initially includes React Native, a cloud-based back-end (i.e. AWS Lambda, DynamoDB and API Gateway), Qualtrics, and Google Analytics.

This concept is scalable to support the global university experience.

Innovation Areas

Strategy for evaluating the impact and effectiveness

  • Qualitative attitudinal research in the form of interviews, focus groups and surveys, as well as behavioral research in the form of usability lab studies and ethnographic field studies
  • Understand and improve users’ mobile campus experience through embedded analytics. (Quantitative research)
  • Close collaboration with ASI (Associate Students Inc.)
  • Pilot with student participants
  • Opensource – external partners (other CSU campuses)

Technical Design and Implementation