New iNKU app welcomes students back to campus

This fall Northern Kentucky University students are getting a glimpse of the university’s evolution into a cutting edge, tech-savy institution with the launch of iNKU, a new iPhone and iPod touch mobile application.


"The development of iNKU is a small but significant step in our plans to make NKU a leader in the adoption of new technology," said Tim Ferguson, CIO at NKU. "We think the impact of technology on the student experience needs to be a focus in higher education and we hope to make major strides in the coming months."


The free app is available in iTunes, by searching NKU. Its “many features include a glossary of terms used at NKU, a trivia game, an NKU fight song player and a campus map that works with the iPhone's GPS,” according to the University.


"iNKU has some fun built into it, but it also has some practical solutions such as the GPS navigation," said Chris Rider, senior technology architect for the Infrastructure Management Institute (IMI) in the NKU College of Informatics.


iNKU is just the start of the university’s effort to provide a wide array of mobile access to university resources. NKU students developed the app, and will update it in coming months. And by the Spring of 2010, the College of Informatics will offer a course that will detail the iPhone Software Development Kit.


"NKU is on the cutting edge of technology as one of the few universities that currently have an iPhone application," Rider said.


Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Chris Cole, Northern Kentucky University communications

 

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