This presentation will look at how easy it is for a district or school to enhance communication with their community through the development of a mobile app, without having to hire a mobile device programmer or a company to develop an app. Participants with their own device will spend part of the session starting to build their own app and should leave the session feeling comfortable in their ability to finish their app after ISTE.

1. Create Mobile iOS and
Android Apps for Your
District
The Digital Education and Technology
Exchange
2014
Steve Young, Chief Technology Officer
Judson ISD
syoung@judsonisd.org
@atemyshorts

2. Why Did We Go Mobile?
• Our Google analytics had our mobile traffic at
>10% of site visits.
• 14% for January 2013
• 17 % for April 2014
• 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

3. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/mary-meeker-re-imagines-nearly-
everything.php?utm_source=pulsenews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+read
writeweb+%28ReadWriteWeb%29

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).
– 2014 -- Smart phones account for 66% of the United
States’ mobile subscribers (Mashable, 02/13/2014)
• 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….

5. http://www.fabriqate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/fabriqate-enterprise-apps-
statistics-2011-infographic1.png

6. http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/interactive/mobile-share-of-web-traffic-
jumped-in-q4-2012-26057/attachment/walkersands-percent-web-traffic-
mobile-devices-q42011-q42012-jan2013/

7. http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/desktop-mobile.png
Ignoring mobile could increasingly mean you are
ignoring a constituency

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

9. Source http://cdn.infographicsarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/should-you-build-a-mobile-app-or-mobile-website-550x1438.png
By March 2013 – US consumers now spend an average of 2 hours and 42
minutes a day on their mobile device!
http://blog.flurry.com/bid/109749/Apps-Solidify-Leadership-Six-Years-into-the-Mobile-Revolution

10. http://blog.flurry.com/bid/109749/Apps-Solidify-Leadership-Six-Years-into-the-Mobile-Revolution
2 hours
19 minutes
Per day

11. 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

12. Advantages of Web Based App
Development Tools
• They let you roll out or make changes to
an app quickly
• They usually utilize existing web content,
like social media feeds and RSS feeds
• Require less or no programming
knowledge than writing an app from
scratch

13. Non-Technical Sites To Assist School in
Developing Mobile Apps
• Como (formerly Conduit Mobile) - http://www.como.com/
• School Connect - http://www.schoolconnectservices.com/ (this is
an app that contains many school districts in one app)
• Appsbuilder - http://www.apps-builder.com/en/home
• Buildanapp - http://www.buildanapp.com/home
• Mobile Roadie - https://mobileroadie.com/
• DUB Labs - http://dublabs.com/
• Codiqa - https://codiqa.com/ (HTML 5)

14. como
• Free or low cost
• Easy to use
• Publishes to both major app platforms
• Demo of and
Como live build of a district app

15. 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

16. 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

17. Judson ISD Connect!
App made for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Kindle tablets

18. Award Winning
http://www.judsonisd.org/district/technology/jisd_mobile.cfm

19. Judson ISD Connect Parent Center
• Parent Center is the core driver of our
app (grades, attendance, meals,
transportation, library, etc.)
• Out 670,688 logins to Parent Center
for the 2012-2013 school year,
205,813 were mobile, or 31%
• For August 2013 – May 2014, out of
774,204 logins, 350,217 were mobile,
or 45%
• 14% year over year increase

20. Judson ISD Connect Installs

23. Let’s Build An App
Demo of using como to build an app
http://my.como.com//
http://my.como.com/

24. More Info & Questions
• Please contact:
–Steve Young syoung@judsonisd.org
–Twitter: @atemyshorts
Como coupon code for Digital Education and Technology
Exchange attendees. Good for 50% OFF the Gold Yearly
Plan.
Coupon Code: como50off