Ah, college — also known as “the most expensive wi-fi connection you’ll ever have.” The modern classroom is alive with the clicking of laptops and tapping of smart phones, and it’d be naive to think their owners are just dutifully taking notes. 

Enter a new breed of educational apps that aim to re-engage those same students via the smartphones that distract them. These student response apps run on students’ personal smartphones to turn class lectures into a two-way dialogue. Students can use the apps to participate in class lectures, discussions and even competitions, all without looking up from their phones.

How They Can Work

Jason Bazylak, a University of Toronto lecturer in mechanical engineering, teaches one of the largest engineering courses on campus, with more than 1,000 freshmen in stadium seating. To make participation less intimidating, Bazylak requires his students to download and use Top Hat in class. 

“It takes a lot of courage to raise your hand and shout out questions in a group that big,” he told ReadWrite. “I wanted to support the quiet students who might not speak up otherwise.”

Top Hat lets Bazylak modify and tweak his lecture in real time. After each subject segment, Bazylak uses the app to text the class a multiple-choice question they can answer on their cell phones. If 96% or more of the class gets it right, he moves on to the next topic. If they don’t, he continues on the same topic until he’s certain the class has grasped it.

The app also lets students text questions to Bazylak’s teaching assistant to help guide the discussion. Sometimes, his assistant simply texts answers back. If the question is a frequent one, however, he shares it with Bazylak for him to lecture on. Bazylak said these student driven questions end up compiled as a study guide before tests. 

I found Bazylak through Top Hat’s highlighted success stories page. The professor said he wasn’t compensated for his testimonial. This June, he’ll attend the Canadian Engineering Education Convention to present a paper on his use of the relatively new app. 

Saturated Response

Top Hat joins a market saturated with similar products. Poll Everywhere claims to have 100,000 educators as customers, which just might make it the current market leader. eClicker Presenter delivers class results after every session. Socrative, still in beta, teaches through mobile games. 

All of these apps offer roughly the same functions, including options to present students with quizzes, polls, and discussion questions during class for real time learning and instantaneous feedback. All without requiring students or teachers to spend much — sometimes any — money on software or equipment.

Top Hat, for instance, costs students roughly $20 a semester; Bazylak requires them to buy it the same way he might require purchase of a textbook.

No Reply At All

Mobile response apps aim to shift student in-class activity from raised hands to lowered phones. But they don’t do anything to minimize the original distraction. If anything, they might make it easier to get away with texting and gaming during class.

It's also difficult to tell if response systems are effective for student engagement. A 2008 study at the University of Toronto polled 715 students about whether or not they felt that response systems — that is, hand-held clickers; this was way before smartphones were as common as they are today — were effective for learning. About half didn't think they helped. A cursory glance at dozens of related studies reveals similarly lukewarm results.

Bazylak told me that while response apps work for him, they’re not a magic bullet. 

“It’s not learning in a box, it’s a tool,” he said. “Some lecturers aren’t as welcoming to questions as others. The tool is only as conducive to learning as the lecturer will allow it to be.”

There’s another place where students can turn lectures into two-way discussions — the Internet, with its forums, wikis, message boards, and search engines that provide instantaneous answers to whatever students need to know. The bigger question raised by response apps, in fact, might be whether it's the lecture hall itself whose days might be numbered.

Photo courtesy of The University of Iowa Libraries on Flickr, CC 2.0

As the world goes mobile, businesses around the world are rushing to build app they hope will take center stage on your smartphone home screen. Most are not worth the bother. This seems especially true for apps from non-tech companies, too many of which seem to be poorly designed attempts to create intrusive commercials.

But not every app from non-tech companies fit that description. It turns out that you don't have to be an Amazon or a Google to deliver a great app experience. 

Each of the six apps profiled below fully delivers on the company's core business - making me want to remain (or become) a customer. Beyond that, they are all surprisingly intuitive and helpful. The key characteristic they share? An overriding concern for the user: 

1. CVS Pharmacy: Primary Needs

The CVS app makes great use of multiple smartphone functions. You can easily find a nearby store, use digital coupons to save money, then collect points for additional savings - all within the app.

Scan your prescription's barcode with your smartphone camera to have your medications refilled. If you want a picture from your smartphone's camera printed out, that's easy, too.

The CVS app is simple to use and packed with helpful customer-facing features. If my parents used a smartphone, I would get them this app. The iPhone version of the app has 4.5 stars and nearly 16,000 reviews. 

[iPhone] [Android]

2. In-N-Out Burger: Loyal Following

Not being from California, I am at a loss to explain the cult-like popularity of this burger chain. But, the app is as as good as a Double-Double. Basic, well-made, and exactly what the user wants.

The In-N-Out app offers turn-by-turn navigation to the nearest In-N-Out outlet. Users can store their gift points in the app. For the faithful, the app includes a full menu (including the not-so-secret menu; Animal Style anyone?), downloadable content and the "history of..." In-N-Out. Well done.

[iPhone] [Android]

3. Chase: Personal Service

Perhaps nobody likes dealing with their bank. Though I think this app is great, with more than 71,000 reviews in iTunes alone, it scores only a 3.5 rating. Frankly, I wish my regular bank's app was this good. 

In fact, for what this app allows me to do, and for how easy it is to operate, it not only outdoes other bank apps, it's far more handy than many mainstream tech apps.With the Chase Mobile app, you can scan and deposit checks into your account. It's easy to set automated text alerts - such as for being notified via SMS when you have low balance. You can pay bills through the app, get a complete overview of all your Chase accounts, transfer money, review your transaction history, find a nearby ATM, click-to-call a Chase representative - all very easily, in my opinion.

[iPhone] [Android] 

4. MLB.com: Content-Rich

If you're not a baseball fan you may not care about the MLB's "At Bat" app. This is wrong.

At Bat app's ease of use, it's incredibly dense feature set, and its simple, well-crafted design offering various additional levels of content, all billed through the app, are a thing of beauty. App developers for all content-rich sites should study At Bat.

With this app, users get the latest scores, the latest news, can track their home team, and favorite players. Set notifications for team and players - and know instantly if your favorite pitcher is chasing a no-hitter, then tune-in.  

Want more than animated game graphics? For very reasonable fees, At Bat offers options to listen to any game (home and away feeds). Pay a bit more and you can watch nearly any game, live. Games are also archived and condensed for later viewing. 

At Bat is simple to use, understands its fan base - and their varying levels of fanaticism - and offers greater content depth for each level of user. I suggest every sports league in the world just copy MLB.com's At Bat app. 

[iPhone] [Android] 

5. Grainger: Servicing Core Customers

Grainger sells all manner of industrial supplies, power tools and equipment for builders and contractors. It's been in business since 1927 - but the company obviously understands the importance of technology to support its mission, as its app is great. 

Looking for a highly specific product among thousands of options? Type it or speak it into the search box. You can have the product shipped to you or a nearby store, and track its progress in real-time. You can even get product reviews from other contractors. 

Your shopping cart and data are synched across your computer and smartphone. That's important for contractors who may need to access Grainger from a job site or back at the office. Plus you click-to-call for help, tap for the nearest location,and share purchase/needs lists with co-workers. This app knows what the company's customers need and works hard to fulfill them.

[iPhone] [Android] 

6. Lululemon: A Sense Of Community

Lululemon sells clothes and accessories, primarily for yoga, primarily for women. Its app, Om Finder, is not a shopping app, however. Instead, it focuses on helping users find the nearest and/or best yoga studio, yoga teacher or yoga class. 

The Om Finder app is simple and purposeful. It's all about helping the customer be their best at the thing Lululemon's clothing is best suited for.Users can share tips about a facility or teacher, connect with others through the app and maintain a schedule of their yoga sessions.

Sure, it's not all altruism. Many people who practice yoga are likely to purchase (still more) clothing from Lululemon. This is a smart way for the company to support its business, help its customers and foster a sense of community, all with a single, simple app. Other businesses - not just retailers - should follow Lululemon's lead.

[iPhone only] 

Great Apps Are Everywhere

The shelf life of most apps is not long. The apps listed above, however, all make my life easier, better, happier or more productive - without annoying me, intruding upon my personal space or bombarding me with junk.  

While very different, all these apps offer important lessons in how companies of all types can use mobile applications to please customers, extend their mission and leverage the power of community.