Contact: Ann Hatch
214-378-1819;
ahatch@dcccd.edu
For immediate release — Dec. 16, 2013
News brief
Editors’ note: Screen shots of the phone app and a sample map are attached for your use/reference.
(DALLAS) — An app for this. An app for that. An app for a class. An app for a map. That’s what users will find in a new, free app from the Dallas County Community College District.
The DCCCD app, available for download at no charge from The App Store for Apple users and Google Play for Android owners, gives students, employees and community members the information they need to literally find their way around every college campus in the DCCCD system, search directories for phone numbers, call for help on campus in an emergency and access multiple websites for critical information.
Students who are enrolled in one of the seven colleges in the system, as well as Dallas Colleges Online, also can check on classwork, view grades, look for library books, and even search and bookmark courses through online services geared especially for them: eCampus, eConnect and myPortal.
The new DCCCD app was designed jointly over a two-year period by the Mobile Computing Subcommittee led by Dan Luciani at the district’s R. Jan LeCroy Center for Educational Telecommunications, in conjunction with Blackboard.
An official iPad version is in the planning stages and will be released later.
“Students and community members can find maps, news, events and emergency contact information at their fingertips,” said subcommittee member Jonathan Blundell. “I have already found that the new maps with GPS are really helpful. The maps also have an augmented reality feature you can use if you’re on campus. By holding up the phone and moving it around, the phone actually interprets where you are and then shows you how close you are to other locations on campus.”
App users who want DCCCD news can access RSS feeds for all seven colleges; they also can receive an article-by-article view of each news item, plus the district’s main news feed. The new app provides access to the DCCCD calendar of events, and users have the option of being reminded of or notified about an event.
Users facing an emergency can quick-dial college police dispatch for help.
The app, which was launched in November, is important for several reasons. Blundell said, “It gives you DCCCD services on-the-go and provides you with information that you can use on a daily basis. Users also can find the social networks for all of our colleges as well as ‘shortcuts’ to student services, financial aid and other needs.”
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