What’s the first thing you do when you visit a college campus or begin life as a new student?
Ok, so this depends on what you really want to get out of college…BUT, chances are, one of the first things you’ll do is spend a couple of hours wandering campus to get to know the place.
And here’s the problem. Despite all the maps, guides, walking tours etc. we often just walk around at our own pace, looking around at these amazing buildings, without really having a clue what many of them are, what’s inside them or what any student worth his/her salt should know about them (e.g. did you know you can get a $1 milkshake at the Reynolds Club on Wednesdays and a $10 haircut in the basement).
It can take weeks, months or even years to acquire such precious knowledge (I just found out about the milkshake last week). Wouldn’t it be great if we could get all this know-how on DAY ONE when we’re visiting or settling into a new life on campus?
Solution: College CATs (campus audio tours). A new way to wander around campus and discover all the things you need to know about your surroundings. The audio tours can be downloaded onto your smartphone and are GPS-triggered, meaning that info clips auto-play when you come into the vicinity of, say, the library or the business school.
On receiving the auto-clip, students can swipe to move on or tap to hear more, with maps, photos and text available on screen to supplement the experience. There’s no pre-defined routes to follow, no annoying walking tour you have to commit to, and no paper map or guide you need to keep looking down at. Basically, the student is in control.
Do I have to listen to some boring professional narrator giving me an historical and functional lowdown on every building I pass? No. College CATs are recorded “by students, for students”. All the content is from the people who know best: the students! They are designed to be fun, engaging, interesting and USEFUL!
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