Experiences

Below you can see each partner’s experiences of testing the apps:

NESCol experiences, English

VUC  experiences, English
VUC  experiences, Danish

TAKK experiences, English
TAKK experiences, Finnish

Recommendations

NESCol, recommendations:

• • • Ideally, content should be developed to naturally flow from ‘on boarding’ content to content
      that is more focused on supporting academic and study skills to support student achievement. Information,
      access to resources on mental health and wellbeing is crucial. 
    • Co-production with students is vital and a feedback loop on what works well and areas for
       improvement would contribute greatly to the success of the app. With that in mind, time needs to be set aside for
      the development of content. Student engagement and feedback means the app content should not be static or fixed,
      but emergent and responsive, especially as the academic year progresses. 
    • The more relaxed, succinct and friendly the tone of videos, text, advice and information the better. The time taken
      to respond to wellbeing survey data and in the early days of adopting the app, e.g. technical issues is important. Open, honest
      and supportive communication is vital to the success of the app. 
    • The presentation of the app should as far as possible reflect the institution, curriculum are or
      course to foster a sense of belonging. 

VUC, recommendations:

• • • It is important that the app is implemented correctly so all employees at all levels of the
      organization experience the app as a new, useful educational tool.
    • Involved teachers and supervisors should agree on a procedure to meet once a week and
      review the students’ answers to the retention questions for the actual week.
    • It can be an advantage to have staff as a kind of super users on the app who can teach and
      introduce the other employees to the app.
    • Correct introduction and instructions to the app in compliance with the recipients are
      crucial for a successful implementation.
    • The presentation of the app should as far as possibly reflect the institution and the
      education to foster a sense of belonging.
    • Relevant content should be uploaded to the app continuously during the semester in order
      to provide students with important information about their studies.
    • The use of videos content is preferred.
    • Co-production with students is vital and a feedback loop on what works well and areas for
      improvement would contribute greatly to the success of the app.
    • Access to mentors and resources on mental health and wellbeing is crucial.

TAKK, recommendations:

• • • Generally, the more students involved in the development process throughout
      the process, the better the end result.
    • Keep in mind who the app is for, not for the institution but for the students.
    • You should invite more students to the workshops and test groups than needed,
      there are always some who will not participate after all.
    • Collecting honest feedback (perhaps with some incentives) helps focus the
      development on the right track and according to the needs of the students.
    • Keep in touch with the students who are taking part in the development process,
      especially during testing phases. Communicate also for example possible technical
      problems or other obstacles, openness and honesty during the development
      process helps discover and tackle obstacles before the launch day.
    • If possible, design the appearance of the app according to your institution’s
      brand/image (same colours, logos, etc.)
    • For the app content, prefer short videos and short paragraphs of text.
    • Keep the content of the app clear and logical, and focus only on essential contents. Less is more!

FØNIX, recommendations:

• • • Fønix tested the app as part of the project but since our educational organization is different from the “campus model” the other partners have, we decided to develop another more usable model for us.
    • Fønix have two different groups of course participants; one is employees in companies with low basic skills and / or lack of formal competence. The other group are job seekers that receive educational training and / or vocational guidance in one of our departments (6) in the region.
    • For the last target group, we have used elements, content, and inspiration from the project to establish a web-based onboarding program for those of the participants that are attending a course over a longer period. (4 – 16 weeks).
    • Our experience is that this web-based program represents a useful extension and give an expanded perspective on our original project. The most important aspect of the program is:
    • Personalized contact with the students as soon as possible after they are excepted for attending a course.
    • Offer an onboarding program that ensure a good implementation, preparation and motivation before the students start on the course.
    • Individual definitions of personal targets before, throughout and after the course period.
    • Interactive communication and follow up throughout the course period with teachers and counsellors.
    • Giving valuable direction and individual pathways to further education / training.

      FØNIX, Web based onboarding program for students, English