In fact, Educationse.com reports that, “Approximately 35% of students who enter college
will drop out during the first year.” As
a result, universities are faced with a
difficult task – to provide support
services that help first-year students successfully transition to college life.
Text message communication is one method universities can use to connect with their students.
SendTree allows universities and teachers to send one group text message to all of their students. By investing in a technology that directly engages students on their mobile phones, universities can provide different types of support for their students.
Text Important News to Students:
- Deadline reminders - scheduling dates, final withdrawal, advising appointments, etc.
- Weather alerts - winter advisories or tornado warnings
- Campus events - Social, cultural, and educational campus-wide activities
- Acceptance notifications - use SendTree to notify students via email and text of their acceptance
- Support Services – notify students of the free services available to them like counseling and tutoring sessions (an efficient way to target first year students)
Lecturers, take part in this rapport too
One of the biggest differences between high school and college
is the study habits. College students are expected to do much of their studying independently. Professors can use group text to promote
learning outside of the classroom.
Text has successfully been used abroad to
motivate students. An article by Jayde Cahir, Elaine Huber, Boris
Handal, Justin Dutch and Mark Nixon titled, Using
text messaging to support student transition to university study, found
that:
In Japan, students studying English at university were sent, three times a day, new vocabulary and the use of each word in multiple contexts. These “mini-lessons”…indicated a constructive learning outcome as 93% responded positively when asked if it was a valuable teaching method and 89% wished to continue learning via the mobile phone (Thornton & Houser 2004).
SendTree = Seamless Integration
A group text messaging
service, like SendTree, is a simple, inexpensive way to
share important news with students. Introducing group text to students is easy because text is already a part of their everyday lives. The Pew Research
Internet Project shows that young adults between the ages 18 and 24 send
and receive more texts than any other age group. So, why not get started today? Get ahead of the curve and update your university with SendTree.
Thornton, P. & Houser, C. 2004, ‘Using mobile phones in education’, The 2nd IEEE International Workshop on
Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education (WMTE’04), IEEE Computer Society, Vaxjo, Sweden.
Cahir, Jayde, Elaine Huber, Boris Handal, Justin Dutch, and Mark Nixon. "Using Text Messaging to Support
Student Transition to University Study." Http://journals.sfu.ca/. Study-MATE, 1 Nov. 2012. Web.
Smith, Aaron. "Americans and Text Messaging." Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS.
Pew Research, 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 31 Aug. 2014.
"Percent of First Year College Dropout Students: The Reasons Students Drop Out." Percent of First Year
College Dropout Students: The Reasons Students Drop Out. Educationse, n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2014.
