Reformed Theological Seminary Engages Students

Creating an app with Subsplash has allowed RTS to deliver their professor’s lectures to online students, house all of their chapel messages, and share audio content from lecturers all over the country. After exhausting several different ideas, Jason Garvey, the Instructional Designer at Reformed Theological Seminary, was excited to find the optimal solution for delivering content to their online students.

The Subsplash Platform stood out to Jason because of its multi-faceted ability to meet their organization’s needs. Not only were they excited to have all of their media hosted in one place, they could easily stream lectures and add blog content in the Subsplash Dashboard that could be instantly accessed by anyone, on any device! With over 75,000 downloads and 3.5 million impressions, the app continues to be widely adopted by the Reformed Theological Seminary community. 

Besides benefiting from the high-quality media experience, the team at RTS loves to take advantage of push notifications, especially when they’ve needed to send out school-wide urgent alerts. 

At first the team behind the RTS app had a "if we build it they will come" mentality, but after a while they realized the classroom was the perfect platform for students to be redirected to the app, and professors realized that pointing their students towards their own content was a great way to reinforce the learning process. Some professors have even promoted the app by putting app info on the bulletin boards in their classrooms.

"We've been able to deliver entire courses to online students. It's critical to us functioning in online education."

Students in the classroom benefit greatly from the app, but for remote students, the value is unprecedented. Having professor's lectures at their disposal, almost immediately after it is given, is a luxury that sets many remote students up for success.

Reformed Theological Seminary has leveraged mobile technology to enhance their online student's education experience, giving other educators and teaching institutions a great example of how to fuel their mission with a customized mobile app!

Download the app here!

3 Ways to Build Community with a School App

Out of all of the awesome things that we help our clients do through their apps, something that gets us really excited is providing an avenue for more robust community. We love seeing relationships get stronger and go deeper through the tools that our clients include in their apps. With that said, we want to share a few more reasons why getting an app can benefit your school.

1. Foster Community with Families

To help families feel that the school their children go to is more than just an institution, many of our clients have included prayer groups in their app for support and encouragement.

You also have the option to upload any media from chapel’s or other gatherings that parents can listen to throughout the week and discuss with their children, which can provide even more opportunities for parents to engage with their children about what they are learning.

2. Bridge the Gap between Parents and Staff

For some families, the communication gap between what happens at home and what happens at school can be hard to navigate. With a mobile app from Subsplash, you can help narrow that gap a little bit more by keeping parents in the know and engaging students.

By including great features like new staff information and profiles, and even important school-wide alerts for safety concerns, you can give the families at your school an even greater feeling of community and a greater sense of appreciation for how you are helping shape their children’s lives.

3. Engage your Community

With kids spending the majority of their day at school, and many parents being heavily involved in the activities at their children’s schools, having an app can be a great resource for parents and children who want to stay connected throughout the week.

With tabs for things like blogs, newsletters, and Bible reading plans, students and parents can stay in-the-know about important updates and announcements. There is even an option to include details about school lunches.

We would love to help you get started with your own School App! Contact us today to get more information and build an app for your school.

3 Ways to Improve Communication with a School App

It’s hard to believe, but the weather is cooling down, school supplies are lining the displays at major department stores, and another school year is fast-approaching. In fact, for some, classes have already started and another academic year is in full swing.

In a previous post we discussed the value of building an app for your school by providing some compelling statistics about the relationship between mobile devices and education. In the first part of this two part series we want to take a look at some additional benefits of signing up for an app from a communication and community perspective:

1. Get Important Info in Front of Parents

The first days and weeks of a new school year can be a chaotic time for many parents as they try to set their children up for success by preparing them for everything from wearing the right outfit, to coming to class with the right colored markers.

A study by the National Education Association shows that student achievement is directly correlated to parent involvement, so with great tab features like supply lists, dress code information, and notifications of important parent/teacher meetings, creating an app can help parents stay connected with their school like never before.

2. Share School-Wide Events

Events can play an important part in the culture of any school; but keeping up with all of the athletic events, volunteer opportunities, and the like can be overwhelming and confusing.

A custom app for your school will make your newsletter and events available front and center on mobile devices. Smartphone users spend 85% of their time in apps, which gives you an opportunity to meet your community where they are at.

3. Share your Content (and Save Money!)

Having a blog or newsletter right in your app will save you the extra dollars it takes to create and print them out for families who want to stay in the know. It also removes the hassle of taking the time to send them out.

For private schools, we've provided a convenient "Giving" tab that can act as a reminder for parents that they have the option to support the school by donating.

Stay tuned for the second part of this School App series: 3 Ways to Build Community with a School App.