More than just a campus
More than just a campus, the University of Oklahoma is known for its outstanding academics, perfecting the Sooner Experience and offering diverse one-of-a-kind programs. With over 30,000 undergraduate students calling its massive, beautiful 3,000 acre campus home each year, and with a strong reputation to maintain as one of the top 10 most “Wired” campuses in the nation, it’s no surprise the University Board considered a modern solution when investing in student feedback to enhance campus life.
Sourcing feedback on a campus of 30,000 students
When the OU Board made the decision to improve the campus experience for students, they quickly realized something was missing – student input. How could the Board determine key student issues if they didn’t have their student’s opinions?
Rather than simply soliciting feedback once, the Board wanted to create a culture of feedback on campus. They wanted students to voice their opinions on everything from daily lunch menus in the cafeteria to textbook inventory at the Campus Book Store.
By creating a culture of feedback, the board would be able to use regular student feedback to shape the future of new students’ University experience, and decided to do so by deploying interactive, digital kiosks campus-wide, asking students their opinions on various campus issues.
One key aspect of this feedback project was the use of attractive kiosks that would meet student expectations of an interactive experience on one of America’s most wired campuses, and so the Information Technology Team began looking for free standing tablet kiosk enclosures and found a few options.
Backlit, multipurpose digital kiosks meet the needs of a “wired” campus
“The options we originally found would do the job but they were by no means elegant or sleek. When I found Armodilo, I was blown away by the branding ability and look” says Glenn J. Hansen, Ph.D., Data Scientist, University of Oklahoma.
The University immediately placed an order for 1 Aura to test as an iPad feedback kiosk. The Information Technology team instantly decided this was the best solution for their needs and placed an order for 20 more.
With a fleet of attractive, multipurpose student feedback kiosks ready to roll out, the next step was to determine how to best engage students in a way that suggested campus culture was about to change. After much brainstorming, a student-run team was put together to become Campus Feedback Ambassadors. Every week, the Campus Feedback Ambassadors hand out OU swag at each kiosk, encouraging students to fill out the feedback form to better their campus experience.
The results
The University of Oklahoma’s new culture of feedback has become a smashing success. There are 12 Aura deployed across campus, with another 8 to be launched by Summer 2016. Each week, 1,500 students visit the kiosk and fill out a feedback form.
“The kiosks have changed the culture of our University!” says Kris Glenn, Marketing Team, University of Oklahoma, “The units can easily be moved, they are lightweight yet sturdy, and the students love them.”
Better yet, UO’s administration has already used feedback gained from their new Armodilo interactive tablet kiosks to effect meaningful, student-driven change on campus.
In one case, one of the largest classrooms on UO campus was well-known to have uncomfortable seating installed. Thanks to information gained through the kiosks, UO students successfully petitioned for the seating in this room being completely updated and improved.
In another case, feedback from the kiosks were how administration found a way to accommodate the large number of University of Oklahoma students who use skateboards to get around campus and get to class. A number of campus walkways which were in such poor condition that they had become dangerous to skateboarders have already been re-paved, and the rest of the walkways will be completed soon.
The future
With just a small investment, University of Oklahoma administrators have successfully instituted a culture of feedback on campus, engaging 1,500 students weekly with a friendly, useable interactive tablet experience that has already meaningfully transformed campus life for the better.
“Our technology store is using the original Aura we ordered. When a student needs to have their computer serviced, they check in or out using the kiosk. It’s a perfect solution!” says Glenn.
With even the technology store on board with the Armodilo Aura, thanks to its easy brandability making it an attractive solution for many interactive contexts, the Information Technology and Marketing departments alike are looking at new ways to use interactive tablet-powered kiosks to improve the student experience.
