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Mobile phones a matter of course for would-be students
STUDENTS looking to choose their ideal university course can now have all the information they need at their fingertips thanks to a Yorkshire software developer.
Huddersfield University has become the first in the country to allow students to access its prospectus for next year's courses on their mobile phone.
Instead of wading through a thick book listing details of every option anyone interested in an academic course at Huddersfield can now get their questions answered at the touch of a button.
By sending a text message they can receive a scaled- down version of the prospectus through which they can browse to find details about degree courses on offer.
The concept was developed by a former student at the university who has now launched his own software development company in the town.
Phil Mundy, the 26-year-old managing director of Creative North, said: "Huddersfield University is pioneering this. If a student has a question about a course at Huddersfield they can have it answered very quickly by having the prospectus pinged to their phone.
"The university has also got one eye on its carbon footprint and it will save a lot of paper if instead of sending out a weighty tome they can send the information out to people's phones."
The idea to create a prospectus downloadable to a phone came from Creative North, which is now exploring whether the service can be tailored during clearing to allow students to find out how many places are available on a particular course.
The new prospectus will be promoted later this month in a television advert for Huddersfield University featuring a voiceover by its chancellor, Patrick Stewart.
The university's director of marketing and communication, Jenny Grainger, said: "We always want to be able to give information to potential students in whatever way is most convenient for them. For the cost of a text they can get details on every one of our courses."
Mr Mundy said: "As long as you have a reasonably up-to-date phone you will be able to receive the prospectus simply by texting the word 'Hud' to phone number 60505.
"Huddersfield University has been a great opportunity to pilot the project but the idea is to roll out to other universities and not just in the UK."
The style of the prospectus was developed by Creative North after it held focus groups with young people to see what particular information they wanted to be able to access through their phones.
The company, based in Northumberland Street, Huddersfield, was set up in 2004 and develops computer games for mobiles.
Its other products for mobiles include games such as Subbuteo Mobile and a DSA Driving Theory test.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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