Apps are written by students today

Initiatives like the new LMU Students App show: Students are better at creating digital tools than universities. This shows a systemic challenge.

Universities have no expertise in building apps; they’d rather outsource app development to companies – whose commercial interests compete with the rather boring core features. The resulting apps frequently miss the mark, incorporating recruiting features or advertisements. At Universität Bamberg, we have resisted the urge to cooperate with such app vendors.

We do recognize the untapped potential in our student body. However, student initiatives face significant obstacles. Accessing University information systems is often unnecessarily difficult.

As we develop a new teaching feedback and evaluation app in the upcoming BaKuLe project (Lehrarchitektur call of Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre), I’m interested in exploring better models for university-student collaboration. What frameworks would support student innovation while providing appropriate recognition and compensation (credit / cash)? How can we maintain the agility of student-led development while ensuring institutional sustainability?

These student initiatives deserve more than just applause – we should see them as a chance to improve the digital infrastructure at our university.

This post first appeared on LinkedIn.