College tries GPS-assisted self-tour
By Jack Gillum
USA Today
Come fall, some college tour guides will have software for brains.
Gannett News Service
It's not quite a scene from I, Robot, but Arizona State University is providing an alternative to standard tour guides on its 700-acre desert campus: handheld GPS-assisted tours that use satellite-guided technology to help prospective students and their families find their way around.
Nancy Neff, left, and Megan Keenan take a walking tour of the Arizona State University campus using handheld personal digital assistants and global positioning system technology.
The PDA-style devices, with their bright color displays, know when users get to designated "hot spots" and point out nearby buildings and activities. The system, weighing in at just a few ounces, weaves in recorded audio scripts — broadcast to users via wireless headphones — from upbeat students who share anecdotes about the university.
The GPS (global positioning system) tour is just one example of innovations schools are offering to woo increasingly tech-savvy students:
• At Boston University, prospective communications students who use AOL Instant Messenger can now send an instant message to the Office of Student Services (user name: comstudentserv) in addition to contacting the school by phone, letter or e-mail.
• The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia offers new students an online community, dubbed "Pennster," where they can search other new students' user profiles, see who's in their dorm, and "meet" in online chat rooms before arriving on campus.
Positive reaction has been "overwhelming," says spokeswoman Julie McWilliams; more than 1,900 students — about 75 percent of the freshman class — are signed-up.
• The University of Dayton (Ohio) features "Wendy," a fictional student who stars in her own reality-based Web show about a new student's experiences, part of the university's Virtual Orientation program.
Colleges today need to appeal to students' love of technology — to kids, the Internet is "the fundamental equivalent of electricity," says Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which tracks Net use in the United States.
ASU spokeswoman Carolyne Kennedy says its GPS tour has a "very broad appeal" to students who grew up with the Internet and find typical Web-based campus tours old news.
Among the benefits: Visitors aren't tethered to a tour group, and they can set their own pace, ducking into air-conditioned buildings whenever they choose. Also, smaller groups can have more flexibility in scheduling, says Tim Desch, undergraduate admissions dean.
