Thursday, January 24, 2013

Needing help to develop smartphone apps for the Australian College of Midwives

One of the things that really stands out to me, working with midwives in Australia, is how "mobile" they are. They do not have the time to sit around for ages glued to a computer, but they do like to access information, resources and services via their smart phones. Consequently, I have been thinking about what services and resources the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) can provide to midwives via smart phone apps.

What could be turned into apps?
Needless to say, there are any number of resources that could be turned into apps for midwives from straight forward pieces of information, such as the Midwifery Guidelines for Consultation & Referral, to more interactive activities such as the recording of CPD straight into the midwife's MPR portfolio system.

Making your own apps?
I know there is software available on the Internet that allows you to make your own apps, such as TheAppBuilder, but to be honest, I do not have the time these days to investigate or "play" with development. But at the same time, the ACM  are getting an increasing number of requests from midwives for  "mobilize" itself.

Student project
What I was thinking was that developing some apps for the Australian College of Midwives would be a nice project for IT students. So, if you know of any lecturers in the university or tafe sector who might be interested in working with us, please let me know.

Have you ever made your own apps? What software did you use, and what tips would you pass on? Have you come across any apps that would be relevant and useful for midwives?

Image: 'Make the Call'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035555243@N01/296372880
Found on flickrcc.net

2 comments:

Leigh Blackall said...

I think, by the time any organisation arrives at the present, it will be the past, so they might be better aiming for the near future. What near future? Apps are dead. Websites are designed to be not only mobile friendly, but mobile ready. No more producing and distributing app updates, just update the website and the rest follows. Now, at this point my agitation behind to boil. What is the most used information reference site on the Web? I mean, the most by far! Both by midwives and the parents they aim to help. It links out to research evidence, and where it doesn't, I blame the sector for their lack of foresight in not simply clicking the edit button. It links out to YouTube, and where there is no YT content, again I blame the sector. and it just so happens that Wikipedia, Books, Commons, News, Versity and so on are all mobile ready. Further, if you check Wikimedia's blog recently, offline viewing is developing in Central Africa, as is multilingual support. Oh, and Youtube is mobile ready. Just imagine if your college collaborated with us at LaTrobe in contributing content to these platforms? Not only did we cut out a massive overhead, but we significantly ramped up our capacity (language, support, upkeep and more), and reach.

Sarah Stewart said...

Good point about the website issue, Leigh. We are currently looking at new software etc for our website and one of our specifications is that it is compatible for mobile devices. I must admit, I was thinking the other day that we should be using YOuTube a lot more than we are doing. You've given me food for thought-thanks Leigh.