Preliminary Mobile Beacon Application Framework for Higher Education Co-Curricular Engagement

Abstract

Mobile beacon application leverages the beacon technology as location-based or proximity sensors to notify or interact with user via mobile apps. There are many instances of these applications especially as an engagement platform across many domains like marketing, retails, exhibitions, or public services. Mobile beacon application holds potential as an engagement tool for empowering co-curricular engagement in higher education. Integrated with personalized mobile notification, users can be notified and interact with co-curricular events within their proximity in the campus. However, literature indicates limited insights on the design applicability and empirical studies of mobile beacon application for higher education context. This new application context poses its own unique challenges, but imperative in helping researchers to discover the extents of mobile beacon potentials. This concept paper introduces a preliminary mobile beacon application framework for supporting co-curricular engagement in higher education. The framework aims to enable design applicability of a mobile beacon application integrated with personalized notification for education engagement purposes. Characterization of mobile beacon application components along with the deliberation of mobile notification features are highlighted in the framework. The presented conceptual framework offers the foundation for application designers in building a mobile beacon application for higher education engagement.