Though students often bemoan Georgetown’s patchy wireless Internet, Georgetown is making strides to keep pace with today’s online trends — and it has been rewarded.
StudentAdvisor.com recently placed Georgetown 58th on its list of “Top 100 Social Media Colleges.” The website, geared towards college-bound students, describes, ranks and compares over 6,000 colleges. It cited Georgetown’s use of the iTunes U application, which allows the university to post lectures, lab demonstrations and other course material online, as a factor in the high ranking.
“Georgetown just revamped its iTunes U audio and video presence, now it just needs fresh content,” according to the website.
For students, the iTunes U application, available along with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Foursquare and Flickr links, increases Georgetown’s 21st century appeal.
Denis Peskov (SFS ’14) believes that in the future, prospective students will check out the new media available and let it play an even greater role of the college decision process.
“When I was applying to Georgetown I didn’t think to look at the school’s Facebook page or anything,” Peskov said. “But I think that now prospective students have such a greater variety of ways to be exposed to the school.”
On Dec. 3 the university unveiled a new website with a homepage redesigned for the first time since 2002. Associate Vice President for Communications Julie Bataille discussed the features the website offers.
“The new website responds to what we heard our users want — clear navigational pathways, more rich media, ways to engage with Georgetown online and information based on topic rather than organizational structure,” Bataille said.
For smartphone users, the university’s mobile website offers quick access to news and events, the Georgetown directory and the Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle schedule.
Other technological leaps include President John J. DeGioia’s Facebook and video posts of speakers and notable on-campus events on Georgetown’s Web page. New Student Orientation also has a comprehensive online guide to getting adjusted to Georgetown.
However, Georgetown lags behind the many schools ranked higher on StudentAdvisor.com’s list. Columbia University, which ranked seventh, offers two social media directories of alumni and current students and faculty.
Columbia freshman Lucas Rehaut praised the comprehensiveness of his school’s online resources, but felt that their organization could be improved.
“Columbia’s social media isn’t as centralized as I think it should be, but there are sites for virtually everything you need: CourseWorks for classes, Columbia’s student blog or Facebook pages for almost every major club on campus,” Rehaut said. “There’s something online for everything, it’s just sometimes tricky to find.”
Georgetown students have recently begun calling attention to the ways in which the university is trailing behind in technological advancements. Georgetown University Technology Awareness 2011 started as a class project but has turned into an open forum for students to express their need for more innovative technology.
It seeks “to highlight the glaring technological deficiencies at Georgetown,” according to the organization’s blog.
While they must wait for improved wi-fi and better online resources, students can like Jack the Bulldog’s Facebook page right now.
