Gamified learning app named finalist in higher education awards
In Summary
- Quitch mobile learning app named finalist in Australian Financial Review higher education awards
- Trials of the app show improvement in student performance and course retention
- Winners announced on 29 August
A Swinburne-designed mobile learning app created to engage students by prompting them to answer course-based quiz questions has been shortlisted as a finalist in the prestigious 2017 Australian Financial Review Higher Education Awards.
The Quitch app was an initiative of Swinburne senior accounting lecturer and CEO of Quitch, Dr Grainne Oates, who saw the app as a creative way to engage students by tapping into their smart phone “addiction”.
By reminding students to answer quiz questions based on their coursework, the app is designed to both help students improve their grades and provide real-time analytics to lecturers on the student’s progress.
Swinburne trials of the app have shown a significant improvement in student retention rates and course performance.
Dr Oates developed the Quitch app with Dean of Swinburne’s Law School, Professor Dan Hunter, an expert on gamification in education.
“We are incredibly proud to be nominated for the AFR Higher Education Awards,” Professor Hunter said.
“Our platform is a testament to the innovation ecosystem that Swinburne has created, and we could never have been such a success so quickly without the support of the entire university.”
Quitch was launched with $50,000 seed funding from Swinburne with a further $350,000 raised from private investors. The university receives royalties from licensing fees.
Quitch is now in use in a number of universities across Australia, as well as in the corporate sector for compliance and training. A new partnership with Wiley Australia to deliver Wiley’s educational content has recently been announced.
The mobile learning platform also won the American Accounting Association’s 2017 award for Innovation in Accounting Education and the Mobility Innovation of the Year and Startup of the Year awards at the Victorian iAwards.
Now in their third year, the prestigious Australian Financial Review higher education awards recognise innovation and achievement in Australia's higher education sector. The winners will be announced on 29 August.