Insight: your own personal to-do list

University of San Diego is launching a new app to help organize student schedules

KAITLIN GOODHART
FEATURE EDITOR
BROOKLYN DIPPO
ASST.FEATURE EDITOR
and
ELISABETH SMITH
CONTRIBUTOR

Staying organized in college can become stressful at times when it comes to staying on top of and managing all of your tasks. With classes, jobs, and involvement on campus, University of San Diego students seem to always be on the go and busy. To help students with this problem, the USD Mobile Team has created a new app called Insight, that will presumably help students manage their lives.
Insight is a task management and scheduler app that is designed to help organize USD students’ assignments, grades, class schedule, and extra activities on campus. The app is directly  linked to the MySanDiego Portal, allowing access to student class schedules and Blackboard. All of the information you were able to find on Blackboard is now accessible in the app, making it easy for students to plan around their class schedules.
A major difference in the MySDMobile is that it was designed to help students keep track of their class schedule and get in contact with their professors and peers. The app also gives students access to an interactive GPS map of USD.
Although the new Insight app is a custom built to-do list, the app does not replace the MySDMobile app, released in August 2009. Insight does not allow students to look at their class rosters to see who is in their class or check the tram schedules like MySDMobile does.
However, this new app is seen to complement MySDMobile by allowing students to add in other activities and events to their schedule, rather than just having access to their set class dates and times. Insight is every student’s personalized to-do list with everything in one place.
The app is currently in beta mode and is being tested by USD students that are a part of the Beta Test Program, that any student can sign up for. Sophomore Daniel Sykora, a beta tester for Insight and finds the interface very easy to work with.
“It works as a well-developed app,” Skyora said. “Everyone wants a good way to organize, and this integrates everything you need from your portal into one app.”
“I used to never use a planner,” Skyora said. “But now Insight allows me to have good time management. It’s the most efficient way for me to schedule my time. It does certain things that MySDMobile can’t do like planning out homework.”
Insight engineers have high hopes for this app’s future. Although the beta mode app does not have club or organization schedules included, there is the option for this feature to be added in if the app takes off.
“I could see them adding clubs and organizations to the app,” Skyora said. “If popularity will pick up they’ll want to work to get others involved. It all depends on marketing. And if this is anything like the MySDMobile, everyone on campus will be using it soon.”
One of the highlight features Insight offers is the ability to plan out students’ homework and assignments. Insight allows professors to upload their daily, weekly, or semester long homework assignments. Notifications can be set up in the app to remind a student to add in their homework right after class.
What separates Insight from any other to-do list in the App Store, is its ability to synchronize your school schedule, homework assignments, and outside of class activities. Insight is unique and only available to the USD community.
Our generation is the founder of social media, constantly engaged with our phones. To have a to-do list in the palm of your hand that is customized to your own schedule, will help students gain a balance in the stressful college environment
Sophomore Kellie Cable is always penciling in reminders in her planner to help keep an organized schedule.
“I am a firm believer in having a planner to keep all of my assignments and schedules organized,” Cable said. “But sometimes a professor will shout out the homework for the night after you have packed up and you forget to write it down in your next class. I think Insight can help with that problem and keep me just as organized as my planner.”
Students who are not a part of the beta test program have also heard about Insight around campus. Senior Taylor Kam is intrigued by organization features the app has to offer.
“Insight would definitely help me to stay organized with classes, work, set reminders, meetings, and other activities especially with my involvement at school,” Kam said. “The app would essentially make everything easier it it’s all in one place rather than writing things down or reaching out to different sources to get everything I need to get done.”
Insight’s launch event will be held on Tuesday March 3, from 3-5 p.m. in O’Toole’s, allowing early access to students who attend. Registration for the event is free and beverages and appetizers will be served. The first 100 attendees will receive a limited edition Insight gift.