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New Game-Based App Educates Students on Campus Violence, Harassment

Colleges and universities can get U of Nine, a new mobile app that engages students in social trivia games on topics like sexual violence and harassment, for free.

The Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA) is offering colleges and universities one year's free use of a mobile app designed to boost student awareness of campus violence, sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse, as well as increase compliance with Title IX requirements.

The new app, U of Nine, offers students and institution employees the ability to engage in social trivia games on topics like sexual violence, harassment, intimate partner violence and stalking. Administrators can track usage via the app and make use of analytics. The platform is smartphone-based, so that students and employees can access it wherever they are and whenever they want.

U of Nine emphasizes brief learning outcomes in short-form quizzes rather than long, content-laden modules. Taken together, the content is equivalent to a longer course, but in quicker, smaller doses. Each quiz is no more than five questions long, but the hints and explanations that come with each question are where the learning takes place, all in a gaming environment that looks and feels like other apps students enjoy.

Each of the quizzes has been subjected to focus-group feedback from students on pilot site campuses around the country, including community colleges, four-year residential universities and online institutions.

There are six modules now and app maker Trivie plans on having 20 more quizzes available by the end of the year. Topics now available are:

  • Sexual harassment for students;
  • Sexual harassment for employees;
  • Sexual violence;
  • Consent;
  • Bystander engagement; and
  • Reporting and accessing campus resources.

The app will be free to colleges and universities for one year and, beginning with the second year, costs will range from $2 to $4 per student per year (depending on the size of the institution).

ATIXA is an association of college administrators charged with enforcing Title IX regulations, which advance gender equity in education.

"Educational efforts are improving, but more tools are needed to educate students on Title IX," said U of Nine co-founder Lawrence Schwartz. "U of Nine is engaging for students and it's free to the university. It's a total win-win."

About the Author

Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.

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