UW-Oshkosh computer science students take mobile apps from ideas to market

Students in CS 344: Mobile Application Development at UW-Oshkosh display the four mobile apps they designed for real campus and community clients during the fall 2025 semester. Two of the apps are already available in the Apple AppStore, marking a first for the course.

Students in a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh computer science course didn't just design apps. They launched them.

In the computer science course Mobile Application Development, students spent the fall 2025 semester working with real campus and community clients to create fully functional mobile applications. Two of the four projects are now available in the Apple App Store, marking a first for the course and highlighting the impact of applied learning at UW-Oshkosh.

Four student teams spent the semester working with real stakeholders, gathering user requirements, troubleshooting technical challenges, learning new development tools and refining their designs through feedback. The projects culminated on the final day of the semester, when students presented their completed apps to clients, faculty and campus leaders.

Learning Beyond the Lecture

Michael Rogers, assistant professor of computer science and instructor for CS 344, said working with real clients fundamentally changes how students experience software development.

"When our students go out into the workforce, they will almost always be developing software for somebody else," Rogers said. "Working with external clients within a university course gives them the opportunity to experience that in a relatively low-pressure situation, where they can get guidance and a sympathetic hearing if things go awry."

Beyond coding, Rogers said the course emphasizes skills that are difficult to teach through traditional lectures.

"They learn, first and foremost, how to work in teams," he said. "That's a difficult skill to master, and the only way to learn it is through practice. They also learn how to gather user requirements and hone the communication skills necessary to work with external clients."

That emphasis showed in the fall semester. Rogers noted that the quality of the apps and the cohesion of the teams stood out.

"The quality of the apps was higher than I've seen previously, and the teams were more cohesive," he said.

From Concept to App Store

The semester also marked a first for the course.

"This is the first time that student-created apps have gotten into the App Store or Google Play," Rogers said. "Two of them have been published, one is a shoo-in once testing is complete, and I have hope for the fourth."

The four apps developed during the fall 2025 semester include:

• PlanIt, an app enabling UW-Oshkosh student organization leaders to publicize events and manage outreach
  • Learn French, an app designed to support UW-Oshkosh French language students
  • Care Tracker, a reporting and progress-tracking system for UW-Oshkosh nursing students
  • Oshkosh Museum App, a virtual tour app created for the Oshkosh Public Museum

Two of the apps-PlanIt and Learn French-are already available in the Apple App Store. Teams behind the remaining projects said they plan to continue refining and testing their apps with the goal of bringing them fully to market.

Interdisciplinary Impact

Seon Yoon Chung, dean of the College of Nursing, Health Professions and STEM, attended the final presentations and said the projects reflected the interdisciplinary direction of the college.

"It was inspiring to observe the creativity and technical expertise demonstrated by students," Chung said. "Their projects reflect not only innovation but also meaningful connections to our campus and community."

From health care reporting tools to language learning platforms and cultural engagement apps, Chung said the projects showcased collaboration across disciplines.

"These presentations showcase the interdisciplinary spirit that defines the College of Nursing, Health Professions and STEM," she said.

A Tool for Nursing Students

One of the projects, Care Tracker, was developed in collaboration with the School of Nursing and Health Professions. Kathy Elertson, professor and nursing director, worked closely with the student team throughout the semester.

"Working with the computer science students on the development of the nursing app has been a remarkable journey," Elertson said. "The collaboration combined clinical expertise with technical skill to create a prototype that is user-friendly and accurate, with strong potential for success."

The team met with nursing faculty multiple times during the semester to refine the app's functionality. While Care Tracker still requires beta testing, Elertson said she is optimistic about its future use.

"We are hopeful it will be a useful tool for our students in the near future," she said.

Student Perspectives

For students, the experience went far beyond a typical class project.

Senior Damian Johnson who is from Waupaca, who worked on the Learn French app, said seeing the app accepted into the Apple App Store was surreal.

"It was almost like Christmas morning," Johnson said. "I was expecting a rejection or two, but when I saw it was approved, I was mind-blown."

Johnson said the biggest challenge was learning to integrate external tools such as Firebase and Docker, skills he expects to use after graduation.

Senior Dominic Hagedorn, a Fond du Lac native worked on the Oshkosh Museum App, He said the challenge was narrowing down features to what would be most useful for museum visitors.

"There's so much you could include," Hagedorn said. "Breaking it down into exactly what would be most useful for the museum was the hardest part."

Junior Krystal Schneider of Oakfield, who worked on Care Tracker, said coordinating a five-person development team was a learning experience in itself.

"Seeing everything work together between the website and the mobile app was impressive," Schneider said. "It wasn't easy, but it was less painful than I expected."

Senior Ethan Tramell, whose team developed PlanIt for the Black Student Union, said the project changed how he sees his work as a computer science major.

"You can actually create things and have an impact," said Tramell, who is from Oswego, Illinois. "That's the best part of this major."

A Lasting Mark

For Rogers, the goal extends beyond a successful semester.

"I hope the clients will be able to use their apps in their daily lives and be inspired to participate in the creation of other apps in the future," he said.

For students, the experience has already left a lasting mark.

"You can actually point to something and say, 'I built that,'" Johnson said. "That's a powerful thing to take with you after graduation."

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