The current student home page is being replaced by a totally new portal., StudentNET. The portal will present the student with an extended range of facilities as well as easy to use customisation tools.
The technology underpinning the portal is also new. The current StudentNET is effectively a web page that brings together a variety of student related applications and services. The new version of StudentNET will be a true portal that will give the student seamless, authenticated access to relevant services and applications. One advantage of an authenticated portal is that the system will be aware of who the user is and will be able to tailor the facilities presented to match the user’s profile. For example a final year student will not normally be presented with the option to re-enrol for the following session.
The development of the portal is being shared between CIS within the University and an external software supplier. The external company, Ballard Chalmers, has been contracted to provide the portal framework using a product known as ‘Drop Things’. The final version of the work from Ballard Chalmers is due to be delivered at the end of April and will be delivered complete with the university’s styling already incorporated into the framework. The University will develop the content (known as widgets) and this will include a variety of university applications, RSS feeds and some of the more popular social sites (in the first instance Flickr, an image sharing site). Once the framework is delivered CIS will progressively develop and introduce the widgets so that the functionality is incrementally increased. In the case of the student administration functionality, it will be introduced to coordinate with the student calendar. CIS are currently developing a detailed project plan and deliverables map but the mock-up included in this report is a reasonable approximation of the content and appearance of the intended phase 1 deliverables.
The portal will include the concept of an ‘application area’ where those widgets that require a work area will ‘open’ an area of the portal to present the user with additional facilities they need (e.g. the fields to enter if they are changing their address). The portal has a single application area which is shared by those applications that need it. The area is managed, such that if a user tries to use the area for a new application before saving their current work they are warned and given the opportunity to save or continue.
The portal will have a default colour scheme and layout but students who wish to do so will be able to easily modify the appearance of their portal. CIS has consulted extensively with the Marketing Department in order to agree a set of applications and default layout but each widget can easily be dragged into a new position within the framework and the colour scheme will be replaceable by selecting another from a set of available schemes.
CIS are working with selected student focus groups to obtain their perspective on the new development and to obtain the maximum ‘buy-in’ from the users. Once the framework is delivered and stable the focus groups will be invited to use and comment on the new StudentNet. It is planned that as development progresses the number of users will be increased in order to get the maximum input and to stress test the environment with a view to a full release at the end of July.
Want to be part of StudentNET usability testing and be one of the first to be grated access to the new portal? Just let us know.
