Campus Portals: Beyond the Bulletin Board
Portals are taking college campuses by storm, unifying academic communities
through their high level of customizability, scalability, and interactivity.
Everyone—freshmen, faculty, staff, and alumni—now relies on the portal
to both push and pull information. Offering enterprise level connectivity with
a personal touch, portals have rapidly become one of those technologies no one
can imagine having done without.
Below we profile some of the major portal developers who are active in the
higher education market. Although there are variations in the particular suite
offered by each of the vendors profiled here, all offer at least a minimum of
institutional customization, campus communication, course management, and personalization
of page content.
Angel
CyberLearning Labs offers Angel, an easy-to-use, practical course management
and collaboration portal solution. Angel is designed so that instructors with
little or no training can quickly develop online course materials, exercises,
and tests, pulling in material from Word and PowerPoint, or other applications
as needed.
Normal and advanced modes accommodate all levels of user experience. In addition
to its course management functions, Angel also serves as a portal and communication
tool. Users can customize their Web space with bookmarks, calendars, and task
lists. School-wide, group, and individual posting options are inherent in the
package.
With Angel 5.0, released in April 2002, the portal framework has been greatly
expanded to enable easy customization of the portal environment. Individual
users can add, rearrange or remove information components, or “data nuggets”,
that the system administrator has made available to them. A nugget can be information
(e.g., news, announcements, etc) or access to an application such as access
the student information system. These customization actions are as simple as
clicking the desired nuggets and specifying the location on the screen.
Angel portal security is role-based, meaning that different users have privileges
and limits determined by their role. Nuggets can be customized based on this
role information. The systems administrator has the ability to add a custom
nugget easily by registering it with the Angel portal and specifying which roles
may have access to it. New nuggets can be easily developed using the Angel Portal
Programmer’s Guide and application Program interface. Contact: CyberLearning
Labs, Indianapolis, In.; (317) 860-3810; www.cyberlearninglabs.com.
Blackboard Community Portal
Developed to completely integrate campus communities and stakeholders—from
students to faculty to alumni—the Blackboard Community Portal allows campus
administrators to bring academic, e-commerce, administrative, and community
services online.
Part of Blackboard Version 5, the portal features a modular architecture that
supports tens of thousands of users and thousands of courses; an open architecture
that supports third-party learning applications, interfaces, and system services
to seamlessly interact with the Blackboard platform; and Blackboard’s course
management system, which offers course and content authoring tools, an assessment
engine, and synchronous and asynchronous collaboration tools, as well as other
applications.
Users enter the portal by clicking on one of the tabs, which replicate the
look of file folder tabs. These tabs take the user to one of six areas: the
My Institution entry page, Courses, Community, Institutional Services, Academic
Web Resources, or Web Services.
Blackboard’s portal offers role-defined views, which customize the content
based on each user’s profile, whether that person is a student, prospective
student, alumnus, or professor. There are seven possible profiles in Blackboard
5.5. Along with those role-defined views, users get customized links and bookmarks,
drawn from a list of available modules.
There are more than 100 out-of-the-box modules available from Blackboard. Institutions
can also create up to 14 institution-specific modules, 2 for every user role.
The portal offers Web-based e-mail access as well. The Blackboard Community
Portal can be integrated with both the Blackboard Transaction System and the
Blackboard Learning System. Contact: Blackboard, Washington, D.C.; (800) 424-9299;
www.blackboard.com.
CampusCruiser
CampusCruiser from Datatel promotes the exchange of information among all participants
in college life through e-mail, bulletin boards, class management, campus and
personal calendars, faculty-to-student chat, and classroom chat. CampusCruiser
and Colleague come fully integrated.
When CampusCruiser portal and Colleague are deployed together, the result is
a secure Web-based environment that integrates the data from Colleague with
the portal technology to provide increased online service and access to the
entire campus community through a single log-in.
Students can check their course syllabus, register for classes, drop classes,
print a copy of their class schedule, share files, and chat with other students
and faculty through the secure gateway using the secure log-in. Contact: Datatel,
Fairfax, Va.; (703) 968-3342; www.datatel.com.
Campus Pipeline
Campus Pipeline’s portal product is embedded within its Luminis Platform
II, a unified suite of infrastructure, application, and portal elements that
combine to provide a solid framework for campus digital activities. The portal
features provided in the Luminis Platform II create an online environment that
can be customized by every member of the campus community.
Compatible with the JA-SIG uPortal framework, a common portal reference framework,
these features include the ability of users to turn almost any Web-based information
or application into an information “channel” accessible through the
campus portal; a publish and subscribe channel model, which enables constituents
to create and subscribe to information channels of their choice through the
campus portal; and a variety of customization and personalization features,
which enable end users to select the channels they wish to view, determine where
the channels will be situated in their version of the portal, and create personal
channels. Contact: Campus Pipeline, Salt Lake City, Utah; (801) 485-6000; www.campuspipeline.com.
eCollege CampusPortal
eCollege’s CampusPortal replicates the interactive and community aspects
that students and faculty experience on a traditional campus in the online environment.
As part of eCollege’s suite of Campus Solutions, CampusPortal serves as
a comprehensive digital campus. Schools can purchase the entire portal solution,
or buy separate module packages to create a custom digital campus. The packages
are a portal calendar package, community package, Web access package, and alumni
package.
Administrators can integrate CampusPortal with eCollege Teaching Solutions,
as well as with other administrative applications. Administrators have complete
control over the creation and editing of content within their institution-branded
portal. They can also personalize content based on role/user group, targeting
unique messages to specific groups, including alumni.
CampusPortal gives faculty and students access to all online courses and course
supplements, as well as online interaction and information sharing outside of
the courseware through study groups, tutoring services, and clubs. It also provides
Web access to headline news, personal stock portfolios, and other online resources.
Students and faculty can organize their information on the home page, and integrate
all individual course calendars and personal items into one master calendar,
with color-coding and customizable features to identify courses and activities.
The calendar is downloadable to a PDA. Contact: eCollege, Denver, Colo.; (888)
884-7325; www.ecollege.com.
Jenzabar Higher Education Portal
The Jenzabar portal offers an individually-tailored portal experience to each
user. Each time a user logs in, the Jenzabar application pulls the relevant
information from registration systems, professors’ Web pages, the Internet,
e-mail systems, and other school-specific resources. So, each user receives
information specific to his or her needs and interests.
Communication features include e-mail, private chat, course bulletin board
discussions, customized posting, and a simple-to-use personal profile section.
For the instructor, Jenzabar has created easy custom course Web pages that don’t
require any knowledge of code or computer languages. There’s a nifty handout
section for delivering material in many different media to students, and a feature
that posts syllabi changes daily. There are organizational tools as well, including
a resume builder, portfolio center, calendar, Web page builder, and travel resource
center.
The Jenzabar portal can function as a stand-alone smart portal with LMS capabilities
or as part of certain integrated Jenzabar ERP systems. Institutions can purchase
modules that will allow authorized users to access appropriate administrative
functionality, such as Registration, Degree Audit, Advising, and directories,
through the Web. Contact: Jenzabar, Cambridge, Mass.; (617) 492-9099; www.jenzabar.net.
Oracle 9iAS Portal
Oracle’s 9iAS portal was designed for enterprise situations and is applicable
to higher education, government, and nonprofit environments.
It offers high-end
features and customizability. Wizards and page templates make page design, editing,
customizing, and organizing material, easy, requiring no knowledge of HTML,
coding, or editing of configuration files. The portal is customizable to particular
constituent groups, but administrators can control the amount of tinkering and
customization by users.
Page content can include both portlets (re-usable components that expose an
underlying information source) and content items (individual pieces of content-text,
image, hyperlink, etc.-that reside on a page). Administrators and designers
can configure the page structure with both wired and wireless hardware in mind.
The portal engine is deployed on Oracle 9iAS Containers for J2EE, for maximum
performance. Contact: Oracle Corp, Redwood Shores, Calif.; (650) 506-7000; www.oracle.com.
PeopleSoft Campus Portal
Pre-built with PeopleSoft 8 Internet Architecture, Campus Portal offers an
out-of-the-box solution that shortens implementation time and simplifies upgrades.
Schools can customize the look of the portal to reflect their unique colors,
mascot, content and brand. The Campus Portal is delivered with role-based navigation
to PeopleSoft content; administrators can customize the navigational links,
as well as the design of individual “pagelets,” the modular building
blocks of the portal.
The portal can draw on PeopleSoft applications or integrate with a campus’s
existing systems and Web development to provide a central point for all users
to gain access to relevant campus services, including admissions, registration,
financial aid, payroll, personnel, grading, and alumni relations. It’s
possible to partner Campus Portal with existing online vendors—such as
the campus store—or combine it with PeopleSoft’s own e-commerce solutions.
With this portal platform, a single sign-on gives the user enterprise-wide
access to Internet-based applications, knowledge management suites, collaborative
services and communication tools through a common Internet browser. PeopleSoft’s
portal features content management capabilities to ensure relevant, current
information is available for the campus community.
When users sign on to the Campus Portal, they see a familiar-looking Web page
with Tabs that organize the content, their productivity tools (such as e-mail
and calendar), search capabilities, favorites, and a variety of pagelets. These
customizable pagelets can link users to PeopleSoft eBusiness transactions with
contextual support information, other ERP applications, Intranet and Internet
content, vendor sites, campus department sites, campus news, to-do lists, and
more. Contact: PeopleSoft, Pleasanton, Calif.; (800) 380-SOFT; www.peoplesoft.com.
Student Online
Student Online creates revenue-generating Intranet portals for institutions
of higher education. Student Online returns to the host institution some of
the revenues generated from the e-commerce portion of the platform. It also
sells wireless hardware with monthly service fees, kicking back some portion
of the proceeds to the school. The site offers personalized user accounts that
integrate with existing ERP software, course tools, and an array of Internet
content, communication modules, and organizational tools.
Students can use the portal to track automatically updated information on courses,
activities, events, headlines, and job opportunities, and to register for classes,
check their course materials online, and communicate with their school community.
Instructors can communicate with students, display course materials online,
hold full-fledged online courses, and collaborate with colleagues via the inter-campus
network. Administrators can send university-wide broadcast messages, create
subcommittees and forums, and help generate revenue for the school. Student
Online offers both hosted and non-hosted options.
All users, including alumni, have access to Student Online’s e-commerce
offerings. The product features an automatic organizer automatically populated
with class times, club events, and professor e-mail addresses; Web-based e-mail;
an alert function for high-priority messages; Personalized Content Feeds based
on user preferences; course management tools; and integration with SIS functions.
The entire application is available on a wireless cell phone, allowing for portable
e-mail, calendaring and priority messaging from professors. Contact: Student
Online, New York, N.Y.; www.studentonline.com.
uPortal from JA-SIG
uPortal is a free, sharable portal under development by JA-SIG (Java in Administration
Special Interest Group) institutions of higher-education. The portal is designed
to be an abridged and customized version of the institutional Web presence.
In essence, uPortal is a personalized, friendlier port into the larger World
Wide Web.
The portal features individual customization functions and community-creating
tools, such as chat, forums, and surveys. uPortal is an open-standard effort
using Java, XML, JSP, and J2EE. It is a collaborative development project with
the effort shared among several of the JA-SIG member institutions. Interested
parties may download uPortal and use it on their site at no cost. Currently,
at least two dozen institutions have either live or demo uPortal sites. Contact:
JA-SIG, www.ja-sig.org.
