University of Nairobi Student portal. (UON student portal)

What is the University of Nairobi student Portal?

It's a one-stop client-oriented web site that personalizes the portal's tools and information to the specific needs and characteristics of the person visiting the site, using information from University of Nairobi databases.

What are the goals of a University of Nairobi student Portal?

1. Make it easy for people to University of Nairobi information targeted specifically at them. Instead of hunting the web for information, a person identifies himself to the portal, and the portal brings all relevant information to the person.

2. Use a single consistent web-based front end to present information from a variety of back-end data sources. Information about people is stored in many different databases at the University of Nairobi.

This includes student information, employee information, course information, alumni information, library information, parking information, calendaring and scheduling software, and so on.

The role of a portal is to put a consistent "face" to this information so that visitors don't have to deal with dozens of different web interfaces to get their information.

How is a University of Nairobi student Portal (uon student portal) different from a normal web site?

In a normal University web site, the information is out there, but it is up to the visitor to find it. They have to either use a search engine, or navigate the links on the University's web page. Often people miss information they couldn't find.

In "the Nairobi University student Portal", the visitor identifies himself to the portal. The portal then uses the detailed knowledge the University has about this person to gather together all the information relevant to that person and display it in one place.

This information could be generic publicly accessible information, or it could be confidential information specific to that individual (like course grades or payroll information).

The emphasis has shifted from a public web site showing on-line pamphlets to a user-oriented web site that provides tools, reports, and services specifically designed for that individual.

Is University of Nairobi Student portal just a collection of bookmarks?

Well, not exactly. Bookmarks let people quickly get to information they've already found, but they do nothing to help people find this information.

The Nairobi University student Portal finds the information for the person so he/she doesn't have to go looking for it.

Also, a person doesn't know if a bookmark has changed unless she chooses to check the bookmark regularly.

A Nairobi University student Portal displays all the content in one place. If the "news headlines" information changes, this change is displayed on the portal page immediately. The visitor doesn't have to check the news headlines bookmark before becoming aware of the change.

Finally, bookmarked web-services provided by different departments have a different look and feel to them. They all work differently, require separate logins to access the information, etc.

The Nairobi University student portal uses a consistent framework for presenting the information in a standard way.

Usually one login gets access to all the services, and these services are all designed to fit within a standard portal framework. This consistency makes it easier to learn and use these services.

Is University of Nairobi Student Portal going to replace a normal University web site?

No. The focus of a student/staff portal is to provide information targeted at individuals. The focus of a general web site is to show general on-line pamphlets to wide audiences. The two systems are different, but compliment each other. Neither is a replacement for the other.

Key characteristics of University of Nairobi student Portal.( UoN student portal)

The University student/staff Portal consists of a number of features.

Personalization:

The main purpose of a portal is to provide information that is personalized for each visitor. The portal should adapt as a person's roles change on campus, and provide information relevant to these new roles.

For example:

• Prospective students might get information highlighting the programs offered, housing information, student loan information, etc.

• Registered students would get information about the classes they are registered in, automatic updates in their personal calendar about assignment deadlines or final exam schedules, current status of library sign-outs or books put on reserve for them, lists of required textbooks for their courses, etc.

• Alumni would have information about alumni reunions added to their calendar, information about alumni groups in their city, etc.

Customization:

The portal is a tool for the individual, not the University. The individual must have complete control over the information presented within the portal. This includes:

• Control over what information is and is not not displayed on their portal pages. This is done using "information channels", small bits of information designed to be included in larger web pages. The system controls what channels people are allowed access to, but the individuals decide which of these channels they'll actually use in their portal.

• Control over the content within the information channels (for example, what cities to show weather for).

• Control over how the information is displayed. For each channel, do they want the full text, a quick summary, or just the title line? Should the information be on the starting page for the portal, or a secondary page? What column should the channel be displayed in?

• Control over the preferred output device. Some people may want to access their information through a normal web page. Others may want to access the information (or a subset of the information like today's calendar) through wireless devices like web enabled cell phones or personal assistant devices. Others may require specialized output device support (for example, people who are blind may require support for braille readers).

• Control over the appearance of their portal. Many portals allow visitors to use different "skins" to change colour schemes, decorative graphics, and other characteristics about how the information is layed out on their screen. This is often combined with accessibility issues (like using only one column for devices with small screens or larger text fonts for people who are blind).

Standardization.

A University student Portal needs to have a consistent user front-end to a variety of behind-the-scenes tools for the individual. As a minimum this should include web-based e-mail, and a personalized calendar. Optional tools could include chat rooms for groups like students in a class, on-line file-storage, tools to build and maintain personal web pages, etc.

Enable the Individual.

The University OF Nairobi student Portal is a tool for the individual. As such, all tools and services should be there to help enable the individual as much as possible.

This includes tools to help individuals to provide their own content to the portals.

For example, a group of students working on a class project should be able to quickly set up a private chat-room for those students. Individuals should be able to set up public calendars everyone can update and view, as well as private calendars, etc. Single Login

When a person visits a portal, they should only have to identify themselves once. They shouldn't have to remember many different usernames and passwords to get at the information within the portal.

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