Background of the Study Essay

Introduction What is Portal? A portal is known as links page which presents information from diverse sources in a unified way. It may contain services that provide standard search engine feature, e-mail, news, information, database and entertainment. Portals provide a way for enterprises to provide a consistent look and feel with access control and procedures for multiple applications and databases, which otherwise would have been different entities altogether. Campus portal is defined as a entry point for a college or university that provide a centralized source of information services for students, prospective students, faculty, suppliers, administrators, alumni and friends. The term campus portal implies from a relatively simple set of Web-based calendar and e-mail services, to a broad online interface offering highly personalized and customizable access to nearly all the features and benefits of campus life and work. Campus portal can provide entry points to anything from Web access, student activity information, class resources, syllabi and assignment listing, homework submission, to online forums for topic discussions since the campus portal is accessible to any Web-enabled computer, it’s a powerful tool for pulling together a far-flung university community. The portal allows alumni and friends to participate in campus life. At least to the extent it is enabled via the Web. Statement of the Problem The purpose of this study is to develop a Campus Course Portal that will give solution to the problems of the student and faculty members on every each department in terms of getting updated with the announcements, online examination, viewing of grades, student ledger accounts, class schedule, student profile, library catalogue, and available materials for the course. The purpose of this study is to solve the following problems: 1.Not all the students are informed and aware about the events, sudden changes of class schedule and other activities that are announced by the faculty members or by the institution. 2.The dissemination of the information in such social medium sites like Yahoo groups, Google groups, Facebook groups and the like is not controlled as to the recipient of the data that is being shared. All registered members of a specific group (e.g. Yahoo Groups) have complete access to all of its content which compromises security and privacy due to absence of an option to choose a specific or group of recipients. 3.The manual pre-assessment system such as checking of balance is to slow. This usually consumes a lot of time. Causing the delay in completing the entire enrolment process. Objective of the Study General Objective To be able to develop and implement a Online Course Portal on a Campus that will benefit the faculty members, students and the administration of an institution. Specific Objective 1.To have an effective way of providing information or notification anywhere and anytime to the students about rapid changes of schedule, activities or other announcement by via Web. 2.To improve the privacy, user-friendliness and to enable convenient access to the different kinds of information and services mounted on the web by users, it would be desirable to set up a portal for channelling the vast information resources to the different users in an efficient and effective manner (e.g posting announcement or messages to selected group people). 3.To create an Online Course Portal on a Campus which provide a lot of information regarding to their academic standing. In addition the Online Course Portal can also automatically evaluate and show the report of grades of the students being distributed by their respective professors. Significance of the Study To the Researchers, The researchers will not only provide information and develop a Online Campus Portal, but will also gain knowledge and help them develop their skills when it comes to web-based applications and for their professional career in the future. To the Students, Through this system, the students will increase their knowledge by having sufficient resource materials, and receive important information from the faculty members and the administration by login in on the said link page. To the Faculty Members, Through this system, the faculty members can provide all the necessary information and resource material to their students, in addition to that, faculty members can simply post announcements to their students in case of sudden change of schedule or additional activities that should be accomplished on a given date and time. To the Future Researchers, The future researchers could gain knowledge from the study and benefits, advantages and disadvantages, impact of developing web portals which they may apply to their research in the future. Hypothesis Online Portal on a Campus will hell the students, faculty and college department to have a reliable and more secured way of file sharing, circulation of information and privacy that will be beneficial and useful in the future. The faculty members used to announce changes of  classes/activities or events vocally in front of the students or through sending text to the class president and disseminating the information to the whole class. There can be inconsistency in spreading the message there are still students who are not informed and mislead that may affect its school performance. In terms of sharing of files or discussions over the internet, students and faculty rely on social networks such as Facebook, Multiply and Friendster wherein conversations or information can be accessed or viewed by the public. Instead of using social networks, the Online Campus Portal can be more secured because only the members for that group is allowed to view discussions and it can also provide an op tion on who can only read and reply to the discussion board. This Online Campus Portal allows the College of Computer Studies Department to have an effective way of providing secured information within the school. Faculty members and administrator will able to notify students anywhere and anytime about sudden changes of class schedules, activities and events. Review of Related Literature Foreign Literature According to Robert Moskowitz of Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Education, when you hear the word â€Å"portal† you might immediately think of one of the many commercial Web sites, such as Yahoo or Excite, that populate the Internet today. As the term implies, these services are the gateway to the Internet for many people, offering news, search functions, sports scores, shopping and movie reviews. A campus portal, on the other hand, is the entry point for a college or university. It provides a centralized source of information and services for students, prospective students, faculty, suppliers, administrators, alumni and friends. The term campus portal can mean anything from a relatively simple set of Web-based calendar and e-mail services, to a comprehensive online interface offering highly personalized and customizable access to nearly all the features and benefits of campus life and work. Campus portals can provide entry points to anything from e-shopping for books and campus regalia, to Web access, student activity information, class resources, syllabi and assignment listings, and homework submission, as well as online class registration and tuition  payment. Because the campus portal is accessible to any Web-enabled computer, it’s a powerful tool for pulling together a far-flung university community. Students studying abroad can remain in touch with friends, professors, activities and services at the main campus as though they’d never left. The portal allows alumni and friends to participate in campus life–at least to the extent it is enabled via the Web. Local Literature FEU-EAC Online Student Portal For the past few years, FEU-EAC has been continuously trying to find ways on how to improve its services for the students in terms of providing information, registration and other school transactions. It is eyeing the step-by-step growth and enhancement from manual, partial automation and full-automation of its systems. Considering the ideal goal of providing fast and convenient services and also the advantage of reaching out to its students from distant areas, online enrolment is definitely the most recommended innovation. Bearing in mind this ultimate goal, the College took its first step by having some of it services online. From thereon, My FEU – East Asia College Student Portal was conceptualized. My FEU – East Asia College Student Portal was made to assist FEU-EAC students in providing basic information related to their academic records, registration and assessments. Likewise, this will also give privilege to the students to submit their requests and transactions via Internet. Enrolled students will be given accounts, usernames and passwords, to access and login to My FEU – East Asia College Student Portal. Students can then access this portal via Internet wherein they can now conveniently inquire information or do basic student transactions anywhere and anytime they want. This system basically includes the following: †¢My Profile – this is where students could view their personal and contact information. A special feature was provided for the students for possible requests to update their personal information or records. †¢Student Academic Information – this is where students could view their academic  records such as grades, class schedules and current assessments. †¢On-line Self–Enrolment – this allows the regular students with no previous balances and accountabilities to do self-enrolment via Internet. †¢Other Services – this is where students could access the Student Coordinating Council Voting System, upload files through My Portfolio or mark the important events or activities on their calendars through My Planner. Certainly, FEU – East Asia College Student Portal will be enhanced and additional services will be incorporated in the future. Nevertheless, the Student Portal definitely raised the bar of the College in rendering qua lity services for its students. Review of Related Study Foreign Study Study made by AlirezaHejazi, an MS Student of IC Management University of Technology, Tehran, Iran Effectively developing and deploying campus portals can dramatically increase productivity and profitability of research and education. The cutting edge of this initiative lies in aligning portals with students’ current needs. Our study aims at identifying these needs and provides a preliminary theoretical framework for portal developers to benchmark their objectives according to educational requirements. The study is mostly done based on local observations and experience of its conductors within higher education communities in Iran. The result of this primary study paves the way of implementing campus portals in the Iranian higher education communities which will be paced by the authors of the article in the near future. E-Learning usually refers to â€Å"learning that is delivered or enabled via electronic technology† (Sun Microsystems). It encompasses learning delivered via a range of technologies such as the internet, television, videotape, intelligent tutoring systems, and computer-based training. E-Learning is a subset of the larger worlds of both â€Å"information technology† and â€Å"education and training†. It can be valuable when used as a part of a well-planned and properly supported education and training environment, but e-learning is not a magic bullet that replaces or renders obsolete existing pedagogical theories and approaches. Many learning and technology professionals believe that e-learning will have â€Å"arrived† when we  stop referring to it by a separate name and begin considering it as an integral part of a complete learning environment. Recent advances in the availability and speed of Internet access and in the power and availability of personal computing platforms have dramatically increased the opportunities for the use of collaborative environments and other distribu ted learning technologies. As a result, a wide range of new products are being developed and many new companies have entered the learning technology market. New categories of products continue to emerge, some providing new capabilities and others combining existing functionality into new product configurations. It can be a challenge to determine how these systems relate to each other and how they fit into a complete e-learning environment. The emergence of e-learning does not mean that existing software applications are obsolete. Systems such as Student Administration, Human Resources, and Library Management provide critical components of e-learning environments. The challenge is to integrate these systems effectively with e-learning application services. This has been done today in what is being called as â€Å"Campus Portal†. Campus portals merge a wide range of educational applications into an integrated web-based system. These portals are designed and developed at many modern colleges and universities within recent years and are becoming more popular as useful tools in offering academic services. They are being used by both the current and distant students. Some colleges even offer their portals to their staff as official media for internal communication. These capabilities have proved portals as effective systems of e-learning. The remaining question is: â€Å"How can we align portals with students’ current needs?† Sometimes, adding new contents or services to a portal may answer this question; but, changing needs of students makes the job harder and requires enough flexibility of portals both in nature and usage. We have made an effort in this study to identify those needs of Iranian students which may be satisfied through implementing portals and to provide a theoretical framework for portal developers to allign their objectives according to educational requirements. Study made by TharitpongFuangvutofUniversity of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia A Campus Portal is an exciting recent phenomenon forming part of the new generation of online services for all stakeholders in institutions  of higher education. Conceptually the general notion of a Portal should be to be distinguished from that of other Web-based applications and the traditional Intranet of the institution. The literature review in Phase One of this research indicates that the major distinguishing characteristics of a Campus Portal are: (i) personalization, by which end-users are only able to access information and online services pertinent to their activities, and (ii) customization, by which end-users are able to select their preferred information channels and optional online services. The major objective of this research is to propose a development methodology specifically suitable for Campus Portal projects. While there are many accepted development methodologies for traditional and Web-based Information Systems, no clear body of knowledge on the development of Campus Portals has yet been recognized. Additionally, as this is a new area, the definitions, terms, concepts and important issues agreed to by academic researchers and practitioners, are still evolving. This research, therefore, needs to clarify and identify some important issues regarding Campus Portals and their development, prior to composing the development methodology. In the second and third phases of the research, two studies were carried out, a preliminary study and a case study. These generated more understanding of the issues and extended the body of knowledge on Campus Portals, especially concerning their development. The preliminary study explored and investigated the online services and Campus Portals of 40 higher education institutions sites in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the UK and Canada. The findings of the preliminary study show that there are no standard patterns in the function of personalization and customization in Campus Portals. A set of research questions were then put forward to drive further investigation into design and implementation issues regarding the personalization and customization functions of Campus Portals. The case study was conducted in an Australian university among the major stakeholder groups, namely, the development team and the end-users (students and academic staff). For the study of the development team, interviews were used to gather information on their current practices and their vision for the future direction of the Campus Portal. Students were the primary focus of the end-user study, from which data was collected using a survey to build  up usage patterns of their online activities. In addition, a group of academic staff were interviewed to obtain data from their perspective to identify and clarify some important issues. The results and findings in this phase of the research is contributed to the body of knowledge on Campus Portals and their development. In the final phase of the research, the review of existing development methodologies was continued filtering them through a set of identified criteria based on the findings of the two studies. Finally, the most appropriate development methodology was selected and modified in order to support the requirements identified in this research as critical for the development of a Campus Portal. The result was proposed as a Campus Portal Development Methodology (CPDM) fulfilling the main objective of the research. Study made by Ayman H. AbuhamdiehofIndiana State University, USA Portals are gateways to information resources and different kinds of services. They are enjoying expansive use in all sorts of organizations. From corporations to educational institutions, organizations are striving to provide their constituents with prompt and reliable services through their Web portals. There is a general agreement in the literature on the concept of a portal. It means a web site that integrates and concentrates information resources. The audience could be limited to a particular group, such as auto mechanics, physicians, chemists, students and educators (vertical portals), or it could be open to everyone, such as the popular search engines and categorization web sites such as Google, Yahoo!, and Excite. The uniqueness and recent use of portal systems, and the wide array of constituents they serve, along with the different kinds of challenges they bring invites a closer examination of their acceptance and use. Few studies have provided a detailed examination of these kinds of portals in terms of their user acceptance, and their most used features. The uniqueness and recent use of portal systems, and the wide array of constituents they serve, along with the different kinds of challenges they bring invites a closer examination of their acceptance and use. Study made by Suhong Li and Wallace A. Wood ofBryant University,Smithfield, Rhode Island This study investigates the status of portal implementation in  the academic world. A two stage cluster analysis was used to divide the sample colleges and universities into three groups (Internal Focus Implementers, External Focus Implementers and Starters) based on the portal features implemented by each school. The differences among the three groups were assessed based on the type of school and their status of portal adoption, implementation and evaluation. The results show that in terms of status of portal adoption and implementation, Internal Focus Implementers are the most advanced group, the External Focus group is in the middle and the Starters are the least advanced one. Most schools in the Internal Focus group are private schools, have the longest use of campus portals, favor Blackboard as the portal software, have widely shared responsibilities for the content of the portals, consider integration and implementation of a single logon as the biggest implementation challenges and are the most satisfied with their portal. In contrast, the Starters lag behind in terms of the adoption and implementation of the portal. For example, they have the shortest history of portal implementation, do not have dominant portal software, and have only one or two departments in charge of the content of the portal. In addition, they are the least satisfied with their portals. Portals, originally thought of as search engines whose purpose was to facilitate access to information spread through the Internet, eventually developed to be gateways to the Web that allow vast amounts of information available on Internet and intranet Web sites to be organized and customized through a single entry point. Portals can thus be used to consolidate information from a vast array of sources, provide a centralized means of collaboration and offer a personalized workspace for both individuals and teams. Moreover, portals have the potential of providing organizations with a rich and complex shared information workspace for the generation, exchange, and use of knowledge. Local Study Study made by Tina Arceo-Dumlao of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila, Phillippines FILIPINOS are undisputedly the best in the world when it comes to text messaging. So if Filipinos use their mobile phone’s short messaging  service to send greetings, stay in touch with their loved ones or share jokes, why not harness its power to improve the quality of public education? A consortium of Philippine companies composed of Ayala Foundation, Globe Telecom, Nokia, Seameo Innotech and the Department of Education did just that with the launch in May 2003 of the Text2Teach program. Education divide Text2Teach is the Philippine project under the BridgeIt program, a global initiative that aims to narrow the educational divide between nations by improving the teaching of basic education in developing countries using high speed, wireless digital connection. The text message-based program was deemed ideal for the Philippines not only because everybody knows how to use it, but also because the technology is cheap and can reach the farthest islands of the archipelago. Text2Teach aims to help improve the quality of teaching in grades 5 and 6 classes in elementary school by providing multimedia packages designed to make science, math and English learning more exciting and meaningful among young learners. The first phase of Text2Teach used the mobile phone, satellite technology, and media master to deliver content to the classrooms. The teachers use the mobile phone to order video clips which are delivered via satellite, stored in the media master, and viewed on TV. For the second phase launched this year, the mobile phone is the storage device and is preloaded with the educational videos. All a teacher has to do is plug the phone to a TV and play the video lesson. New videos will be accessed by downloading them through the mobile phone using Globe’s 3G technology. The videos are integrated with specially developed lesson plans that comply with the Basic Education Curriculum and designed for grades 5 and 6 students in public elementary schools. The teachers then show these materials on television to public elementary school students who would not have had access to these multimedia presentations if not for Text2Teach. The teachers were trained by experts from the Seameo Innotech on how to integrate multimedia learning experience into their lesson plans. There are 387 video modules in the electronic library and 480 lesson guides for teachers on topics that are generally discussed in the science, math, and English classes of Grade 5 and 6 students. More interesting Teachers show topics in line with the curriculum defined by the Department of Education. Jeff Tarayao, head of community relations and corporate social responsibility of Globe Telecom, says that with Text2Teach, learning about volcanoes, for instance, has never been more interesting. The students agree. Just six years since it was launched, absenteeism among students attending Text2Teach classes has been reduced; student performance has risen as shown by higher average scores in science; teacher-pupil, pupil-pupil interaction got a boost, and, the classroom atmosphere has become more upbeat. Tarayao says the teachers have been clamoring for even more content to show their enthusiastic students. Since 2003, more than a million public elementary school students and more than 1,700 teachers and school officials in about 250 schools all over the Philippines have benefited from the program. And Text2Teach is reaching more schools in the country, targeting an additional 350 schools nationwide by 2010. Text2Teach went to 118 public elementary schools in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao through a grant from the United States Agency for  International Development. Tarayao says some schools are even sharing their content with the out of school youth who come to the Text2Teach classrooms after regular classes. He says the challenge is to further expand the program to cover even more schools that want to experience the same benefits of Text2Teach. It is possible given the commitment of the many organizations behind Text2Teach. Ayala Foundation is the overall project leader, handles resource and partners mobilization and technical support for the project; Globe Telecom is the cellular capacity provider and powers the SMS network; Nokia Philippines provides the private sector funding, which includes the provision of a 3G-enabled device such as the Nokia N95 8GB, equipped with the Nokia Education Delivery (NED) software that allows the teacher to select from the 387 education videos specifically created for the project; Seameo Innotech crafts the lesson plans and handles the teacher training; while the Department of Education provided coordination with the public schools system. Text2Teach’s accomplishments did not go unnoticed.Text2Teach was a finalist in the Stockholm Challenge in Sweden—the world’s leading ICT Prize for entrepreneurs and projects who use information and communications technology to improve living conditions and increase economic growth. Text2Teach was also awarded the best in Support and Improvement of Education Category during the 2006 Asian CSR Awards But for Globe, the reward is knowing that Text2Teach has helped make mobile phone communication and SMS technology relevant to the upliftment of education in the Philippines.