IMPORTANT: The following statement describes the myUWE Project at it's inception. For information about completed developments to myUWE since inception, please see the Completed Developments page.
In recent years there has been a dramatic and worldwide growth in adoption of media such as the web and electronic messaging, through which societies increasingly expect to conduct personal and business activities. The evidence of our experiences with Blackboard and other web-based services suggests that our students' expectations will reflect this trend, and that demand will grow for the University to provide learning resources and support services through the web: here is a powerful means to enhance the student experience.
Coincident with this, the University operates in an environment which places growing emphasis on accountability and transparency of information, including personal data (for example, as mandated under the Data Protection Act 2018) and generic information about the institution (for example, Teaching Quality Information or that mandated by the Freedom of Information Act 2000). The web offers a publishing mechanism for meeting some of these challenges.
It is to meet such needs that many organisations have turned to "portals". These are web-based umbrella systems, which act as an interface between the user (in this case, a student) and the services. A significant feature of most portal products is an emphasis on "personalisation" or "roles", whereby the system emphasises for any given user the information which is of most relevance to him or her. A user (in our case a student), would have a "home page" in the portal which gathers together information from multiple sources into the web equivalent of a "one-stop shop".
As an online system, myUWE should make these resources available remotely and securely. Furthermore, supported by assistive technologies, it can facilitate accessibility.
This coincides with the University's Strategic Priority to "…explore the potential of e-commerce to address a range of operational issues, including the whole cycle of student administration from admission to graduation…" and support our strategic commitment to develop "…networked learning and the use of ICT in teaching, learning and research…".
The University has therefore established a project to build a "foundation" student-facing portal, which will provide role-based access to both personalised and non-personalised information. It will allow access to at least some of the following from a single log-on:
- Online administration services including aspects of re-enrolment
- The student record (ISIS)
- Module specifications
- Timetabling (Syllabus Plus)
- The virtual learning environment (Blackboard)
- Web-based e-mail
- Non-personalised information currently accessed from the student intranet home page
This initial pilot is being developed through collaboration between:
- IT Services
- Faculty of Health & Social Care
- Faculty of Applied Sciences
- Bristol Business School
- Central Examinations, Timetabling & Technical Services
Additional functionality will be developed to supplement the portal, including staff-facing features and additional student-facing resources developed in collaboration with the Centre for Student Affairs and Library Services.
IMPORTANT: The above statement describes the myUWE Project at it's inception. For information about completed developments to myUWE since inception, please see the Completed developments page.
