New intranet for students is here!

Last week, the new JAMK UAS student intranet was revealed. The intranet has been talked about for quite a long time and even JAMKO hyped it up last spring. But every time I mentioned it to students, all I got was rolled eyes, deep sighs, and sarcastically skeptical comments, such as “great, yet another defunct IT system that no one can use”. These (slightly) incredulous and desperate comments derived from the user unfriendly Optima. One student used the following terms to describe Optima to me: "world of pain", "gates of hell", "blood, sweat, and tears” and "cloud of suffering". Clearly something had to be done about Optima as well as about internal communications among students.

Halt the desperation! JAMKO gave the feedback given to it last spring directly to the creators of the new student intranet and last week got to see how it looks like. JAMKO was happy to see that student feedback was heard and the intranet looks good, clear and functional. If you don’t believe us, you can go see yourself.

But what does the new intranet mean for students? In the following, I attempt to elaborate a little what you can do with the new intranet and what it means for the old Optima.

First of all, the new Elmo-intranet is meant to become a new central communications forum specifically for students. It is not meant to become a new information-monster (which Optima clearly is), but it is meant to be so called ”first point of contact” where students can start looking for more information, no matter what the topic is. Student meals? Check! Information about guidance? Check! Help about thesis? Check! Where to go for an exchange year? Check! Whatever you are looking for, intranet should at least give you an answer where to go for more detailed information. The new intranet also has an apartment forum, conversation and commenting options, clear “google-like” search gadget, staff search, news feed from both JAMK and JAMKO, a wide events calendar and so on… You will get the best feel of the intranet only by browsing it. The English side is still under construction, so it does not have as much information yet as the Finnish counterpart, but the site is constantly being updated and expanded. Please stay patient!

As I said, Elmo-intranet is not meant to be all including information-monster, but it is meant to be kept as a light, user friendly, clear tool for internal communications. From the left hand side navigation, you will be able to browse through the different topics and links will direct you further, to the best information source on that topic.

It is good to keep in mind that intranet is by no means ready yet. During this fall, information will be added there and the IT will have to tweak the system as issues arise. Intranet has opened last week for 10 000 people, so it is expected that some issues and technical difficulties will arise. They will be resolved as quickly as possible. But if something really just refuses to work or there are topics missing you feel should absolutely be there, let us know and JAMKO will take the feedback to JAMK.

So how does intra work? The easiest way to access intranet is via your own Elmo-electronic desk. The desk and through that the Elmo teams have been available to students since last spring. Thus, intranet is the third dimension of Elmo.

This is how the top of the page in intranet looks like.

From the top navigation bar you will be able to between the intranet, the desk and the teams. You will also be able to access intranet from home just by using your school login details.

Intranet also changes the way in which Optima is being used. Optima will remain as an online learning environment. In other words all the material related to courses will remain in Optima. However, Studyforum (which has functioned as a student intranet in Optima) will soon be put on read-only state and no new information will be added there. All that information will be posted to Elmo-intranet in the future. Also, all the general information “from the school to the students” will be given out in the new Elmo-intranet.  This will hopefully result in making Optima more user friendly as its procedures will be made uniform.

I am hopeful about the new student intranet and I do wish that it will function like it is planned to function. But in order for it be so, it requires you, the students, to be active: give feedback and comments! It is your intranet and it should be work for you in the best possible way!

PS. I hope that with this new intranet, headaches and pulling hair out –symptoms with Optima will end…