Intranet Responsibilities

All information and services (i.e. requirements) delivered by an IAT intranet need to be assigned as responsibilities to permanent staff within the organisation. These staff will be trained to take responsibility for the administration of their area/role's information or service.

The following table needs to be completed (i.e. responsibilities assigned) before creation of an intranet can commence.

Responsibilities for the New Intranet

Responsibility	IAT Dept/Branch	Person(s)	Comments
Content
Structure and chart of all parts of Directorate & IAT org	HR	Angela
Accurate contact information for IAT directories	HR, IT & Schools/Branches	Admin Staff in each area
Profiles (key summary info) of each IAT school, department, unit	Relevant unit/dept	Admin Staff in each area
Outlines & updates about all IAT projects	Relevant project	Project Managers
All HR information for staff to be available - applications, getting settled, policies & procedures, what happens when you leave, etc	HR	Nadia, Sahara, Layla
All Finance info, forms, policies	Finance	Huda, Nishita
All I.T. info..	IT	Husham
All Operations info..	Operations	Phil, Abdul Aziz
All Professional Development info..	Staff Development	Tony, Amal, Layla
Best practice sharing area	Staff Development	Tony, AC's, Schools
News, announcements & updates	All Departments	Admin Staff in each area
All required forms & letters to be available electronically	All Departments	HR & Finance especially. Others as desired.
Services
Contacts directory for all IAT Depts, Schools & Projects	HR, IT	Gulf HR Admin	Gulf HR integration
Calendar & Events listing	Relevant Departments	Admin Staff in each area
Online helpdesk for all relevant Depts & Areas	Relevant Departments	Allocated or generic helpdesk person
"Ask the Managing Director" enquiry form		John McFadyen
General complaints/feedback form	HR	Layla
Coordination of file/document sharing areas	Relevant Departments	Intranet/GHR admin
Coordination of collaborative workspaces	Relevant Projects/Depts	Project/Dept users
Administration of discussion forums including classifieds system		Intranet/GHR admin
Project or Team management areas & tools	Relevant Projects/Depts	Project/Dept users
Other Duties
Administration of all users and permissions		Intranet/GHR admin
Administration of integration with MS Office & other applications	IT	IT Dept Rep
Support & Training for intranet administrators and end-users		Intranet/GHR admin
Creation of specialised content (graphics, multimedia)
Translation of bilingual content
Overall intranet administration of content & services (e.g. portals)		Intranet/GHR admin
Administration of intranet ICT needs (server, active directory, network)	IT	IT Dept Rep

New IAT site - Feature Summary

Here's an abridged list of features of the new IAT website for staff to check out. These elements currently contain example content for demo purposes, so the major task for staff is to suggest ideas/preferences or provide actual content for use on the new, live site.

> Attractive, animated gallery for IAT to promote its key messages with an illustrative photo and concise description.

> Prominent promotional space for news, announcements or events that IAT wishes to highlight. Current examples: Summer school, Application deadlines, New Schools / Programs (e.g. Aviation College).

> Auto-generated presentation of latest news for each key audience on home page. E.g. Future Students, Current Students, etc. These are linked to the relevant News blogs (also auto-refreshed).

> On-site Media Gallery can display all types of pictures and videos which can be viewed in slideshows and integrated in content throughout the site.

> Fully-integrated IAT Google Calendar, allowing users to add individual events to their own calendar or subscribe to the whole calendar. They can then see these events or dates of interest in their calendar or Google home page and receive email reminders of them.

> Dynamic (auto-refreshes) ability to publish engaging content "libraries" that can expand over time. E.g. student or teacher profiles

> Sophisticated online applications form with ability to save applications and return, upload any required files, send automatic notifications, allow conditional questions and provide automatic, live graphical results.

> Development of much more informative, useful and attractive content and services.

> Full, flexible multilingual support allows the user to select their language only once and see any content that has been made available in their language while still seeing other content that hasn't been translated.

> Flexible Contacts directory listing both main contact points (e.g. admissions, feedback) and School listings. Includes online contact forms.

> Single, organised Downloads area allows any IAT area or school to make available any forms, documents or files for downloading. It is also possible to allow users to upload to these areas.

> Static and interactive maps provide visual details on our locations & how to get there. Virtual tours with Google Earth are useful for expatriate prospective staff or other non-local site users.

> Simple, web-based form creation tool allows all common types of forms to be published on the IAT site. E.g. For surveys, feedback, service requests, etc.

> Alternatively, for basic site interactivity and feedback, polls (with live results) are available.

> Dynamic content spaces can be used across the site to automatically refresh it, provide insights into IAT or publish content "nuggets". E.g. Education Quotes

> Gateway to all intranet services that are or will be available (webmail, HR system, student results). Secure content and services can also be published behind login access in client-specific portals. Separate application services can be easily integrated (e.g. Recruitment)

> RSS feeds allow users to receive relevant news on their home pages or using "live bookmarks".

> Best practice navigation including Quick Links visible at the top of all pages and a Keyword Search available in the left margin that automatically links all common searches with the relevant destination. E.g. Searching for "apply" takes you to the How to Apply page.

> Online visual representation of information that is efficiently linked with offline maintenance of it.

New Website - Unresolved Questions

These issues need to be resolved by the end of April:

1. How should the new IAT website affiliate itself with the U.A.E. government and any other institutions or agencies? E.g. Simple government logo with link to government website.

2. How much of the site will be available in both English and Arabic? If not every page/content, then what process will determine new content creation or editing?

3. How will the new IAT site be associated with related but separate websites like Emirates Skills? Suggest provide in-context summary from "Projects" section and link.

4. All IAT schools & branches should at least have overviews on the main site. However, some may (now or in the future) have specific web needs that are more extensive. Capability exists to create associated individual sub-sites but the operation of these will need to be discussed.

New IAT Prototype Online!

The prototype new IAT website is now available for all staff to review and commence actual publishing of their information and services.

Please see: http://www.new.iat-uae.com/

Stay tuned to the blog over the next few weeks as I will be providing direct links and further details and examples on the various new features available and suggested ideas.

New homepage photo competition!

Photos for the main graphic space on the homepage of the new website are currently being collected. The current examples used in the prototype can be viewed in this gallery

The photos chosen will be captioned and should reflect the main aspects, messages and selling points of IAT we wish to emphasise or promote.

Please send in your suggestions for the kind of pictures & themes we should use and we'll try and get an illustrative photo. Or if you have a suitable photo, just send it in.

These will be added to the gallery and the best ones will be selected.

Prizes

Apart from the pure joy of winning and having your idea or contribution on the new site - chocolate and gratitude in equal measures!

"Web Wonders" Presentation

Topic

Exploring modern teaching & learning uses of online resources that are accessible to everyone.

> Commercial e-learning systems like Blackboard/WebCT or Skillsoft are expensive and only accessible through the organisation.

> Sophisticated, free e-learning systems or tools like ATutor/Moodle normally require a degree of setup and tech-savviness.

> Our focus is on websites, resources & tools that are freely available on the web and have very simple startup and usage requirements.

Interactive Language & Numeracy Practice

> UK DFES interactive learning - literacy, language & numeracy practice.

Fun, Educational Participation/Community sites

> wikiHow - read and write how-to guides for everyday life.

Participation Tools for Class Teaching & Learning

> Wikispaces - Ex 1

> Blogs: Edublogs Ex 1

Podcasts & other Audio tools

> Freelanguage podcast list - specifically for learning English

> podOmatic - create, find and share podcasts

> Chinesepod

Video, Animation & other Rich Media

Finding Online Content for Teaching & Learning

> Wikipedia > Wikimedia > Internet Archive > Podcast Alley > Picasa > Photobucket > Webshots > Yahoo CC

> Reference list

Online Curriculum Resources

> MIT

> Connexions

> Curriki

> Curriculum podcasts > EPN podcasts

> techLearning

Assessment Tools

> Chalkface

Visual & Presentation tools for Learning

> Flashcard Exchange - use and create flashcards to learn anything

> Empressr - online presentations

> Formatpixel - online graphic publishing

Free Online Courses & Units

> Openlearn - free, mainly text-based topics

Online Portfolios

> Digication - Ex 1 Ex 2 Ex 3

Social Networking for Education

> You've heard of MySpace Check out > Elgg.org

> ELGG.net - for teachers: Ex 1

> Ning - Ex 1

Tools for the Classroom

> Quikmaps

> Google Earth Showcase

Website Creation

> Weebly > Google Page Creator

Useful Websites for Students

> World Newspapers

> Global Voices Online

Organisation & Class Tools for Students & Teachers

> Mynoteit

> Schoopy

> Engrade

> Chalksite

Technology Guides for Educators

> Google for Educators

> EdTechLive podcasts

Simple, Integrated Tools for Schools

> Google Apps for Education

Getting your Content Online!

> Google Docs & Spreadsheets

> Slideshare

> Scribd

> Zoho

Tool, Resource & Site Reference Lists

> Web 2.0 Directory

> Web 2.0 Teaching Tools

> Blendedlearning resources

What Else is Going on?

> Second Life meets Moodle

New IAT site design ideas

The prototype for what will become the new IAT website is in development and will be released in the next week to enable ongoing, active participation in the creation of the new site. Different examples or ideas will be able to be tested on a live, working site.

One of the first aspects to be settled on through the prototype will be the new site's design - its presentation, layout, graphics, style, etc.

Below are selected examples of design features you may wish to consider:

Attractive, engaging, nicely-organised homepages

> Cornell Uni

> Appalachian State Uni

> Azusa Pacific

> Goucher

Homepage main graphic area conveys key messages/themes well

> Azusa Pacific - Video features and photo slideshow that links to main content

> Singapore Polytechnic

> Boston Uni - modern & interactive main graphic area with video, pics, features & integrated content

> Carnegie Mellon undergrad - advanced interactive, visual content

> York Uni - homepage main visual space emphasises main difference ("selling point")

> Appalachian State Uni

Well-designed portals/gateways into site's with extensive info & services

> Lancaster Uni

> Allegheny College - compact, well-organised, gateway

> Uni of Brighton

> Ithaca College

> Baylor

Site design suits the type of organisation

> Cornish College of the Arts - large, art image gallery with contemporary art background.

> DIT Music & Drama

> Leeds School of Design

Simple, organisation of site into areas for each key site audience

> Cornell CALS - simple main menu organised by audience (prospective students, etc...) but also presents key topics (teaching, research, extension) separately.

Engaging, modern sites for students

> Biola undergrad

> Lancaster admissions

> Oberlin admissions

Vocational & Technical Sites conveying their focus, purpose & priorities

> Polytechnics Canada

> Singapore Polytechnic