University of Pacific Forum
Course Instructor
Pramod Gupta
Abstract
As the life of students becomes more entwined in the use of technology in communication, having an effective online platform for interaction has never been as important as it has been in the current year. Despite the university having the means for communication in the Inside Pacific platform, the ease of use has proven quite challenging for the students. The platform lacks ease of use, as the information can be found in various sections, which lack clarity in terms of definition. Getting access to discussions, announcements, or posts from other students also requires struggle as students, as the search option can tend to be quite confusing, considering that search results from other applications, as well as other content, can all appear in the search results. Although the platform allows for interaction between posts, the lack of a clear format for following a thread can make it quite challenging to participate in any form of discussion.
These issues highlight the growing mismatch between what students can expect from the modern web communication platform, as opposed to the current platform available to students. The modern university campus community, as seen in today’s students, can expect a campus platform to offer clear visual organization, ease of navigation, and well-organized content. They also usually participate more actively if the platform allows them to easily access information, if it has well-structured discourses, as well as if the platform can adapt to the communication needs of the students. Failure to address this issue, therefore, increases the demand to reconsider the design of the campus communication platform in order to adapt to the needs of day-to-day campus interactions.
This particular project revolves around the issues influencing the involvement of students in the communication systems available in campus settings, specifically based upon usability, content structure, and interactions. Through the understanding of the current usage of available systems in campus settings and the issues encountered by the students, this project has the intention of developing a better understanding based upon the impact of usability, search activities, and conversation structures in influencing involvement levels. The current level of understanding suggests that there lies immense potential in the development of a Web-based discussion forum based upon a simpler layout structure, information hierarchy, and interaction activities similar to other Web communities. This could help the students in connecting easily among themselves, remaining updated regarding the activities taking place in the campus, along with gaining enough motivation levels to submit active contributions to the programs in place.
University of Pacific Forum
As the life of students becomes more entwined in the use of technology in communication, having an effective online platform for interaction has never been as important as it has been in the current year. Despite the university having the means for communication in the Inside Pacific platform, the ease of use has proven quite challenging for the students. The platform lacks ease of use, as the information can be found in various sections, which lack clarity in terms of definition. Getting access to discussions, announcements, or posts from other students also requires struggle as students, as the search option can tend to be quite confusing, considering that search results from other applications, as well as other content, can all appear in the search results. Although the platform allows for interaction between posts, the lack of a clear format for following a thread can make it quite challenging to participate in any form of discussion.
These issues highlight the growing mismatch between what students can expect from the modern web communication platform, as opposed to the current platform available to students. The modern university campus community, as seen in today’s students, can expect a campus platform to offer clear visual organization, ease of navigation, and well-organized content. They also usually participate more actively if the platform allows them to easily access information, if it has well-structured discourses, as well as if the platform can adapt to the communication needs of the students. Failure to address this issue, therefore, increases the demand to reconsider the design of the campus communication platform in order to adapt to the needs of day-to-day campus interactions.
This particular project revolves around the issues influencing the involvement of students in the communication systems available in campus settings, specifically based upon usability, content structure, and interactions. Through the understanding of the current usage of available systems in campus settings and the issues encountered by the students, this project has the intention of developing a better understanding based upon the impact of usability, search activities, and conversation structures in influencing involvement levels. The current level of understanding suggests that there lies immense potential in the development of a Web-based discussion forum based upon a simpler layout structure, information hierarchy, and interaction activities similar to other Web communities. This could help the students in connecting easily among themselves, remaining updated regarding the activities taking place in the campus, along with gaining enough motivation levels to submit active contributions to the programs in place.
