Most University students have probably realised by now that the University has restructured its website. The ultimate aim is to set up a comprehensive website with administrative information, research databases, and academic and cultural events which students can refer to during the course of their studies.

A user-friendly layout greets the visitor upon clicking on www.um.edu.mt. The new menus entitled "Information About" and "Information For" show that the new website is not only aesthetically attractive, but contains more categorically allocated information. The menus make it easier to discern the information for students, staff and visitors.

The decision behind the new website was taken by the Web Advisory Committee, spearheaded by Josef Lauri, a professor in mathematics.

Prof. Lauri said that various considerations were taken before launching the website, which is still a work-in-progress.

First of all, the website is an information portal, that features the courses on offer and their requirements, information on the university staff, and its bye-laws and regulations. To upload information on the old website, which had once won the Best Education Website award, the various University entities had to undergo quite a lengthy process, and had to make use of specific software.

Vanessa Camilleri, a specialist within IT Services, explained that the new platform does not require technical expertise, which means that it has become relatively easy for the faculties and academic staff to upload information.

In fact, the website contains a central portal where information common to all faculties and departments can be accessed. On the other hand, faculties can make use of a pre-designed template, which they can modify according to their requirements.

The advances of technology also meant the introduction of new online services, such as eSIMS, the portal which stores every student's grades and personalisd information, and online courses which are being offered by a number of faculties. Another new service in the pipeline is the plagiarism detection software, which allows a student to ascertain that all the sources are acknowledged in his/her work.

Angela Xuereb from the Communications and Alumni Relations Office, who is also responsible for the website, explained that the new website made it easier for faculties to upload faculty-specific information, and to provide other resources for the students.

She said that when the various University entities migrate to the new system, it is estimated that the total number of available pages would amount to some 20,000.

Prof. Lauri said that the portal was also becoming more conducive to e-learning, whereby the University would be integrating online tools with face-to-face interaction.

Thus, the website is enabling the faculties and academic staff to provide resources to their students, such as research documents, databases, articles and lecture notes. Referring to his personal webpage on the new university portal, which contains a long list of online resources, he explained that some lecturers were already uploading information in relation to their lectures.

However, Prof. Lauri pointed out that the Web Advisory Committee was not requesting the faculties or the lecturers to upload this information. Rather, the committee is creating an online environment that facilitates this sharing of information, which the students would ultimately find beneficial.

The e-learning strategy was in fact another consideration that was currently being given heed to, especially since the introduction of courses which are also being offered online.

Ms Camilleri explained that the IT Services are piloting an online learning platform which is being used to complement current face-to-face lectures. The aim of creating such a virtual learning environment is that of providing a framework for integrating various services which students and staff can benefit from, such as depositories of learning resources, e-journals, the Student Information Management System, and plagiarism detection software, among others.

Another consideration behind the redesign was its outreach to the international market. With lecture-based courses, the university's competitors were geographically approximate countries. On the other hand, online courses opened the doors to international competitors, not only from EU countries, but even from distant universities. Certain considerations behind the new website - the main gate to the university, especially vis-à-vis foreigners - fall within the sphere of not only IT services, but also the faculties, the communications office and the commercial branch of the university.

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