Features

As of Fall 2009, myHome has the following features available:

  • A dynamic “Web 2.0” customizable user interface, including dragable portlet positioning, a library of portlets for users to select from, user-configurable portlet options, and cross-browser compatibility.
  • Automatic account login brokering for seamless integrated access to campus Web resources such as Webmail, Calendar, Blackboard, campus directory and other services.
  • Central “IC Message Center” for campus news, announcements and safety alerts.
  • Numerous portlets to access campus resources
  • Ability to create “tabs” for personalized collections of portlets
  • Portlets to bring in non-college information and services, such as Facebook, Gmail, YouTube, RSS Feeds, external news sources (ex: NPR, CNN)
  • Access to SIS and ERP systems
  • Personal portlets such as to-do lists, bookmarks, photos
  • Federated IC Search – automatically search across various Ithaca College directories and indexes from a single search portlet
  • Local area information
  • Integration with campus events calendar
  • Individual or group targeted messages from SIS
  • Community content creation – college departments and organizations can create and publish portlets and pre-defined portlet collection tabs via extensions to tools they already use to publish public Web content.
  • myHome Community section featuring a suite of social networking tools to help facilitate communication and collaboration in the community, including:
    • a discussion forum which is open to all faculty, staff, and students
    • a classifieds-like module called "Opportunities"
    • a groups module for workgroup collaboration, document sharing, and discussion (open or private)
    • a college-wide project showcase which serves as a central portfolio of academic and non-academic work happening throughout the community
    • features geared towards connecting people for collaboration, despite traditional bounds of major, department, or school
  • Single location for individuals to update campus-wide directory information and passwords
  • Support for access to myHome from mobile devices

Future releases will add:

  • Portlets to directly access SIS and ERP information
  • Skins
  • A large range of portlets and tabs developed by campus organizations and departments such as student government, student media, the library, HR, and many others.
  • An accessibility-optimized browsing experience for alternative browsing devices

We have succeeded in creating a foundation for accessing college resources and tools that we can leverage over time to help foster a stronger sense of community.  We still have work to do, and are looking forward to watching where this project will take us over the coming years.