MixedReviews For “Connect”
The 2012-2013 school year saw a switch to the new portal ExeterCon- nect from Blackboard.Since April 2011, staff members from the Information Technology De- partment, faculty and students have worked together to plan, design, test and implement different facets of ExeterConnect, previously named Portal Phase II. The ExeterConnect project was co-sponsored by mathematics instructor Susan Keeble, Director of College Counseling Elizabeth Dolan and Director of Web Services John Burns.The project created much anticipation on campus, as it was advertised to combine the functionalities of different Academy websites such as Web- mail, Blackboard, and LionLinks, into one website that would not require multiple log-ins.In addition, a school-wide email sent out on October 6th outlined many innovative features that the website would bring, including the abilities to “connect directly to LionLinks screens and functions, view campus-wide announcements, access a new Who’s Who directory, and use a Google-like search for documents and other content posted to ExeterConnect.”Though the portal’s developers had a positive outlook, many members of the Academy community were disappointed to find that the site came with many kinks and bugs after years of development and testing.“I feel as though it is harder to access files. It's very slow, too,” upper Lloyd Feng said. “Certain things just don't load for some students sometimes. For example, my classes sometimes just never show up.”“I was supposed to turn in some movie responses and a paper through ExeterConnect, but it wouldn’t submit, so I just couldn’t get it to my teacher one time,” senior Elizabeth Gong said.Faculty members agreed and felt that the issues of ExeterConnect im- pacted their daily lives.English instructor Lark Hammond tried posting homework assignments on the calendar but found it “incredibly time-consuming both for myself and for my students. If there was any change I had to go in and out of each day in order to make a change, rather than just changing one document and re-submitting it,” she said.The difficulty of ExeterConnect’s functions have forced instructors to keep from using the new portal, countering its original intent to make online work at Exeter easier and more convenient.History instructor Giorgio Secondi said that he does not use the portal often. “I post materials like essay prompts or study questions before tests, and I use it to email classes. Sometimes, I’ve used the notes feature where you can write notes about the students and how they’re doing in the class. That’s about it,” he said.Science instructor Brad Robinson faced a similar situation. “I find myself using ExeterConnect to do a few very specific tasks, such as emailing my entire class or looking up information about a specific student. I also use it when I need to search for a person on campus to get their contact informa- tion,” he said.While some teachers used the portal minimally, others, such as health instructor Michelle Soucy, did not use the new portal at all, believing that much more work had to be done before the site’s functionality improved.“I never use ExeterConnect. It never seems to work right and is more of a hassle. I was used to BlackBoard, so it was easier for me,” Soucy said. “ExeterConnect had promise to be much better, but so far, I'm not seeing how it is.”
Like Soucy, many faculty and students believed that ExeterConnect was a retrograde from Blackboard, some labeling the new website as “Exeter Disconnect.”Hammond experienced inconveniences when email- ing her classes. “With Blackboard, I just went to my mas- ter screen for a class, clicked Communications, and then could easily select a whole class or just some members of it, or multiple classes. It felt quicker and more flexible.”Hammond said that now she “must click on each course, wait for it to load, then send the email, then click on the next course, wait for it to load, and then send another email.”Upper Class Representative Lloyd Feng agreed and had similar experiences. “I don't think students and teach- ers are aware enough of the tools of ExeterConnect to use if effectively. I knew how to get around with BlackBoard,”
he said. “As a class rep, I had to send out emails to the entire class, and it was easier, and I was more familiar with Blackboard.”Information Technology Services and Keeble could not be reached for response.Some offered suggestions to improve ExeterCon- nect.“One problem is that everything we post just goes into one folder called Course Materials. You have to re- load them if not to a class,” Secondi said. “Another thing really annoying is that sometimes the functions redirect me back to LionLinks, and then I have to re-login. Better integration would be good.”Despite Exeter’s negative reviews, some remained positive aboaut the future of ExeterConnect, noting the potential of the new portal.“I think we're going in the right direction by looking at ExeterConnect. We just have to spend more time look- ing at it and familiarizing the teachers and student body about ExeterConnect,” Feng said. “It is progress, but just not the progress that we hoped.”
Robinson said, “I am sure that as the bugs get ironed out and the possibilities become clearly I will use it more.”