GWExtranet Improves Communication between Students and Teachers at New York Mills UFS
New York Mills UFS is a school district that serves the educational needs, from elementary to high school, of the community in Central New York. Sean Finnerty is not only a high school counselor at the New York Mills UFS, he is also a Technology Consultant. With a background in IT and some knowledge in software design and development, Finnerty was working on designing a calendar to meet the schools’ needs for a more efficient collaboration and better interaction with the community. Below, he explains why GWExtranet is an excellent solution that meets all his needs to publish information online directly from the GroupWise calendar:
"I wanted to be able to make school events and other information available online to everyone, but I didn’t want to have to publish it every time. I came across GWExtranet in the Novell Cool Solutions magazine. Unlike all other products I had tested, GWExtranet came with templates right out of the box. I wasn't required to do anything. Once the events have been entered into the GroupWise calendar, all I have to do is use the proxy access feature in GroupWise and all the information I want gets published on the web. It is available to anyone with a browser and doesn't require a GroupWise client or WebAccess.
"Currently, teachers are using GWExtranet to post homework assignments and other requirements for the students. I am planning on putting together a training session for all the staff members so that everyone may starts using it.
“GWExtranet is a great tool for any educational institution and I am recommending it to other schools in the area. It’s great that there is practically no learning curve for using GWExtranet – if you know how to use the GroupWise calendar, you can use GWExtranet – and there is no need to duplicate information that we want made accessible to the public.
"GWExtranet has brought us a lot of benefits by allowing us to stay in touch better with the community and to have improved communication between students and teachers. As the person administering GWExtranet, the greatest benefit I get from GWExtranet is that once I set it up, there is no management – it does what it is supposed to. That"s a real time saver," concludes Finnerty.
Sean Finnerty
School Counselor & Technology Consultant
New York Mills UFSD
