“Connect” is a new piece of online software aimed to help Ramapo’s students stay up-to-date in their academic life.
This new software is an easy way for students, specifically freshman, to “connect” with what is going on in their classes.
The system, functioning as a sort of hybrid between Moodle and an academic Facebook, can be found on the “My Ramapo” page.
“Connect” can be used as soon as students set up their profile, which can be done using the standard Ramapo username and login info.
The main hub of “Connect” is a scrollable feed, containing important updates and happenings from the student’s academic life. To the right of that is a list appropriately titled “Courses I’m Taking,” which contains info-like class schedules and professor’s profiles and emails. Students are also able to keep track of their class grades in this section.
Another feature of the program is “The Success Network,” which is a catalog of resources that allows the user to contact centers such CAAFYE or The Reading and Writing Center, allowing the student to have clear-cut access to help and guidance.
Students can also receive “Kudos” and “Flags” from professors. Kudos are positive marks, which a professor can send a student after a particularly good grade or successful project. Flags, on the other hand, will be sent to students if their grades are slipping or on the verge of failing.
As for now, “Connect” has only been made available to freshman, professors, peer facilitators and the peer advisors.
Despite the freshman class having been introduced to it in their First Year Seminars, some students are still unsure how to use it.
“Hey, it seems cool, but I still have no idea how to use it,” freshman JP Waugh said.
Peer advisors have a better grasp on the system and its functions.
“Once campus staff and offices get their profiles set up, it will be a convenient and helpful way for students to get help,” Matt Sham, a peer advisor, explained.
Because “Connect” is still in the beta stages of development, some peer advisors are worried of its usefulness until all the kinks are worked out.
Matt Ciccitta, also a peer advisor, believes that until “Connect” is completely perfected, “its usefulness will be severely limited.”
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jperlas@ramapo.edu
