By Danny Contreras
As CCSU students we have all used WebCentral Banner. I’m sure most of us have come to the same conclusion: it’s outdated.
It’s mostly a text-only website, with no design or fun interaction. It almost looks like a beginner website; some pictures and a lot of links. And while it is a helpful tool, it’s unappealing and unattractive. Enter: MyEdu (www.myedu.com), a website designed with the Facebook generation in mind that offers the same services as WebCentral Banner.
What stands out the most of MyEdu is its user interface. It’s easy on the eyes with a combination of light blue, white and black; not too flashy, yet not dull. Links are easily available and the lack of big pictures makes it easier for the site to load. Additionally, the site has a sidebar with helpful links ready to be used and make the experience easier. For example, in my home screen the sidebar, aptly titled “My Activities,” has under it the following links: Overview, Activity, Inbox and Requests. The best feature about this sidebar is that it uses HTML5 features to load the pages within the current page, cutting down on load time, allowing for faster navigation. This is great when you’re in college because every second counts.
The stand out feature offered by MyEdu of course is the scheduling application. It works fairly easy. You go to the app called “Class Schedules” and type in information about the class (like class code, professor, time, etc.). Eventually, after you schedule the classes, you get a spreadsheet with the schedule, a neatly organized one, ready to print and in color.
However, that’s not all MyEdu has to offer. Just like WebCentral Banner, MyEdu has a degree evaluation, in which you can input your classes, credits and other academic information and see how much more (or less) you have until you can graduate. This is great for those who do not understand the degree evaluation from WebCentral Banner, or those who do not understand their counselors. The evaluation is also really well organized. In order to supplement degree evaluation, MyEdu also offers degree timeline, a web app that tells you how long it’ll take for you to reach your degree.
Along with the aforementioned apps, there is a textbook app where you can find textbooks online, and a credits and courses app in which you can see what courses you can take without interfering with your major or the your time here. This is all condensed into one final app called “My Dashboard.” This app does it job well, it shows the work of all the previous apps in brevity and in a way that can be printed out, making it easier for when you have your advising meeting.
Finally, MyEdu allows for complete social networking. You can connect through Facebook and have friends see your schedule, which makes it a lot easier to plan hang out dates and such, and you can add friends on the website itself. This makes it easier for announcements and easier to find people in the same class as you.
In short, MyEdu is a great tool. Best yet, it’s finally free to use. It’ll help you a lot. It cuts down the time from the lackluster WebCentral Banner by offering simpler controls, vivid (yet not distracting) options and above all you can connect with friends. While you can’t use MyEdu to actually register for classes, it’s a better tool than WebCentral when it comes to registering for classes.