User:DeathisOmega/sandbox

Introduction

InYourClass (IYC) is a higher education virtual classroom environmental platform to facilitate the flow of information, ease of communication over a network , and provide a method of interaction amongst University Institutions, students, and professors.

The idea for the InYourClass platform originated from three Albanian immigrants studying at and ultimately completing their undergraduate degrees from The City College of New York (CCNY). Arber Ruci, Chief Executive Officer, Fani Maksakuli, Chief Technology Officer, and Ari Xhelo, Chief Creative Officer. Ruci came up with the initial concept of IYC, while Maksakuli and Xhelo co-funded the project.

According to Ruci, the objective of this platform is to predominantly bridge the gap between studentsí social and educational lives. The team perceived a huge gap between the Learning Management System (LMS) platform and students’ college experience. The InYourClass platform creates a different education environment that has real information available, which seems to be lost in other LMS platforms.

History

During 2009, Ruci, Maksakuli, and Xhelo were studying while navigating Facebook and Blackboard, eventually bringing about the idea of combining the social networking quality of Facebook with the academic-content of Blackboard; structuring that system into one platform focusing on the educational and social needs of students..

In Fall 2010, the three friends decided to move forward with their idea and participated in The Baruch College and Merrill Lynch Invitational Entrepreneurship Competition. The winners from the competition were from Baruch College and Columbia University. According to the judges, the team lacked business skills placing fourth, receiving ìBankable Business Planî by Edward G. Rogoff as a consolation prize. Though not winning the competition, they continued working towards improving the new platform. As a result of the questionable outcome, the IYC team tried to reach out to as many administrators as possible at The City College, ultimately receiving assistance from CUNY itself. Part of their support came from advisors offering them moral advice and feedback.. Their main advisor was their previous economic professor at the time, Kevin Foster. President Lisa Coico, newly installed at The City College offered additional funding for the project.

During 2011, A top level representative from Stanford University was meeting CUNY administration at the City College campus; part of a future joint effort to implement a science campus in New York City, as part of then [Mayor Bloomberg's] push towards improving New York City's position in technology. The IYC team approached the administrator and presented their site and ideas they were planning for improvement of their platform in the future. The administrator was intrigued with their ideas and design, offering them a consulting contract to make a similar platform to replace, or to compliment the one currently available at Stanford.

Summer of 2012, while working with Stanford University, the team continued working to expand IYC to be used in CUNY campuses, and eventually, bridge to other universities. The critical complication they faced with IYC was trying to get students and professors to join the site. Therefore, they approached CUNY's chief information officer, Brian Cohen, to present the proposition to integrate InYourClass with the CUNY portal login information. They highlighted that functionality of the site was allowing for students and professors to connect in their respective campus and across other CUNY campuses. By making an integrated system with the CUNY Portal, the InYourClass site could be accessed using the standard CUNY login information utilized by all CUNY students for a variety of collegiate tasks.

Marketing Campaigns

During October 2012, the team launched their initial give-away marketing campaign; 10 ipad minis to 10 randomly selected new users. Working with CUNY administration, targeted emails were sent to each student and reinforced by frequent reminders from President Coico of The City College. By the end of 2012, IYC had been implemented in four pilot schools, all within the City University of New York; The City College of New York, Kingsborough Community College, CUNY School of Professional Studies, and Lehman College. At this point, they were serving approximately 20, 000 users across those campuses. They eventually expanded to additional CUNY campuses: Brooklyn College, York College, CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies, and William E. Macaulay Honors College at CCNY. With the new additions, it was expected that IYC would soon be serving approximately 500,000 CUNY students in the near future.

Other LMS Platforms Comparisons and Feedback

The Learning management system (LMS) is a software application used by academic institutions for administration, documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of e-learning education courses or training programs. This is now one of the fastest growing software sectors over the last decade with many platforms competing to control the education market. LMS platform market consists of high competitors such as Blackboard, Digication, OrgSync, Moodle, Piazza, Edmodo, MOOCs, and others.

Critics compare IYC as derivative of these other LMS platforms and/or comment that it may be an imitation of the popular social networking platform, Facebook. InYourClass, bridges the gap between a studentsí social and educational life, and it is intended to be used primarily as a campus communication tool. Other LMS platforms were solely designed to satisfy the studentsí academic requirements. IYC was initially conceived as a joint social networking and educational platform; a place where students could be comfortable having a social presence online in an institutionally academic environment. The IYC platform was designed to simulate three layers of community within the campus setting; such as the class or group community, the campus community, and university community as a whole. They utilize popular social media web features, which are mostly used to make the experience feel familiar and easy as students navigate the IYC site. Students were found to subtly divide their online presence into three concentrations in their life, identified as the social, academic, and business/employment identity. The IYC platform therefore as well creates a place where users (students) can integrate their three main online identities that are complimentary to one another; social media identity (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, & etc), business/employment identity (Linkedin) and academic identity( Blackboard, Moodle, Mooc, and etc).

Developments and Advancements

Currently, the IYC team is working with both Stanfordís platform at Stanford University and the InYourClass platform with CUNY.. The team relies heavily on feedback and advice from students, faculty, and advisors to implement improvements and advancements to the IYC site. CUNYís chancellor, William P. Kelly, has fully supported IYC, envisioning administrative use of the platform for announcements and information for both students and faculty.

The IYC team is currently expanding their ideas for further development and continuing in advancements to the platform. Their next step is to integrate with CUNYís wide system CUNYFirst.. Another integration they are looking into is partnering with CUNY Athletic Conference to bring all CUNYACís events and information onto the IYC platform. Also, the team is exploring the creation of an IYC mobile application for cell phones.

External Links

• Official website