The University of Algarve (UAlg) has recently benefited from an increase in the bandwidth available for access to the Science, Technology and Society Network (RCTS), from 1Gbps (gigabits per second) to 10 Gbps. This upgrade was carried out by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), through the Foundation for National Scientific Computing (FCCN).
This increase in gigabits allowed UAlg to comply, from the outset, with the guidelines of the General Directorate of Health and the Portuguese Government, starting, since March 16, to operate almost entirely in a telework regime.
To this end, «the investment made in new technologies in the recent past contributed greatly, allowing greater flexibility and mobility for all members of the Algarve Academy», explains the University, in a press release.
"When it was perceived that the only possible way to ensure the functioning of the Institution would be through teleworking, UAlg's IT Services put in place a plan to extend the access of IT resources to the homes of each student, teacher and employee", he adds. the note.
Joel Guerreiro, Director of IT Services, explains that «at first, the support service was organized so that, preferably remotely, the configuration of the workstations that would be used could be supported».
«VPN (virtual private network) access was made available to the Institution and the voice communications system was configured, allowing anyone, while teleworking, to receive and make telephone calls through UAlg's internal and external contact numbers», he adds.
“At a time when social isolation is essential, the collaboration between all members of the Academic Community needs to be done in an even more efficient way”, stresses the university.
To this end, they were made available in a second phase, through the Microsoft Teams, spaces for collaboration, organized for the most diverse services, work groups, research centers and for all curricular units in operation.
To facilitate the work of teachers, in their daily interaction with their students, IT Services integrated the Moodle platform (electronic tutoring system) and the Zoom application (videoconference application) into Microsoft Teams, thus providing an integrated solution for teaching the distance.
Also in the field of distance learning, UAlg also has available tools for conducting tests, in a safe mode, on its electronic tutoring platform, allowing for the normal performance of assessment tests.
With a strong investment in the area of virtualization, access to virtual computer classrooms was also made available, from home, to all teachers and students.
To maximize the use of this wide range of solutions, a space was created on the UAlg intranet that channels users to the various tools, and manuals and explanatory videos directed at the user were made available.
This strategy was reinforced with internal distance training, carried out by the IT Services.
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