OneBrock, a private platform for faculty and staff content, launched Wednesday, April 20. The new SharePoint intranet makes Brock University’s internal communication, collaboration and organization easier and more efficient.
OneBrock is a great platform for departments to share their information with all faculty and staff.
“Moving to the Microsoft SharePoint platform in the cloud opens up many more opportunities to enable effective and secure collaboration,” said Information Technology Services Associate Vice-President David Cullum.
“OneBrock moves internal content off of the external Brock website and directly onto the desks of faculty and staff,” said Gord Hunchak, Executive Director, Marketing and Communications, “This SharePoint platform keeps the internal information internal, and allows the Brock website to focus on messages and content for our external audiences.”
In the initial rollout of OneBrock, faculty and staff will be able to visit department sites to access operational content and collaborate through the use of Office 365 tools. While my.brocku.ca still supports access to administrative systems and password resets, Bulletins have been moved to OneBrock Announcements. Following soon, team sites will be developed allowing document management and collaboration within departmental teams.
OneBrock is fully integrated into Office 365 so that work and learning tools are available at any time using your Brock credentials. Tools include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive cloud storage, OneNote, Sway, Power BI and Yammer (Brock’s private social network).
“The tools offered in Office 365 open up a whole new world for teaching and learning, collaboration and communication. Tools such as Yammer and OneDrive for Business offer powerful functionality inside and outside of the classroom in a secure manner. Tools that can be used anytime and from anywhere,” Cullum said. OneBrock and Office 365 can be used on any device and are mobile ready.
SharePoint and the Office 365 tools are being evaluated for teaching and learning with positive results.
“Students and faculty in PCUL 5V67 welcomed the ease of use of SharePoint. The integration with existing Office 365 tools created a seamless experience for students. Yammer proved a big hit, as it provided a social media option for the course that was accessible, ad-free, and worked seamlessly across devices. It meant that the collaborative space of the course was one that was fully mobile, easily accessible and super engaging,” said Scott Henderson, Chair of the Department of Communication, Pop Culture and Film.
Faculty and staff are encouraged to attend a session on April 22 from 2-2:30 p.m. to learn more about OneBrock. Register through Human Resources Focus on Learning site.
