THE ROLE OF NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS IN COMPUTER SUPPORTED COLLABORATIVE WORK AT HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Higher Education Institutions have implemented Information Systems to support different activities in the learning environment with special interest in managing academic records. The ability to notify users in the advent of events, actions and updates made in the Information System represents an essential function of an Information System. This paper presents the role of Notification Systems in computer supported collaborative activities and their coordination, with the goal of improving the productivity and effectiveness of stakeholders. A case study of the Development of a Notification System for the Academic Records Management System at the School of Engineering, Makerere University is discussed. The Academic Records Management System architecture was based on the divide and conquer and mind your own business system design philosophy with e-Service centres tailored to meet the needs of a specific category of stakeholders; the Student’s e-Service Centre, the Internal Course Examiner’s e-Service Centre, the Management Information System and the Administrator’s e-Service Centre for the Systems Administrator. Integration of notifications pertinent to the informer needs of the varied stakeholders in the event of updates and reminders was considered fundamental to enhancing the productivity and effectiveness of the academic records management function.