FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Chiang Mai University aims to go fully digital by next year

Chiang Mai University aims to go fully digital by next year

Focus on internet infrastructure and software for students, staff

Chiang Mai University is taking steps to transform itself by adopting digital technologies in terms of both hardware and software. 
CMU is building up its technology infrastructure to help its lecturers, students and staff carry out their tasks, while providing digital facilities throughout the university, inside and outside the classroom. 
It aims to become a full-fledged “digital university” by next year. 
University president Niwes Nantachit said that to accomplish this, CMU had been transforming itself in five key areas: digital infrastructure, digital learning, digital administration, digital students and staff, and digital security.
TOT has set up a wireless network throughout the university’s three campuses with 2,700 Wi-Fi access points. CMU is also connected to the Internet through fibre optics at a speed of 5 gigabits per second and invested in a data centre where the university’s digital learning system is located. 
The digital learning system consists of three main parts: IT for English, CMU Online and ITSC Corner. 
CMU Online consists of a 1,300-unit courseware developed and located at the university’s data centre. 
ITSC Corner is a learning centre with all-in-one personal computers located and high-speed Internet connections. It provides 1,090 PCs in the total of 47 ITSC Corners located at the faculties and student dormitories throughout the university so students can undertake ICT-integrated learning every day until midnight. 
“The corners are designed to be learning centres for students in the digital environment. Students can use PCs and the Internet for their studies,” Niwes said.
Meanwhile, IT for English is an essential part of being a digital university because English is a necessary skill-set in the digital era. Therefore, the university provides information-technology facilities to encourage students to improve their English. For example, it develops mobile applications to allow students to learn English themselves as well as to facilitate lectures to embed this application into the class. 
The college blends the local culture into learning through its initiative “Lanna Culture in Context of English”. The university also applies game-based learning in English courses. 
The university’s digital administration system, CMU EIS (executive information system), provides business intelligence for the university’s executives. 
“CMU aims to be a university of excellence. We seek to enhance both the quantity and quality of research and development projects conducted at CMU. The increasing number of our international students reassures us that we are successfully working towards our goal of providing world-class education,” Niwes said.
The institution provides facilities and services to its students and staff in order to encourage them to become “digital student” and “digital staff”. It provides smart learning and smart classrooms, both physically and online. For example. students can do self-learning and practise themselves via an online knowledge centre. 
Moreover, it has developed mobile applications to make it easier for lecturers, students and staff to interact with the university and its stakeholders. Currently, there are six apps available: CMU News, Calendar, CMU Portal Connect Service, e-Doc Mobile Alert Service, CMU Online Service, and CMU Broadcast Service. 
Thanomporn Laohajaratsang, director of CMU’s Information Technology Service Centre (ITSC), said the university had been investing in technology for decades in order to stay at the forefront of digital technology. 
“CMU’s digital-technology deployment has been rapidly moving forward because of the new model of investment, [shifting] from investing on our own to co-investment between the university and its partners. 
“Most recently, CMU has [cooperated] with TOT to turn CMU into an [Internet] connected university in a short period of time. Digital infrastructure is the foundation of becoming a digital university. Now, every area of the university is connected,” Thanomporn said.
She said CMU was using this digital transformation to maintain its position as a leading regional university.
 
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