One shared workspace for EDUC

• Go to portal.educalliance.eu
• Select Login.
• Choose University of South-Eastern Norway as your home university.
• Sign in using your usual USN credentials.

Once you have signed in, the Portal recognises USN as your home institution and sets up your profile accordingly. You do not need a separate username or password for the Portal.

Next step: completing your profile

A useful profile makes it easier for people across EDUC to find you and understand what you study or work with.

Select your profile icon and open Settings. Under your personal information, you can add:

• a profile photograph
• your pronouns
• your contact information
• your location
• your preferred language and time zone
• a short biography
• links to a website or social media profile

Only add information you are comfortable sharing.

You decide who can see each piece of information. Check the visibility setting for each field.

The available visibility settings are:

• Everyone: visible to anyone who can access your profile link
• Logged-in users: visible only to people with an EDUC Portal account
• Hide: visible only to you

It is a good idea to review the accessibility and security settings when you first create your account.

• Under Appearance and Accessibility, you can choose a light, dark or high-contrast theme, activate a dyslexia-friendly font and adjust keyboard shortcuts.
• The Security section allows you to:
  • enable two-factor authentication
  • review the devices connected to your account
  • check current and previous sessions
  • configure passwordless access for trusted devices

The Contacts app works as a directory for the EDUC community.

To find someone:

• Open the Contacts app menu using the grid icon.
• Select Contacts.
• Search for a name in the global address book.
• Open the person’s contact card to see the information they have chosen to share.

You can add contacts to a team or share files and other resources with them. To begin a conversation or arrange a meeting, open the Talk app.

Teams are created and managed through the Contacts app. A team acts as a shared hub that connects people with the tools and resources they need.

To create one:

• Open Contacts.
• Select Teams.
• Select the plus symbol to create a team.
• Give the team a clear name.
• Add the relevant members.

From the team page, you can connect a chat, shared files, a calendar, a project board or a shared knowledge base. Resources can be shared with the whole team or with selected individuals.

The Portal contains several applications for different kinds of work:

• Talk is for messages, group conversations and online meetings. You can test your microphone and camera before joining a call.
• Files is for storing, organising and sharing documents. You can collaborate with other Portal users or create protected links for external participants.
• Collectives is a shared wiki for information that should remain structured and easy to find, such as meeting notes, decisions, procedures and project documentation.
• Deck is a visual project-management tool. It uses boards, lists and cards to organise activities and monitor progress.
• Calendar is for events, meeting proposals, deadlines and bookable appointment slots.
• Forms allows you to collect information from participants.
• Tables helps you organise, validate and manage structured information.
• Notes and Tasks can be used to organise ideas, reminders and work that needs to be completed.

Note: The different applications can be connected. For example, a team can have its own Talk conversation, Collective, Deck board, calendar and shared folder.

The Dashboard is the first page you see after signing in. It can display shortcuts and updates from the tools you use most frequently.

Select Customise to add or remove widgets.

Available widgets include:

• favourite files
• recent activity
• announcements
• upcoming events and tasks
• Talk mentions
• recent status updates
• EDUC Learning
• notes and project cards

You can also change the order of applications in the top and side menus through your settings.

Under Settings – Mobile & Desktop, you can download applications and connect your devices to the Portal. This allows you to synchronise files and calendars and use EDUC Portal Talk while on the move.