UPT students build websites for NGOs

UPT students learn to build websites and help institutions and NGOs to have an online presence at the same time!

Annually, students Multimedia Technologies Master from the UPT carries out as a project, in the discipline Advanced Multimedia Technologies, a complex website with multimedia elements and database support, accessible on mobile phones, with encryption and security elements.

In the academic year 2017-2018, under the coordination of the tutors Diana Andone and Silviu Vert, the students created websites for projects and events within the UPT, but also for institutions and NGOs that expressed their need, by signing up for a call launched by the TechSoup Romania Association.

Organizations that have benefited from the students' work include: The Princess Margareta Foundation of Romania, the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society, the Triade Foundation, the Timișoara Regional Blood Transfusion Center and the "Aurel Solacolu" General School in Ogrezeni.

The students appreciated the highly applied value of the project, the challenge of communicating directly with the beneficiary, but also the teamwork with their colleagues, as can be seen from their feedback at the end of the semester:

The practical topic of designing a website seemed very useful to me, because you learn much more by doing everything practically ("learning by doing"), than having everything theoretically explained to you in the course and given some general examples. […] Out of a group of 5 students, 3 of us remained, but the communication between us was very good and we managed to complete the project successfully. It was honestly educational and fun. Daniel Costăchel, website Generations Community Center of the Princess Margareta of Romania Foundation.

Compared to other projects that ultimately did not benefit practically anyone, creating a website for an institution/NGO is a more complex experience, as there is also the pressure to adapt the work to the needs and wishes of people from the outside, but which proved to be satisfactory upon its completion. Bianca Sârghie, the blog With Eyes Open of Sorina Jecza (Triade Foundation).

Being one of the few chances received in college to work on a project with a useful end, I can say that it was a successful initiative, giving us the opportunity to understand more easily how a content management system works, and developing our spirit of team like this. Florin Topîrceanu, the website of the research project Open Virtual Mobility.

Organizations that benefited from student-developed websites also appreciated this way of working:

We appreciate this initiative and urge you to continue such projects to guarantee a real and applied experience for students. Students are very in control of their knowledge and have a very positive and constructive attitude. Florentina Popescu, Fundraising and Communication specialist, Princess Margareta Foundation of Romania.

It was wonderful when we received the call from you and found out that you were helping us with the need that we felt acutely, but that we didn't even know how to begin to solve. […] I think it was more difficult for the students because I didn't speak the IT language, but they translated everything for me and I really felt them involved in the process. The final result still needs to be hammered out, but that's because we asked them for something big. They didn't tell me it couldn't be done, but worked until we were all satisfied. Olga Popescu, PR Officer, Foundation for the Development of Civil Society.

The site looks professional, has a simple design and is easy to access. What arouses the visitor's curiosity and captures his interest is the attractive appearance of the site, through the color palette that creates harmony and inspires emotions. The site is very attractive to visitors and, above all, easy to use. We express our full appreciation and gratitude to the project team and wish them much success in their future work. Cristina Niță, director, “Aurel Solacolu” General School in Ogrezeni.

The complete list of developed projects and team members can be consulted on the discipline page Advanced Multimedia Technologies.