Project Proposal
Website for SDSU Professor Jay Harris CompE 572
Terence Jones Red ID 806298513
EDTEC 541, Roberto Del Busto
10/15/2009
Background
At SDSU's College of Engineering professors are provided with web space with which to post information about themselves and the courses they teach. Basic designs are set up for the professors as a courtesy by the I.T. dept. Students researching or participating in an engineering major often are able to locate and contact professors regardless of enrollment status at SDSU. Professors often use the websites to distribute course materials and resources that would otherwise be limited to distribution during class time.
Problem
As use of the web space is optional, professors often use it only to post their picture and contact information; not every faculty member knows how to design web pages, nor do they have the interest or time to learn.
The web page often is the result of collaboration between a professor and an I.T. administrator, without the student's point of view taken into consideration. Wording, links, and filenames lack the consistency and naming conventions that provide an intuitive interface generally expect when browsing a web page. Students miss important material and professors avoid having to make changes as much as possible for lack of web programming experience.
Opportunity
These web pages are an untapped resource that could provide fast and simple communication between the students and professors. The same course materials are often distributed every semester, change very little in content, and the task of creating user accounts for security measures with each new class is not needed.
With the added touch of an instructional designer, the course web page could be laid out more objectively with both professor and student in mind. Less time would be required organizing material at the beginning of a semester and more time could be spent focusing on teaching and learning.
Audience
The primary audience of concern is the course professor and the students enrolled in the class. Second, would be any prospective students and members of the computer engineering department at SDSU. Additionally, since the website is accessible by the public on the internet, it is expected that the website will be viewed not only by prospective students, but by professors and students from other universities seeking supplemental material on related topics.
Users Needs
Availability:
Student's schedules are demanding and require a high degree of flexibility. Professor's schedules tend to be more predictable and regular in routine. Reconciling the two requires production and retrieval of course material in a centralized location accessible by both, but at different times of day and location. Where students tend to do a majority of their studying in the evening hours at multiple locations, professors tend to keep regular daytime business hours in the same places every day.
Organization:
Users need an organized presentation of course materials so that as information is added, subtracted, or changed they need only to go to one place rather than the class, the web, and a professor's office. Students need to be able to quickly identify and prioritize between a course syllabus, homework, projects, and due dates. Professors need to be able to modify information quickly with minimal effort.
Communication:
Users need a fast, centralized, and unrestricted method of communication. Students inevitably miss a class or a professor needs to make last minute changes before an assignment is due before the next session. Often users not enrolled in a course are restricted by unnecessary passwords and security, when all they need is a syllabus and course details to prepare for a coming semester.
Environment and Tools
Locations users will be accessing the website from include the SDSU campus, off campus away from home, and from home. Users will be using laptop or desktop computers, MAC or Windows platforms and standard internet browsers. There will be no password or user account required and the website will be available on a server operating 24/7. The server is maintained by the SDSU engineering department, separate from SDSU's Rohan or Blackboard systems.
Resources and Limitations
The existing resources that will be used to implement this project consist of webpage editing software, existing electronic media files, scanning tools to create new media, internet access, and a computer. Optional resources may include a digital camera, scanner, camcorder, and video editing software such as Adobe Design Suite or MS Movie Maker.
Known limitations of implementing this project include unrestricted access to course material by the public. Content that should have access controlled by a user account or password should not be placed on this website. Space on server is limited to 2GB.
General Solution
The solution being proposed is centered on redesigning the existing website to optimize benefits for the broad range of users. These benefits include availability 24/7 and communication of content that is centrally organized and can be updated by a professor during a class.
Contents, filenames, and directories will be reorganized and renamed in a fashion that is more intuitive to the user. Since the audience ranges from professor, to student, to the general public, the design of the web pages will be similar to what is commonly found on the internet. This will include sidebars, menus, media content, and links to other websites.
The artistic layout will be biased towards the college age student in mind. The interface will be made as attractive and thematic as possible. Despite the complexity of the subject, the student should feel they are in the right place acquiring materials important for the class, and not wasting their time downloading, opening and closing items they are not sure they even need. Overall it will have the appearance of clarity and organization which tends to foster confidence in the student and effective instruction by the professor.