Course Title

GSE-T522 - Educational Software Project Design

Institutional Affiliation

Technology, Innovation, and Education, Harvard University

Course Description

Students will
Experience firsthand the iterative design process with your own software project. Start with an educational problem - past projects have dealt with everything from the difficulty in teaching fractions or Shakespeare to students' lack of financial literacy to overcoming the U-curve in drawing. Investigate the research, practice, and theory that highlight proven ways to address the problem. Establish a vision of success: What does successful learning look like? Develop (with help) an idea and modify it. Move from idea to software prototype (again with help) and continue testing and revising.

This course takes you through the entire design and prototyping process in a supportive environment. Lectures and class presentations will dissect the design process through commercial products and the projects you are creating.

Students will learn the design and development process, from initial concept through final implementation. Working in groups, students will propose and design a prototype of educational software and validate and revise that prototype through at least one round of testing. Lab time (using Flash MX or other appropriate development tools) will be devoted to the development of the prototype to give students a hands-on feel for software implementation.

Last Sessions

Fall 2005

Links

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/academics/catalogue/display_course.shtml?vcourse_id=T522&vtermcode=2005-1S
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/academics/catalogue/courses/subject_courses_by_num.shtml?vsubdept=Technology+in+Education