Techy people - tell my learners about your job... (please)

[leiafee]

Been doing things

Update by the learners on how they're getting on...

http://ourlearning.wordpress.com/tag/project/

[Boing_737]

Very cool . I hope they get a lot out of trying to use Scrum! Have you tried planning poker yet? It's quite good fun and gives them an easy mechanism to size their user stories...

[leiafee]

I think it's doing them a lot of good. The first few days were bedlam with tutors mainly acting a whippers-in to get work started and things done, but by the middle of the second week they were very slick at organising themselves.

Possibly it's a fluke I got a good group right when I started trying this but they are much much more motivated than usual. The clock watching on the whole has gone away, when I walk back in after break times it's already Scratch, the program they should be using back on the screen, instead of sodding YouTube. The new group that started after them keep eyeballing over at them looking positively envious and asking when they can get to that bit.

I went for a two week length for their sprints, and I think I'll do a few skills session before starting the next one to tackle issues that have come up that need a bit of polish. A few group working things need addressing, getting clear requirements down is one, and some tactics for making a sensible job of breaking down what scripts belong as part of what objects. (And on that last, if you'd told me when the idea for the project crossed my mind that I end up having to explain code refactoring to my learners, or that the prompt to do so would come from THEM pointing out where they'd got in a muddle I would have laughed!)

[leiafee]

Following a similar sort of idea we're starting looking at Apps (App Inventor is similar enough to the Scratch they've been using to work well I hope)

They're doing very very initialy brainstorming. If anyone feels inclined to help them rate their ideas by usefulness the first survey is here

The idea is that they pick the top three to do problem problem analysis and market research on then use that to narrow it down to one to develop through design and prototyping.