Technology for Community

Liz Jessupand all of the

Technology for Community students

Development Center

University of Colorado at Boulder

•Each student group paired with a local community service organization.

•Build computational solution to organization’s problem.

Students use computers to do community service

Project ideas generated in Innovation Workshop.

Technology, Arts and MediaCertificate Program

• Encourage learning of technical skills

• Open to all CU students

• Multidisciplinary

Projects, page 1

• Sojourner School– Transcriptor– Research Wizard– Latino Leaders Tutorial

• Boulder Senior Center– Introductory Computing Tutorial– Caregivers’ Resource Site

• Boulder Valley School District– Sombrero Marsh Database

Projects, page 2

• Build Boulder (Parrish Construction)– Resource Exchange Site (begun Spring 2001)

• University Hill Neighborhood Association – Landlord/tenant rating site

• Community Foundation– Non-profits scheduling calendar– Volunteer Connection site rework

Introductory Computing TutorialBoulder Senior Center

Non-profits Scheduling CalendarCommunity Foundation

Continued Involvement

Most project sponsors remain enthusiastically involved.All workshop attendees are invited to final presentations.Our community is growing by word of mouth.

The need for computational services is enormous!•Student interest is there •Multidisciplinary expertise is needed•Teaching resources are limited

Outline Revisited

• Community involvement

• Student introductions

• Who is in the course?

• Course methodology

• Projects overview

• The conclusion

• Susan Bogner– Senior, Spanish/Secondary Education, TAM Student

• Jimmy Barkley– Senior, Computer Science

• Megan Salsbury– Senior, Journalism

• Kelli Krug– Senior, International Affairs, TAM

• Eric Hicks– Junior, Electrical Engineering

University of ColoradoStudent Team

Why We’re Here:

• Community Service

• Collaborate with peers of a different background

• Use technical skills to help community

• Exposure, Hands-On, Involvement

Outline Revisited

• Community involvement

• Student introductions

• Who is in the course?

• Course methodology

• Projects overview

• The conclusion

Development Center

• Opens up technology class to women

• CU’s program in particular:– Reaches out to community– Takes ALL skill levels

• Acknowledges that everyone plays a role

Development Center Stats

• Over 3 semesters:– 47.5% Female enrollment

– 27.5% Computer Science

– 40% Engineering (includes CS)

– 60% Arts and Sciences, Journalism and Communication, Business

– 35% TAM

Outline Revisited

• Community involvement

• Student introductions

• Who is in the course?

• Course methodology

• Projects overview

• The conclusion

Guestbook

• Utilized Microsoft Access and Macromedia Dreamweaver/UltraDev– Tutorials

• Contributed to a common language

• Appreciation for technical skills

• Thinking Environment Techniques– Inherent and essential

Task-Centered Design

1. Figure out who’ll use the system to do what

– audience

– purpose

– develop tasks

2. Plagiarize

3. Prototype

4. Build, Test, Fix

5. Repeat #4 as needed

C. Lewis and J. Reiman, 1993

Good task statements guide good design

• Good TaskGood Task Judy, the events coordinator for PT School,

accidentally entered the wrong date on her last calendar posting. She wants to be able to correct the error.

• Bad TaskBad Task Fred wants to know what’s going on with Boulder

non-profits these days. He’d like a vertical on-line listing of all activities that’s easy to scroll through.

Evaluation

• Good design = Thorough evaluation

• Results can be disappointing

• Always keep user in mind

Three types of evaluation

• In increasing order of importance,– Heuristic evaluation – Cognitive walkthrough– Thinking aloud

• Three methods identify different types of problems

Thinking aloud

• Goal is to find usability problems

• Set up a testing environment

• Tester performs a number of tasks

• Tester encouraged to verbalize thought process

• Scribes record thoughts

Thinking Environment

• Features– All contributors as equals– Appreciation, Attention, Ease

• Applications– Thinking Aloud evaluations– Diverse groups

Outline Revisited

• Community involvement

• Student introductions

• Who is in the course?

• Course methodology

• Projects overview

• The conclusion

Sombrero Marsh Project

Boulder Valley School District

Sombrero Team

• Andy Yonker– Fine Arts– Graphics development

• Ginny Gaige– Speech Pathologist– Database/Facilitator

• Jonathan Bowman– Computer Science– Coding/Database

• Megan Salsbury– Journalism/Advertising– Design/Organization

Sombrero Marsh: The Client

• Boulder Valley Public Schools– 57 Schools– 27,000 Students– Sees the marsh as an exciting learning tool– 4th grade: 2 weeks of in-school diversity of life

curriculum.

Problem Statement

• Meet the state science standard

• Explore diversity by changing various parameters in a bio-system

Our Approach to Sombrero Problem:

Example Task

“Sam, who is nine, wants to discover the implications of a high snow-melt runoff year at the marsh.”

Hold for Sombrero

SCREEN SHOT #1

Hold for Sombrero

SCREEN SHOT #2

Hold for Sombrero

SCREEN SHOT #3

Interface Design

• Large, easy-to-click buttons

• Specific, step-by-step directions for usage!

• Colorful, image-centered design

• Clear exit!

• Simple terminology/visual representations

Boulder Senior CenterBoulder Senior Center

A Caregiver’s Online Guide and Information Center

BackgroundBackground

• Boulder Senior Center– Hub for Senior Resources and Caregiver Info– Provides lifestyle assistance to those in need– Helps “Caregivers” aid their loved ones

• Caregiver- responsible for the care of an injured or elderly person.

Our Team• Jenn Howland

– Advertising Senior

– Adds artistic and creative perspective

• Sean Klassen– Sociology Junior

– Contributes extensive web page design knowledge

• Eric Hicks– Electrical Engineering Junior

– Strong computer background

Our Contact

• Sandy Hollingsworth– Senior Services Staff Member– Passionate about helping others– Many years of experience– Very easy to work with

           

Project Goals

• Create a custom web site based on caregiver needs

• Prioritize “ease of use” and “update capability”

• Educate the future “web developers”

• Create a non-threatening and useful site!

What We’re Not Going to Do

• Be “another” Caregiver Site1. Caregiver.com

2. Caregivers.com

3. Caregiving.com

What We Have Done

• Create a very simple site that Boulder Senior Services can update easily.

Sojourner School Projects

Presented by

James Barkley

Susan Bogner

Kelli Krug

Sojourner at a glance

• A new charter school

• Community & experience-based learning

• Self-directed projects

• Diverse, bilingual learners

• Lacks resources to maintain a full library

• Integrates technology in the classroom

• Bilingual community of learners

Team Latino

• Cesar Kokoletzi– Spanish for the Professions, TAM

Certificate– Research, content, web

• Kelli Krug– International Affairs, TAM Certificate– Client contact, design, content

• Kendall Pata– Fine Arts, Women’s Studies Minor– Design, content

Latino Leaders

• On-line Latino biography resource

• Targeted for middle school students

• Links to established resources

Sample Task

• Maya, a 7th grader, has to write a research paper on a Latino Leader of her choice. Because she is interested in activists, her teacher recommends that she research Ana Castillo.

Team Wizard

• James Barkley– Computer science– Webmaster, project site mgr., design

• Susan Bogner– Spanish/Education– Content, translation, design

• Anna Welch– Spanish/Journalism– Content, translation, design

Wizard project

• On-line research tutorial

• Targeted to middle school students

• Most of content bilingual (English/Spanish)

Our approach

• Kid-friendly design

– Lots of “fun” &

– Chalkboard maintains school theme

– Very simple navigation

Wizard organization

• Starting your project• Links by topic• Academic references

• Understanding your computer

• Local resources• Putting it together

6 main topics

Sample Task

• Kelly, a 6th grader, just finished her research paper on African music. She has over six sources but doesn’t know how to cite her work.

Usability testing

• Reflect on design problems & inconsistencies– Home page

• Rollovers given embossed shadows

• Rollovers needed explanation text

– Internal pages• Decided to use text-rollovers in place of graphics on

navigation bar

• Redesigned pop-up windows for links outside our site

– Navigation• Clear consistency in page headers with both graphics & text

Achievements

• Long-term relationship– Transcriptor, Research Wizard, Latino Leaders

• Closer collaboration with teachers and students

• Influence curriculum

• Will present site to students and faculty

Outline Revisited

• Community involvement

• Student introductions

• Who is in the course?

• Course methodology

• Projects overview

• The conclusion

What we learned,

• Improved project management skills

• Diversity gives students life lessons

• Community focus is rewarding

• Diverse teams make better projects

• How thinking environment contributes to group experience

Thank You!

For more information, visit http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~jessup/CSCI2830/Display.htm