To make communication, development and support easier, we’ve now given the Fast.Q project its own email for you to use. If you’d like to email the project team to discus the Fast.Q project, provide feedback, or just ask a question you can now contact us on:
Hope to hear from you soon!
Week 2 began with a meeting to discuss the requirements of the system and to begin designing the elements which would form the main backbone.
The mockup design sketches that were featured in the previous post were just prototypes of the system to try and allow us to visualise how we would deliver the core question and answer service. This week we have taken those designs and improved them to create what will be the first prototype system.
So today we started off by just writing down a few ideas for what the interface might look like and how it might function. We split this up into two sections, Student and Lecturer.
Once we got an idea of what we wanted the interface to be able to do we got started on some simple designs on of what we wanted the interface to look like. Boaz recommended that we use a tool called Mockups for some of the design. The use of this tool made it so much easier to put together designs using their drag and drop system. I didn’t have to spend time drawing all the different types of images/boxes since they already had most of them pre-made and ready for use.
Here are a few of the designs we came up with the use of this tool.
Lecture interface designs
Student interface Designs
Greetings!
Just a quick update on what is going on in terms of development this week.
The project officially kicked off on Monday when Peter and I met with John to discuss the project aims and objectives. We also discussed our individual strengths and weaknesses and informally assessed the group dynamic and the roles each of us will play during the project’s lifetime. Luckily we discovered our level of ability was on a par, and that this project would be a great (if sometimes steep) learning curve for the both of us.
This week will mainly involve setting up our workspace (including motivational “hang in there baby” posters for the hard times ahead) and deciding on a development schedule. Also we will be making decisions on the following important issues:
Welcome to the Fast.Q project!
Students! – Have you ever sat in a lecture thinking to yourself “I really haven’t any idea what this lecturer is talking about” promptly followed by “everybody else seems to get it so I will keep quiet and stick it out” promptly followed by “ok I REALLY don’t get this… lets play angry birds”.
Lecturers! – Have you ever been stood at the front of a room full of students, explaining a difficult concept (such as the ability to wake up early in the morning) and then asked the question “does this make sense to everybody?”. Chances are this is followed by a room full of blank faces and a general mutter of agreement. Later that day you receive emails from half of your students telling you that they didn’t understand the topic that you were explaining.
Fast.Q is an anonymous feedback system to be used by students during a lecture. This system will allow students to ask questions, or perhaps ask for some reiteration on a topic that they haven’t understood. It removes the need for students to be singled out from their peers and gives the lecturer some indication of the success of his session.