Online Learning Management System - Case Study Example

Project and their Management Student’s Name Institution Date Project and their Management Deliverable B Project Aims and Objectives The project aims at developing an online learning management system (LMS) which will be utilized by student in online research activities and to develop a learning frame to support undergraduate courses. The project also aims at creating an online system that will incorporate the current provision of blackboard with the same features and new features which will enable the main users like students and staff to communicate more effectively. Most importantly, the project aims at providing students with 10GB of free cloud storage. The objectives of the projects are to raise £110, 000, improve content delivery, collect users survey from each end user on what they would like to see in the new system, and making sure that the system has the features that enable staff to upload files, to communicate with members of the module or group and staff directly with instant message support. Another most important objective of the project is to allow student to access their work wherever they are and preventing them from losing their course work. The strategies for ensuring the success of the project include auctioning old test books from the library and charity fundraising dinner, regular update of the system for student-staff interaction, and the creation part of the system that enables students and staff to have instant messaging, create module page for students to share work. Other strategies is the development of an easy to use tool to allow users to upload, modify files, communicate with instant message features, group chat features ,email features on the new system, and most importantly to provide student with a unique and Secured ID to login. List of Requirements The lists of requirements include functional, technical, and cost requirements. The functional requirements include the uploading of the various course materials and the availability of reminders for administrators in addition to student progress tracking. On the other hand, the technical requirements are: the system should be online and allow student-staff interaction. It should also have the upgrade capability and thus permit scaling up to meet the different needs of the School. Additionally, the system should be user friendly and accommodate many users that include students, lecturers, administrators, Librarians, learning technologists, and computer technicians. In reference to the user friendliness of the system, the system will mimic the current systems to allow users have an easy time in using it. It will also allow student-student interaction and allow the communication between lecturers and students. Also, the system should meet the regulations regarding accessibility and security in addition to having server backup data. Regarding cost, the system should be cost-effective (in terms of user licenses) and should be compatible with other affordable database management systems (DBMS). SWOT Analysis The strengths of the project include it will be easy to use, make learning more flexible for different types of learners. The management of the course will also be easy. Besides, some of the personnel for project administration are already available. The lack of quality material for learning may be the major weakness of the project in addition to the difficulties that users with disabilities may face. On the other hand, the system provides the opportunity for the creation of a learner-centred environment. The learning environment will also be incorporated with networking features. Another opportunity of the system is the creation of all rounded system that incorporates different systems features all into one central system. However, the project may take a lot of time to respond to the needs of the learner and is subject to competition from other established LMS. Besides, social networking tools (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) may take over some of the functionality of this LMS and thus reducing its relevance. The technological revolution is also big threat since it is hard to predict. Security of the software may also be an issue given that the system is new with unique design. References Some of the research sources that this project has consulted are Moodle, Blackboard, CompassLearning, and Sakai. a) Moodle: https://moodle.org/demo/ b) Blackboard: http://uki.blackboard.com/sites/international/globalmaster/ c) CompassLearning : https://compasslearning.com/ d) Sakai: https://sakaiproject.org/ Total Budget The budget will involve the various stages that include planning, system configuration, system integration, system testing and launching. The planning stage will involve the identification of the needs of all the user and we estimate it to cost 20% of the total budget. In the system configuration stage, the system design based on the user needs is done. The design is projected to cost 40% of the budget. Additionally, the system integration stage will involve putting other elements of the prototype and blueprint together. The integration stage will cost 30% of the budget. The system will then be tested and launched at the cost of the remaining 10% of the budget. In general, the total budget of the system is estimated to be in the range of £75,000-£90,000. However, additional cost may be involved in the training of the administrators and other course instructors on the use of the system so as to enable them to support learners. The system will also require evaluation to ensure all the needs identified in the planning stage are taken care of. However, other costs such as licensing fees have to be considered. Software Development Approach The project will use Waterfall given that the budget is aligned in various sequential stages. The development process is likely to be better documented since this methodology places greater importance on documentation like requirements and design. The waterfall model will allow the correction of errors made in the previous stage. The simplicity of the process also makes it a viable option given that resources are also limited. The model also allows us to see our progress based on client requirements. It is also easy to learn and to schedule. Furthermore, Waterfall development processes tend to be more secure because they are so plan oriented (Agarwal et al., 2010; Gibbs, 2006). Project Management Methodology For this project, the best management methodology is the use of PRINCE2. The methodology comes with several advantages including applicability to both big and small projects, it is readily available, manages project boundaries, and more importantly it adapts to change. PRINCE2 also provides a method for managing projects within a clearly defined framework, and describes procedures to coordinate people and activities in a project, how to design and supervise the project, and what to do if the project has to be adjusted if it doesn’t develop as planned. Additionally, PRINCE2 is sometimes considered inappropriate for small projects or where requirements are expected to change, due to the work required in creating and maintaining documents, logs and lists. Moreover, PRINCE2 is divided into manageable stages, the method enables an efficient control of resources. On the basis of close monitoring the project can be carried out in a controlled and organised way (Dalton, Best, & CIMA, 2008; Roudias, 2015). Reasons Why Not to use Agile In non-Agile models the requirements are very clear before entering into the development phases. Any change in the requirement is not easily accepted during the development phases. Addition, documentation is less in agile software development. Besides requirements are not very clear hence it is difficult to predict the expected result. The possibility of facing some unknown risks which can affect the development of the project also exists. In addition, you have to formally document the requirements, design, code, and testing cases during each phase of the software life cycle. Most importantly, in agile application users are NOT always accessible to you. Furthermore, agile management depends on an effective, day-to-day working partnership between the development team, the sponsor, and empowered users. If this partnership does not exist, or is likely to be weak, an agile project will face much higher risks than it should Product Breakdown Structure 1. Planning 2. System configuration 3. System integration 4. System migration 5. System testing 6. Launching/going Live Figure 1: Breakdown by product Breakdown by Activity 1. Planning 1.1 User Needs Assessment 1.2 User support 1.3 User communication 2. System configuration 2.1 User profiles 2.2 Domain 2.3 Audiences 2.4 Security/Administrator roles 2.5 Course catalogue 2.6 Course metadata 2.7 Evaluation/Assessment 2.8 Reports 2.9 Notifications 2.10 User competency levels 3. System integration (with) 3.1 Student Information System (SIS) 3.2 Staff Information System 3.3 Single Search-on (SSO) 3.4 Portal 3.5 Search Functions 4. System migration (from existing LMS-Blackboard) 4.1 Data quantity (Data User policy) 4.2 User data 4.3 Courseware migration 4.4 Course/Module data migration 4.5 Transcript migration 5. System testing (test all aspects against user needs) 6. Launching/going Live Figure 2: Breakdown by Activity Timeline for all activities Figure 3: Timeline for all activities Project Gantt chart Figure 4: Project Gantt chart Risk Analysis and Contingency Plans Internal Factors Mitigation Strategy Contingency plans Financial constraints Sticking to the budget Sourcing for additional sources of funds and/or seek additional partners Duplication of student and/or staff data Prevent data duplication Remove data duplication within a very short time Time constraints among members Plan meeting at times favourable for all members Meeting for longer period when significant is lost (extend meeting time) Lack/ little knowledge of the required IT skills Familiarization of some of the skills and knowledge necessary for the project competition May consult other professionals Inadequate data configuration Ensuring the LMS fits data requirements right from design ____ External Factors Mitigation Strategy Contingency plans Power outages Acquiring power backups for computer and other systems Backup power sources Corrupted resources/data Use data protection mechanisms and sticking to user data policy Creating (recreating) the data afresh Compatibility with other systems or hardware Ensuring the developed software is compatible in its design None Project Review The project plan so far has gone without significant challenges. The project timeline and guidelines are very favourable to our personal schedules. It allows each member to contribute without being left out. Changes may be necessary during data migration especially where copyright issues are involved. Based on the assumption that other data might be already available, the project plan included system migration and several data migration stages under it. In case, these are unavailable then the project will be completed early. For future projects, the quantity and the availability of the data to be migrated from an old learning management system should play part in determining how long the project takes before it is completed. This is because, the entire project is all about making data (content) easily accessible by learners and as such careful steps should be taken in determining the project duration and thus the cost. Before beginning the process, priority should be given to having all the core team members present to ensure the process runs smoothly. Also, in migrating data, the user data should be migrated first, followed by course data migration and then transcript migration. This not only ensures data is safe but also ensures data is configured properly in the new system. Prototyping Outline 1. Requirements/Needs Identification: the identification of desire input and output 2. Design: prototype design 3. Development; prototype development 4. Implementation 5. Testing 6. Evaluation: Review for prototype enhancement Figure 5: Prototype Development Bibliography Agarwal, B.B., Tayal, S.P., Gupta, M., 2010. Software engineering & testing: an introduction. Jones and Bartlett, Sudbury, Mass. Chavan, A., Pavri, S., 2004. Open-Source Learning Management with Moodle | Linux Journal [WWW Document]. URL http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7478 (accessed 10.29.15). Dalton, C., Best, N., Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, 2008. Integrated management. CIMA, Oxford. Gibbs, R.D., 2006. Project management with the IBM Rational Unified Process lessons from the trenches. IBM Press/Pearson, Upper Saddle River, N.J. Martín-Blas, T., Serrano-Fernández, A., 2009. The role of new technologies in the learning process: Moodle as a teaching tool in Physics. Computers & Education 52, 35–44. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2008.06.005 Roudias, J., 2015. Mastering principles and practices in PMBOK, PRINCE2, and Scrum: using essential project management methods to deliver effective and efficient projects. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Pearson Education/FT Press. Read More