Project Development:

This week has been extremely successful as my team and I continue to push forward with developing our project. We have created a user story and product requirement document that details all the necessary features that we will be adding to our portion of Oppia’s website. Although I previously did not have experience in product development, my teammates did. I was able to learn from their previous experiences on what it takes to build a product while keeping the user at the forefront of our decision making process.

Given that Oppia is used internationally, we had the opportunity to have a Zoom meeting with an Oppia instructor in Palestine. This was an insightful meeting where the instructor detailed her experiences using Oppia, what she wished was on the site when she got started, and how her students engage with Oppia’s materials. It was also brought to my team’s attention that some of the students that the instructor is working with weren’t digitally literate (i.e., they were not familiar with how to use a keyboard, how to get to the browser and use it properly, how to “Google search” information, etc…) Keeping this in mind, we had to adjust our product requirement document to include basic information on how teachers and parents can help their students navigate the internet.

Challenges and Solutions:

One of the challenges we faced while creating the product requirement document was concrete ways parents and teachers can encourage their students. One of the suggestions that I made while we were discussing potential options is a milestone tracker and a calendar. Both would allow parents, teachers, and students to track their progress and outline their plans for the month. Additionally, teachers can create a reward system based off of these metrics.

Logistics:

We have now set up weekly half our meetings with the Oppia team where we discuss last week’s goals, what was accomplished this week, and future plans as we progress through the project. Additionally, my team and I have meetings 2-3 times a week to debrief on the group meeting with Oppia or discuss how we are going to divide up the work. Before each meeting begins we usually take a few minutes to discuss what the meeting goals for the day are and by the end of the meeting we assign everyone tasks.

Future Plans:

Next steps for this coming week is to wireframe our site using Figma and create video tutorials using Animaker. This week’s focus is creating the best UI/UX for the teachers and parents while also exploring user interface best practices. Although computer scientists our focus is mainingly on coding, it is important to always keep in mind who we are coding for and what their needs are.