There are no required texts for this course. Recommended Readings are as follows

Module 1: Design

Students will research, explore and identify relevant prior work, conduct design research and gather user needs, interview campus stakeholders, and synthesize findings towards a series of proposed prototypes.

Key outcome: Design Research Synthesis Report and Prototype proposal

Deliverables: Precedents and background research, interviews, user needs analysis, personas and scenarios, experience maps, stakeholder analysis, constraints and requirements, timeline and work-packages (agreed with team as feasible).

Guest lectures: Two guest lectures will take place in this module. One lecture will survey the CMU perspective on needs and considerations for Distance Learning. The other will offer a complimentary stakeholder perspective from industry.

Module 2: Develop

Students will prototype and deploy a series of technology solutions that realize a smarter learning space for distance learners. Students will iterate and refine their prototypes to become deployable and testable solutions at CMU and SV.

Key outcome: Prototype implementation / intervention

Deliverables: Functional/Requirements Spec, System and Network Diagram, Physical Designs, User Guides, Bill of Materials, Code, Design Files, Video documentation.

Guest lectures: External industry guests will present technology cases and best practice for developing tools and tech to support distance learning experiences

Module 3: Deploy

First students will deploy and test their prototype in-situ as part of the living labs. Once deployed, students will design a study to evaluate the utility and success of their approach. They’ll conduct usability studies, focus-groups and controlled evaluations (user- and system-centered) of outcomes.

Key outcome: System evaluation and final report

Deliverables: Evaluation Methodology, Analysis, Evaluations Findings. Final Report.

Guest lectures: Guest will present on methods and strategies for the evaluation of educational technologies.

Deliverables

• Design Research: Students will evaluate stakeholder needs, design and material contexts as well as surrounding issues and considerations to motivate any solution prepared.
• Working Prototype: Students will develop a working prototype or intervention that will enhance close interactions for learners who are geographically distributed.
• Documentation of Implementation: The prototype should be accompanied by clear documentation of the technical implementation (code, design files) and strategy (explanation, rationale for solution) as well as guidance on its use (user or administrator guides to deploy/replicate setup).
• Evaluation: Students must design and implement a strategy for the evaluation of their solution. After conducting an (user- or system-centered) evaluation of the infrastructure, they will synthesize and report preliminary findings.
• Final Report: Students will be asked to prepare a minimum 5-page research paper on ACM format (suitable for presentation at HCI or related conference).
• Oral Presentation and Demonstration: The research paper and prototype will be presented to invited guests in lieu of a final exam.