Customizing an Open Source Web Portal Framework in a Business Context : Integrating Participatory Design with an Agile Approach

In this thesis, we have investigated how an open source web portal can be used in a business context. This investigation required development of components for a web portal to meet the company’s needs. The motivation for this thesis was to design a web portal to organize the rapid growth of information and to improve the communication both internally and externally. The company that we collaborated with experienced expansion of the working staff, as well as in the customer base. Because the requirements for the web portal were uncertain, the development demanded a lot of communication and collaboration between us, as developers, and the company. With help from the Agile methodology and Participatory Design we were able to clarify the requirements and to overcome the problems during the development. We have especially utilized Agile’s Extreme Programming method as the developing technique. We argue that by applying this method in the given context, we attained the necessary foundation needed for the successful realization of the project. In addition, in situations where we supplemented it with techniques from Participatory Design; we gained a better understanding of the components to be made

Promoting Andean children's learning of science through cultural and digital tools

Conference Theme: To see the world and a grain of sand: Learning across levels of space, time, and scaleIn Peru, there is a large achievement gap in rural schools. In order to overcome this problem, the study aims to design environments that enhance science learning through the integration of ICT with cultural artifacts, respecting the Andean culture and empower rural children to pursue lifelong learning. This investigation employs the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) framework, and the Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology using an iterative process of design, implementation and evaluation of the innovative practice.published_or_final_versio