Fine+Design

= Dr. Bridgie Ford and Dr. Denise Stuart = = Center for Urban and Higher Education = || assistance in completing work and reinforcing learning. Parents search for resources to support their children in efforts to achieve in school and develop __#|academic__ dispositions and skills. Where can they go for support that best meets their need? Services are school, community and church related but how can they learn about these? There is a need for a centralized source to find out what is available to families for homework and other __#|tutoring__ support. We propose developing a central resource, easily searchable (ex: location, content, grade level) and accessible (via digital access of QR code). Bookmarks, flyers and other information material can be made available in libraries and other school community locations so that information can be accessed with smart __#|phones__. The QR code would take visitors to the searchable data base of resources in order to best meet their homework help and tutoring needs. ||
 * ~ = Homework and Tutoring Resource Interface =
 * ** What is the need for instruction? ** || Students often engage in their homework assignments on their own and could benefit from
 * ** Who is the target audience? ** || The Akron area school community is the audience for this project with accessibility to information made easy with the technology. ||
 * ** What is the anticipated size/scope of the project? ** || This is a unique project in that it involves seeking and organizing existing resources such that they can be searched digitally. The idea is that these resources could be added to over time and adjusted as support programs started or ended. ||
 * ** Are there known delivery constraints? ** || A website would be developed to organize the information and make it searchable for the community. Access to this website would be through a QR code as well as web address. Bookmarks, cards and flyers would be developed and distributed to inform the community of this developing resource. ||
 * ** Would members of the target audience be available so that the team could conduct a formative evaluation? ** || Yes, the Center for Urban and Higher Education (CUHE) has a Board of Directors, an advisory board and a group of center fellows who would be available to review and critique the project along the way. ||


 * = Initial Status Report = ||
 * [[file:FineDesignISR.pdf]] ||


 * = Team Progress Reports = ||
 * 1. [[file:ProgressReportMarch20.pdf]] ||
 * 2. [[file:ProgressReportMarch25.pdf]] ||
 * 3. [[file:ProgressReportApril9.pdf]] ||
 * 4.[[file:ProgressReportApril23.pdf]] ||


 * = Our Final Paper: = ||
 * [[file:FineDesignFinalPaper.pdf]] ||

= Akron Area Resources = ||
 * = Our Final Project: =

media type="youtube" key="I6t3hBRCrLY" width="560" height="315" || media type="youtube" key="IqFWhYChrD4" width="560" height="315" || media type="youtube" key="4S5r8M5JW6w" width="560" height="315" || media type="youtube" key="bh2g54kNOy0" width="560" height="315" || media type="youtube" key="U9gIax3eqP8" width="560" height="315" || = =
 * =** Our Final Presentation: **= ||
 * Analysis Phase
 * Design Phase
 * Development Phase
 * Implementation Phase
 * Evaluation Phase

Your design is very clean and your site is easy to follow. The zip code theme is good too. Good job. || Why did you team choose Apple Quick Time to run your video? || Emma, thank you for your kind comments. The reason we went with Apple Quicktime is because both Matt and myself used are Macs to design the website and record the video. It made the functionality of working as a group on the same project easier because we both were just the same product- we didn't have to convert anything. Good question! -Jen || online tool to create customized maps. May be worth exploring. Would the team consider this feature in the future? || Chris, thanks so much for your positive feedback on our website. We did consider a map with the tutoring locations, however in this initial run at the website, it made most sense to keep it as simple as possible, and leave the map out. In the future, we absolutely see map integration for the resource. Google maps may be a good candidate as well, especially since that program can give driving, walking, or public transit directions. - Matt M.
 * == Your Name == || == Comment == || == Questions == || == Team's Response == ||
 * Emma Campbell || I enjoyed your Akron resources.
 * Christopher Harrigan || Your Akron Resources website was engaging, easy to navigate, and with a variety of helpful tutoring resources online and offline. Good idea with the Help tool to navigate the site. Enjoyed the site. Great job! || In the Tutoring Resources "Find Your Zip Code" tool, a visual map of locations may be helpful as well. I believe Google Maps provides a free

To add to Matt's comment- because iWeb is "outdated" (Apple is fading it out per say) the Map widget was making everything more complicated for users. We probably sound like a broken record, but our main focus was to make everything super easy for users. If you watch our evaluation video, you'll notice two of our users didn't know the difference between the online resources and the tutoring ones. Had our users been more familiar with the Internet, providing a map would have been a must! GREAT question! -Jen ||
 * Deborah Monroy || I agree with all of the above and want to add how much I enjoyed the use of color. That - along with other design elements - made the interface so friendly looking and encouraging. I also liked the nicely paced voiceover in the video. Nice for people with limited English. || Thinking about the needs of a diverse audience, it occured to me that it might be nice to have a script of the video narration for the hard of hearing. What do you think? || That is an excellent suggestion, Deborah. We did not consider it at the time because we were so occupied in trying to find tutoring resources for the content of the website. We also were concentrating on the learner analysis from Drs. Ford and Stuart concerning the parents they serve, so we really focused on simplicity in design and in delivery. I can see a script for video narration as part of Phase 2, which will be under CUHE's control. Thanks for the suggestion. -Susan ||
 * Melissa Tillison || I love the design of your page how you had picture's of student's. This made me want to checkout and look at the page. I found that you could navigate without any problems it was easy. You guys did a wonderful job! || I know that this was done for the Akron Public Schools, but what would be the option for others surroundinng counties like Wayne County? || Dr. Ford and her fellow members are already planning on expanding the site to their respective school districts which include schools from Canton to Cleveland. The site will continue to grow now that it is in the hands of the tech department at the university. As for Wayne County, I think it will depend on districts that join the cohort or if the university would just like to maybe add a feature that would allow to search by county. -Jessica Hamilton Ford ||
 * Lonnel Bush || I really like the project. The color scheme was put together very well. The site provides helpful resources for tutoring in the Akron area. I like the idea of the bookmark with the QR code. The video of Dr. Ford’s feedback was an excellent choice. Great job!!! || I noticed that a requirement for one of the free services is consistent attendance. Do you know if there is a maximum number of sessions students can reach? Is it possible the tutoring could be expanded to include a foreign language? || Very observant of you, Lonnel. There is no maximum number of sessions for Open M, but the sessions include "mentoring" as well, so the organizers want positive impact through consistent attendance. As you may have noticed, there are not many tutoring sites in the Akron area. A real need is more of these free services for students. (Another project, perhaps...) Thank you for your kind feedback. -Susan ||
 * Dr. Ward || Your team has probably produced one of the most informative and engaging presentations of your work that I have seen for this class. Your voices were engaging and content was clear and well structured. This was a huge project and you tackled it with calm and organization! I loved that you taped video feedback for your evaluation from your SME. The extra effort you took to shoot video of the resources, provide sections organized by ADDIE, clearly involve all team members has me smiling with pride this morning at your accomplishments! || You have faced your challenges with calm! The URL hosting was an issue from the beginning that was not clear to your SMEs until now. This will be resolved! Many times SMEs do not understand the implications of this until the final product is viewed! || I am glad we appeared calm. We had some tense moments through this process, but we were able to support each other and create both an effective website and presentation. Thank you so much for your compliments! -Susan

Thank you Dr. Ward for your kind comments! I sent a zipped file of the website to Jess. She's now in the process of sending it to the SMEs, so they're able to pass it on so it'll get posted! -Jen ||
 * Barret Bills || As others have noted, the website is exceptionally clean, easy to navigate and colorful without being distracting. I liked that you explained your rationale for including area codes that do not currently have tutoring sites, with an eye towards the future. Perhaps this tool will help in identifying a need for those communities. I was happy to hear you were able to connect with several different kinds of audiences, and were able to get constructive feedback in spite of users not having ready access to the survey online. I can see you address it above, as I was curious how you intended to have the resource hosted moving forward, especially given the mismatch in URLs on the bookmarks and such. I hope gets resolved as you have created a valuable tool. You all did a terrific job presenting the process, thanks for doing separate videos, some other group posted an 18 min video for their presentation (AAAAAGGHH!) I commend you for selecting a project that will hopefully lead to improved academic performance in the Akron communities. || Were there any points during the process where you felt or discussed the possibility that elements of the project might be overly technocentric? That is to say, did you ever feel like the technology was getting in the way of the information delivery? Too many bells and whistles? Not a critique, mind you. || As we chose a project in which the SMEs had a very specific vision for the product, we had to balance their vision with our analysis and our skill level. That is what made this project so unique. In addition, we spent a great deal of time searching for resources that met the requirements of the SMEs. Certainly the low number of resources we found could be delivered in a lower tech way, but with the eye to the future, we feel this website could expand not only in terms of brick and mortar tutoring sites, but also with more online resources, which might very well bridge a well-documented divide between urban and suburban schools. Although we had many concerns about the target audience's internet access, we were reassured by the SMEs that the parents they serviced had access via SmartPhones, home computers, or at the very least public library computers. Good question! I hope I answered it. ~Susan ||
 * Angela Macak-Milosovic || I thought your project was wonderful!! I think this is a such a great resource for parents and students to help them when they are struggling. There are many times that parents want to get their child help and do not know how to find a reasonably priced tutor (OR FREE!) I liked that you website was organized and straight to the point. Great job! || Did your SME's help you locate the free and paid tutoring opportunities or did you have to find them? || It was a combination of both. We researched on our own and the SMEs offered leads and a few concrete contacts on the opportunities. As mentioned earlier, there are very limited resources in the area so it was frustrating but it worked out well! Thanks! -Jess

Just like Jess mentioned, it was a combination of both help from our SME's and a lot of research on our own. Kudo's to Jess and Susan who live nearby Akron and were able to research and visit some resources in person! - Matt M. || Thanks! -Jess ||
 * Alisa Barrett || Fine Design you did an outstanding job creating an informative and engaging website. This will be a wonderful tool for the students and parents of Akron Public Schools. I too loved the colors and the photos on the site. The idea of putting social media links on the site was also a nice touch. || Do you plan to stay with the site and update the resources per zip code or will you turning the project over to your SME? || The project is completely turned over to the SMEs. The College of Ed and the Tech Department will be maintaining the site and adding to it from here on out. This week, most likely, they will be taking over the hosting of the site and will be changing the color scheme slightly to be more cohesive with Akron's main website.
 * Chris Simmons || Great job Fine Design! I really enjoyed your site and your presentation. The site was clean and very easy to navigate. I liked how you broke down the resources by zip code but also had a link to the complete list as well. I thought the video presentations were well put together and very clear and easy to understand. I also love how you broke it down by the steps in the ADDIE process. I think this is just such a wonderful and valuable tool that can help so many people in the Akron Public Schools. Great job! || I was wondering the same thing as Alisa. After this class, who will be responsible for making sure the site is updated with new resources?

Also, did you have to contact these resources beforehand to ask permission for putting them on your site? Just curious... || Yes, the local, non-corporate resources did give permission to be included on the site. We had to reach out to most of them to learn about them because there is very little information available online currently.

Chris - Thanks for your feedback and questions. As for the website, we are currently working with UA's web services team and the CUHE to find a place online to host the site, as well as a team to support it down the road. Fine Design has talked about continuing support and oversight of this project as one of our field experiences for our Masters program. - Matt M. ||

The Akron area school community is the audience for this project – with accessibility to information made easy with the technology.