Wolf-Gideon Bleek

Project-based learning with CommSy

Project-based learning has long been an important element in teaching informatics topics, because it allows students to acquire important social and methodological competences in addition to professional competence. Groupware systems are increasingly used in such settings. In our paper, we present the didactic concept we have applied to more than ten cooperative educational projects over the last few years. We describe how electronic media have become an integral part of our concept and we introduce CommSy a web-based application, designed specifically to fit the needs of project-based learning.

Providing an e-learning platform in a university context - balancing the organisational frame for application service providing

Universities have severe difficulties in using e-learning applications successfully due to organisational problems to provide them. Providing a Web-based learning environment is an enormous effort not only from the didactical and organisational perspective, but also from an administrative and technical point of view. In this paper, we critically review two case studies for making software available in a university context by applying a model for application service providing. ASP in the university context is a different business than ASP between companies. A much more flexible relation between service provider and consumer needs to be established. We describe the necessary process that is based on an evolutionary approach consisting of repeated loops that help to balance the organisational frame for application service providing on the four different levels: application domain, organisation, services, and contracts.

Educating non-programmers to flexible, communicative software engineers in a 10 month training program

Financial services companies which heavily depend on IT, still face a shortage of well-educated software engineers. Of the two principal ways to react to this, either by training employees who are already IT-professionals or by introducing talented and interested nonprogrammers to software engineering, the latter was chosen by a large insurance company in Hamburg, Germany. This experience report points out why and how this approach, realized as a trainee program with a well-balanced mix of both technical and soft skills, could be as successful as it eventually turned out to be.

Matching needs - application service providing for asynchronous learning networks

Universities have severe difficulties in using e-learning applications successfully due to organizational problems to provide them. Providing a Web-based learning environment is an enormous effort not only from the didactical and organizational perspective, but also from an administrative and technical point of view. In this paper we critically review the steps taken for making a Web-based learning platform available to a broad public by developing a model for application service providing. ASP in the university context is a different business than ASP between companies. A much more flexible relation between service provider and consumer needs to be established. We outline the necessary roles involved and tasks observed. As a result the paper proposes a process that focuses on organizational, technical and financial conditions, which must be investigated when undertaking a similar enterprise.

Transferring Experience from Software Engineering Training in Industry to Mass University Education - The Big Picture

This paper shows and critically discusses how experience gained from years of software engineering training in industry can be transferred to mass university education. The approach relies on cyclical, iterative and problem-based learning and places equal emphasis on technical skills (such as object-oriented and database programming) and soft skills (such as presentation techniques, handling personal conflicts and cooperating in a team context)

Lebenslagen als Unterstützung bei der Benutzung und Modellierung von städtischen Portal-Webseiten

Lebenslagen werden als ein Ansatz vorgestellt, der das Konzept aus den Sozialwissenschaften auf die Entwicklung von stadtischen Informationssystemen ubertragt. Das Konzept und die Ergebnisse werden vor dem Hintergrund eines laufenden Projektes mit der Stadt Hamburg vorgestellt, bei dem Software-Design auf drei Ebenen betrieben wird: in Bezug auf die Inhalte, das Benutzungsinterface und die Systemarchitektur.

Steuerungsmodell zur kundenorientierten Entwicklung von E-Government-Dienstleistungen

Damit Investitionen in Online-Angebote der Verwaltung zeitnah zu den erwarteten Qualitatsverbesserungen und Einsparungseffekten fuhren, richtet sich der Fokus bei der E-Government-Entwicklung zunehmend auf die Abnehmer der Dienstleistungen und deren Anliegen, z. B. von Burgerinnen und Burger oder Unternehmen im jeweiligen Zustandigkeitsbereich. Um diese Herangehensweise zu unterstutzen, skizziert der vorliegende Beitrag ein neues Steuerungsmodell zur kundenorientierten Entwicklung von E-Government-Dienstleistungen, das zentral auf der Auswertung von Anwenderfeedback beruht. Dieses Modell basiert auf den Erkenntnissen und Erfahrungen der anwendungsorientierten Entwicklung von Web-Anwendungen, die sich aus der jahrzehntelangen Forschung und Praxis der partizipativen Softwareentwicklung ableiten. Daruber hinaus werden die besonderen Bedingungen von E-Government-Projekten (wie z. B. Bund-Online 2005) berucksichtigt, um zu einer den Moglichkeiten der Verwaltung gerechten Verfahren und Steuerungsmoglichkeiten zu gelangen.