New Media Final Project - Research Blog

In order to plan out a successful project, it is important that my time management is accurate, achievable and consistent. To ensure that I am on track to achieve milestones and major deadlines, I have created a Gantt chart that specifies all the individual tasks that I will encounter throughout the project. Before starting the Gantt chart, I researched into a variety of different project management softwares that would best fit my needs. During the lecture about Gantt charts and how they can be optimised to there full potential, the example used was a Mac OS based software called Merlin Project . However, the only down-side to Merlin Project is that it requires a monthly or annual fee to use. For cost effective reasons, I was on the search for a free package that offered similar functionality. After testing several web-based software ( Zoho , Agantty and TeamGantt ), I decided to use TeamGantt. It has a very contemporary interface and has similar features to what Merlin Project has

Before I go onto what strategies I intend to implement throughout the process of my project, I want to briefly mention the advancements with my project idea and I have now outlined a concept that I believe is unique, targets a specific audience and has a need.  My concept is to design and develop a collaborative eLearning app that offers 'bitesize' content. The user would log in/make a profile and be able to post content on any subject that they feel would be beneficial to colleagues within a business. This content would be showed in small, digestible sections. To avoid false/incorrect content being posted, I would incorporate an up vote/down vote system. Now that I have described the product in question, I need to think about which testing and evaluation methods I would deploy to ensure I gather the appropriate data that will support the need and functionality of my product. There is a lot of important data that will need to be collected before any of the design or develop

Being familiar with the eLearning industry, I chose to base my idea on an eLearning product. After researching into current trends and what is likely to be the 'next big thing', I decided to focus on collaborative learning and how this can be incorporated into a platform that would encourage team work. My initial idea was to design and develop an eLearning Social Platform that would allow users to log in and collaborate with others to complete specific eLearning content. The concept would have a very similar feel to a typical social network site such as Facebook and Twitter but customised to a more learning environment. Some features would include the capability to post on your feed (this could be about achievement, issues or general questions that target an individual or a specific audience), collect achievements after completing online courses, forums, contact industry experts and instant messaging for more private communication. All of these functions complement each other