EDUCAUSE | Applications Development

2013 Planning Guide for Application Delivery Strategies: Mobile, Cloud, Social, and Information

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 23:20:36 +0000

Gartner's 2013 planning guide for application delivery teams outlines trends in mobile, cloud, social, and information initiatives and provides guidance on how to design, develop, and deliver applications that can leverage and respond to these trends.

ECAR Subscribers — You must be logged in to the EDUCAUSE website to access Gartner resources.

Access to the report expires on January 28, 2014.

Incorporating Data-Driven Decision-Making into Application Design

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:02:10 +0000

Using the case of an electronic research administration system implementation, we will share some tips and tricks for incorporating considerations for data-driven decision making into application design. Rather than making BI and data warehousing an afterthought once a new system is implemented, project teams can integrate data warehouse design and requirements into the main project design. Spending time up front thinking through the ways in which managers anticipate using data from the new system to guide their business can pay off in the end.

Internet2's NET+ Initiative: SIP Services

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:55:29 +0000

In case you missed the last Internet2 member meeting, there was a lot of excitement surrounding the announcement of SIP services as part of the Internet2 NET+ Services. Remember the old days of Centrex? Welcome to the 21st century! Internet2 is now offering hosted SIP dial tone, trunks, and other hosted SIP services at very aggressive prices by utilizing the power of the Internet2 backbone. We'll discuss these new service offerings and how your communications costs can be lowered while allowing you to maintain control over your environment. Please join us to learn more!

7 Things You Should Know About Application Development Tools

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:59:31 +0000

A new class of application development tools allows nontechnical users to build mobile apps quickly and easily. With these tools, users choose from an available set of templates and menus and can typically build apps with a drag-and-drop interface. Some development tools produce code for a single platform (such as iOS or Android), while others create apps for multiple device types. By providing educators with the ability to easily create their own mobile apps, these tools bring the power of mobile learning to more students, enabling new kinds of mobile learning activities suited to specific learning goals.

The 7 Things You Should Know About... series from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) provides concise information on emerging learning technologies. Each brief focuses on a single technology and describes what it is, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning. Use these briefs for a no-jargon, quick overview of a topic and share them with time-pressed colleagues.

In addition to the 7 Things briefs, you may find other ELI resources useful in addressing teaching, learning, and technology issues at your institution. To learn more, please visit the ELI Resources page.

If You Build It, Will They Come? A Software Implementation Becomes a Catalyst for Organizational Change

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:11:36 +0000

Wellesley College embarked on a campus-wide software implementation to develop an integrated database of events and classes and an all-campus calendar. The implementation triggered organizational change and forced the college to address difficult issues, including space ownership, fragmented business practices and decision making, and staffing implications.

Agile Software Development in Practice: Experience, Tips, and Tools from the Trenches of Higher Education

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:46:50 +0000

In the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Connecticut, the Applications Development team has been developing and delivering custom software using agile methods for over four years. In this session, we'll share our experiences and give you a behind the scenes look at how agile software development really works by walking you through how we translate the unique business needs of our clients into deployed software.

Making an App

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:18:07 +0000

QizBox is a web application that uses online communication and game mechanics to create a social learning environment. It was created to enhance the real-life classroom lecture and presentation experience by providing the presenter with the ability to share slides, quiz audience members, and provide real-time feedback.

Mobile Apps, Mobile Mind?

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:19:11 +0000

Last night a young friend’s four-year-old sat on my lap playing on my iPad 2. His mother told me that they had discovered strange charges on their credit card. Yes, little Lyndon had downloaded some apps! They’ve since taught him to recognize the word ‘Free’ and said it’s OK to download apps that use that word apps in the App Store.

Application Security for Management, Project Managers, and Architects

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:11:31 +0000

Although Web application security is gradually improving, many project leaders, vendors, and programmers are still unaware of vulnerabilities that can expose confidential institutional data, allow loss of data, or loss of data quality. Integrating security into the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) often requires additional training, a review of existing practices, and can require an organizational change. A department-wide focus, where every individual participating in software development or acquisition assumes a collective effort and responsibility to deploy and sustain secured web applications is required. To be most effective, it is best sponsored at the management level.

Creating Interactive Online and Mobile Resources with HTML5

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:21:48 +0000

HTML5, together with CSS3 and JavaScript, can be used to create engaging, interactive learning activities deliverable to both computers and mobile devices, including Android OS phones, iPads, iPhones, and the iPod touch. We have been exploring the potential of these technologies in chemistry instruction and will share our progress in this poster session and hope to learn from the experiences of others. The presenter will discuss these technologies, share example implementations, and provide a website with links to examples and resources.

7 Things You Should Know About Agile Development

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:11:54 +0000

The “agile” model for software development and IT project management is more about principles and practice than policy and process. In contrast to more traditional approaches, agile is predicated on an iterative approach in which requirements and solutions emerge as stakeholders articulate need, often during the development process itself. In agile, solutions are continuously delivered, tested, and refined. Functionality is delivered in relatively short time frames, or iterations. The goal is to provide continuous improvement based on rapid feedback, rather than rigidly adhering to a predetermined plan. This model enables developers to adapt readily as new information is available or environmental changes warrant a shift in direction, making development fundamentally nimble, responsive, and fast. Moreover, the process helps clients better understand, refine, and communicate their own needs, resulting in faster access to solutions that more closely align with their needs.

The Right Tool for the Job: A Tale of Two CMS Implementations

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:28:16 +0000

The college or university website is critical to the success of any institution. But with so many content management systems (CMSs) available, how do you determine which is the best fit for your institution? Utah Valley University chose a commercial solution utilizing a cloud-hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. Duke University opted to build its homepage in-house on the open-source Drupal platform. Although we chose two very different tools to accomplish the same goal, each proved the right fit for our respective needs and the current economic climate. This interactive discussion will explore options and questions to consider when choosing a CMS.

Creating Interactive Web Applications Using Google Mashups

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:03:42 +0000

Universities are constantly looking to add value to their websites by creating interactive applications to provide greater insight into their institutions. The most common example is using Google Maps to identify various buildings and landmarks on-campus to make navigation easier. Google mashups can be used to build interactive applications to share rich-information with visitors. In this poster, five working prototypes (News and Communications, Student Community Housing, Student Affairs, Campus Tours and University Events) will be open for discussion. This proposal hopes to encourage discussion on how mashups can be used to provide value-added web services.

Hot Topic Discussion: Application Security and Software Development Life Cycle

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:56:29 +0000

One of the weakest links in the information security chain is the application. With the explosion of the web interface within applications, cybercriminals have found more fertile ground. Implementing an application security/risk management strategy is crucial for any organization to proactively protect its critical assets and infrastructure. Risks must be identified and addressed at each phase of the software development life cycle. Executive support, budget, vulnerability assessments, and tool and vendor selection criteria are some of the topics representatives from three institutions will discuss as they share the successes, challenges, and common pitfalls of recent application security/risk management program implementations.

The Collaborative Partnership and the Profile System: Encouraging Collaboration in Research

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:59:01 +0000

The Profiles System is a Facebook/Wikipedia-type open-source tool developed by UT Arlington (www.uta.edu/expertise) to capture expertise and resources of the research enterprise. UTA has shared THE PROFILE SYSTEM with other university systems, creating a large collaborative network for research. THE PROFILE SYSTEM, by enabling institutions to organize their resources locally, provides a "one-stop shop" for research resources that can be browsed and searched both internally and externally. The Collaborative Partnership (www.uta.edu/collaborate) provides a one-search for all resources form participating institutions based on the latest Web 2.0 technologies.

Library in Your Pocket: Strategies and Techniques for Developing Successful Mobile Services

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:34:45 +0000

Students are arriving on college campuses with the ability to connect to the web with a diverse array of mobile devices. However, some online services aren’t a good fit for the small screen, and new services can also be developed that take advantage of the mobile user context. Developers of the NCSU Libraries Mobile site (http://m.lib.ncsu.edu) will share their strategy and techniques for creating a suite of mobile services that are optimized for a majority of mobile web platforms, from iPhones to flip phones. The session will also include a discussion of site usage and promotion as well as plans for future mobile services.

In Potential Blow to Open-Source Software, Mellon Foundation Closes Grant Program

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:40:39 +0000

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is eliminating a grant program that financed a series of high-profile university software projects and merging it into another program.

Sustainable Communities for Software: Variations on a Theme

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:53:28 +0000

To drive the development of an incubator and custodian for academic community-sourced software, commitment and motivation need to be established among colleges and universities to support software products that are cost-effective investments in each other's software development programs (e.g., a multi-institutional research center that supports open-source academic software tool development for the entire community), rather than continuing to make individual investments in vendor-driven solutions.

7 Things You Should Know About Data Visualization II

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:47:28 +0000

Data visualization is the use of tools to represent data in the form of charts, maps, tag clouds, animations, or any graphical means that make content easier to understand. Graphic representations of data are popular because they open up the way we think about data, reveal hidden patterns, and highlight connections among elements. Because current web applications allow anyone with access to data to enter information and easily create a virtualization of it, students, informal learners, and the purely curious can now easily create visualizations that might reveal trends that were not obvious from the numbers alone. For scholars, particularly those whose conclusions depend on interpretation of complex statistics, data visualization offers the promise of easier communication and a wider audience for their findings.

The "7 Things You Should Know About..." series from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) provides concise information on emerging learning technologies. Each brief focuses on a single technology and describes what it is, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning. Use these briefs for a no-jargon, quick overview of a topic and share them with time-pressed colleagues.

In addition to the "7 Things You Should Know About…" briefs, you may find other ELI resources useful in addressing teaching, learning, and technology issues at your institution. To learn more, please visit the ELI Resources page.

Creating Custom Online Learning Environments with Drupal

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:57:23 +0000

Student collaboration and knowledge building are at the heart of two pilot projects at Penn State and UW–Madison. Learn how these schools use Drupal, an open-source content management system, to rapidly develop custom online learning environments. Example projects, student/instructor feedback, and an online starter kit will be provided.

Don't Outsource, Insource: The Creative Calendar Solution

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:55:51 +0000

With electronic mailing lists, multiple department and school calendars, newsletters, digital signage, and post-it boards, how does a campus effectively communicate what's going on? We "insourced" a creative solution for communicating and promoting campus events and happenings. Come check out the calendar solution that is a perfect fit for campuses!

College Portal Implementation Project

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:55:48 +0000

Waubonsee Community College has developed a web-based portal application that provides role-based services for faculty, staff, and students. The college work team developed and designed the portal using existing applications as well as custom code.

Creating Applications for Converged Devices Like the iPhone: Start with a Vision

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:56:44 +0000

In response to the video version of ACU's vision for converged media devices like the iPhone, we are using building blocks of Google Apps, a Google SketchUp model of campus, Xythos digital locker, and custom web apps to create a mobile toolset for faculty and students. This presentation will detail the implementation.

Agile Software Delivery Using Scrum

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 17:27:09 +0000

Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and North Carolina Central University will share experiences in implementing agile development methodologies using Scrum. We will include how we created a collaborative forum among our institutions with Notre Dame, Cornell, and the University of Richmond that we call "ScrumU" to share ideas and challenges while celebrating successes in implementing a new software development methodology.

Course Views: A Scalable Approach to Providing Course-Based Access to Library Resources

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:59:08 +0000

The NCSU Libraries’ Course Views project, along with a locally developed widget web service, improves course-based access to library collections and services by dynamically generating library course pages for all 6000+ courses at NCSU. By automatically generating custom content when possible and showcasing authored content when available, Course Views is able to achieve full course coverage without significantly increasing staff time to create and manage content. This paper will describe the system and the use of web services to achieve scalable and sustainable delivery of course-related library content.