Agile Development of Cross-University Digital Education Ecosystems
Carsten Wolff, Christian Liwai Reimann, Olha Mikhieieva, Ekaterina Mikhaylova · Communications in computer and information science · 2021
Agile methodology for software development and IT projects has developed into more complex, hybrid project management frameworks – notably the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). This allows the agile management of complex IT portfolios or development programmes which require methodology which goes beyond the single-project-single-team scope of e.g. the basic Scrum approach. The SAFe methodology claims to be the right approach for lean enterprises. But this still assumes that it is implemented in a single organization with stable organizational setups and team structures and with professional staff. In contrast, we apply SAFe in a typical distributed and loose environment of an Open Source development project. Instead of a dedicated team, the involved staff is organized in an informal, open community of practice (OpenCoP) where participants join and leave and where staff contributes only certain amounts of time with a limited commitment. In addition, we deal with a university led IT programme which involves students as developers with limited experience and competence in professional project work. This paper presents the case study of the development of a Digital Education Ecosystem (DEE) for a Virtual Master School. The members of this Master School (including the students) are the co-developers and the users of the DEE. They form an OpenCoP which develops a customized IT system for their own needs. Applying SAFe in such an environment is new and challenging. This paper describes first experiences in this field.