2. Interview With the Client
Considering section 1, I formed a few questions for the principal in order to receive further understanding and take more informed decisions in terms of how my solution will be implemented. As I am not familiar with the school grounds and do not have access to a map of the areas, I need to reach the best solution for these specific buildings and this specific staff by conducting some additional research. Mrs. Evi and Mrs. Angela naturally came to mind, as they would have the best understanding of how the current system works better than any other member of staff.
2.1 - Questions to the Principal
Q1: What is the biggest problem you are currently facing regarding the current system for collecting and storing attendances?
A1: The most prominent issue we are currently facing is time management. A new rule regulated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth requires the data ready to be analysed by eight in the morning, therefore the task for Mrs. Angela is improbable to say the least since the school starts at 7:45 and some students arrive up to ten minutes late. She usually is left with a mere 4 minutes maximum to tick all the matching boxes in the spreadsheet, so we eventually stopped doing that and we went to watching the papers immediately before entering the data digitally, so we could call every parent on time. Even though it is not necessary to have the data converted in digital form right away, you can imagine how easier it is to just sort and view a list of all absent students of the day and proceed to calling right away. Being late to report can end up having consequences that are unheard of, and extremely dangerous.
Q2: Are there any other issues excluding time management that deem the current system problematic? If so, would it be better to replace it?
A2: Many! Let us take for example this year’s lockdown that had us teaching online to Grades 4, 5 and 6 starting May through mid-June. We could not use the current system and had to quickly find an alternative; since every co-worker of mine used a 3rd-party Instant Messaging application, we decided to form a group there where we could collect the names of all the students who were not joining the calls. So, I am now certain we should try an innovative approach to recording attendances at our school.
Q3: Can a mobile application be a sufficient alternative when it comes to recording attendances?
A3: Actually, that could turn out to be a great solution. However, I would expect an app that functions in a logical, easy to learn way. I don’t care how the solution is implemented, only that it will work. Obviously, we are not expecting all the staff to have the latest and greatest gadgets, so I would want the design to be light and the animations to be minimal. Keep in mind the roles of everyone, which link to different permissions. Mrs. Angela should be able to look at all the classes by eight, whereas the others should only provide data about their own class. If there is a possibility to mark the exact time a student leaves the school before it finishes officially at 1:05 in case they feel ill that would be great, or we could take attendance whenever the period changes. I want to utilise as many opportunities technology gives us as possible, so our students are as safe as possible throughout the morning!
Q4: Does every member of staff own a smartphone? How familiar is the staff when it comes to learning a new piece of tech? (examples may be interactive boards and teaching online)
A4: As I already mentioned, moving to online teaching because of the ongoing pandemic was unexpected and difficult for most members of the staff. Although I am not aware of everyone’s ability to familiarise themselves for using a new app, I know that everyone owns a smartphone since we already noted this down when searching for alternative solutions to the absence problem when we had to teach from home.
Q5: What is the current state of the school’s Wi-Fi coverage? Is everyone able to connect to the internet during the first period on their phones?
A5: Your timing is actually perfect, we just had the ministry send over a team to upgrade the school’s networking capability, due to worries of a second lockdown and the possibility of having to teach online from the school. Now all rooms should receive an at least decent connection to the internet through a main switch that is found near my office in a reused storage room (all the network cables end up there).
Q6: How confidential is the data each teacher collects every day? Who has access to it after collection and who should see what in my adaptation?
A6: The ministry is extremely strict about sensitive material and personal information, therefore only the Secretary and me have access to looking at data collected from all classes, so we increase our students’ security. However, this does not prevent the staff from discussing their absences in private and it can be investigated in case we are required to. I am guessing that our solution would take into consideration the fact that me and Mrs. Angela do not have any classes so our app will not be necessary to take attendances, however it would be nice to navigate to each class individually and check which students are here on the go.
2.2 - Questions to the Secretary
After forming a rather vague concept of how my solution would be implemented as a mobile application and ensuring that this could be backed by my current experience in programming, I formed a few more specific questions to ask the school’s Secretary. This was done to receive further details and specify exactly what I had to develop for my client.
Q1: How do you feel about a digital way of recording everyday absences?
A1: Fantastic! I am very keen on technology and I like to think I learn how to use new software very easily. We just have to ensure that the system would be efficient and easy to use by everyone.
Q2: My concept is for a mobile app to be utilised for the teachers in all classrooms so that they submit attendances – how do you feel about using a mobile app?
A2: When it comes to my fellow co-workers I believe it is a great idea; however, I would not see it be of much use when it comes to me or Mrs. Evi, since I’m producing flat files daily on the computer from all the information collected. I would much rather have a program that would work on the computer in my office rather than a phone, and I would also want this functionality built-in.
Q3: Is there anything else you would find useful to add to your current daily routine regarding attendance management?
A3: I would very much appreciate the use of a searching or sorting system when it comes to a digital solution – having the ability, for example, to have only every absent student displayed on my screen along with their parents’ contact info daily would be amazing, so we can drastically reduce the time needed to get in touch with them.
2.3 – Identification of Application Requirements
Having in mind every detail the Principal has mentioned about how my solution will be implemented, and considering the needs as well as limitations of its prospective users, I concluded to the following list of requirements my software should meet:
1. A database should be used to access users’ usernames and passwords, along with their specific timetable if they are a teacher or the appropriate tools if they are a Secretary or Administrator respectively.
2. Considering the Principal and Secretary are working on their personal computers most of the time, a mobile application would not make sense for them – thus, desktop apps should exist for those roles, and the mobile application will not allow them to log in since it will not be of use to them specifically.
3. Both the desktop and mobile applications should utilise the same cloud database to access the required data.
4. Administrators should be able to import the staff’s timetables into the database.
5. The Administrator account will be the only account included initially in the database, and only this role can add or remove users.
6. The Principal and Secretary share a similar User Interface (UI), which will also enable them to request that a flat file is created for a specific day’s absences. Both should also be able to post updates on the Application’s feed tab, which will be accessible to read by the teachers – that way, the need for SMS groups (in terms of organizing and updating staff) is further decreased.
7. Moreover, a list should also be created upon request of the Principal or Secretary that will have informal use, meaning it may display only properties selected such as the first names of the students absent on a specific day along with their parent’s mobile phone numbers.
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