International Development Project Teams

Our new Global University Course Program will be rolling out this Fall, where we will be linking students from across the globe in an international collaborative instructure-led learning experience.

Course Objective

The goal of the course is help students identify and understand the challenges and opportunities of global development teams. Students will learn practical business use information that pertains to day to day operations within international development teams. This class will cover communications, cultures, costs, risks, rewards, and strategies involved in international development. Each student will learn through lesson, discussion and a real life, hands-on software development project with a business sponsor and international partners.

Team Size

We will form a team of 4-6 people in the class. The team will consist of 1-2 people from 2-3 countries. The number of countries is dependent on international class participation.

Project Coordinators

A Project Coordinator will receive all student work, accept or send things back for further work, ensure that students are moving along at the appropriate rate, and will meet with periodically about their project. The Project Coordinator will aid in grading all submissions by the team.

Project Manager

The Project Manager will schedule meetings with all international TA and Project Managers to discuss class progress. If necessary, the Project Manager will include other team members and Project Coordinator.

Projects

A project will be provided to the class for a team of students to spend 10 hours per week for the 15-week semester. The team will need to submit weekly reports as well as complete the project tasks.

What is the project?

The project team would be given an assignment to build a piece to an online (SAAS) system with the goal to "centralize all aspects of a person's life into one portal".

An example of such a project is: www.ativioaudio.com. The situation was, "I want to get audiobooks during the presidential elections."

In this class we will be adding a component to an existing (SAAS) project: www.ativiocommunities.com and www.shorelandhills.com

This project is used by Ativio to train our internal staff to work on project teams. We have done it for several years now and found that it is very effective. Our internal measurement of success is defined by the team members understanding their roles and the assignments getting completed on time, following our development process and communicating each task completed throughout the project.

What Is Exciting About The Course?

This is a chance to go beyond the classroom and work with international team members as it is done in the professional environment. Students will not only learn about the classroom materials, but also gain an understanding of people from other countries. Students will get involved with cultures, communication methods, how to overcome obstacles, time zones and more while working on a live SAAS system. It is a unique offering that will set students apart when applying for jobs after graduation.

How This Course Benefits Students

• Go through the same training as professional development teams
• Gain international experience
• Meet international students and work directly with them to complete your project tasks
• Learn the important aspects of projects when dealing with international team members

In today's world most development teams are made up of team members from all over the globe. This project will gain students the experience they need to have an edge on others that will be applying for the same position.

This class directly addresses one of the biggest problems faced by business communities: fresh graduates are not "ready to hire" and require training once they join the company. By utilizing real-life projects and international collaboration, students will gain from an experience that was previously impossible to have during their academic careers.