The Agile Manifesto
The key values of agile are embodied in the 'Agile Manifesto' - http://agilemanifesto.org/
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
Agile is fundamentally about learning, people, and change - three things we struggle also with in education and handle poorly at the present time. (Peha, 2011).
Agile Schools
Steve Peha, a technologist and educator in the US, has worked extensively in applying the lessons of agile and lean to the classroom. His article on InfoQ, 'Agile Schools: How Technology Saves Education (Just Not the Way We Thought it Would) (Peha, 2011) provides some interesting ideas on how the agile manifesto can be reinterpreted to apply to schools, and how agile techniques might be used in the classroom.
Lean Production
According to Barney and Kirby (2004), educators can learn from lean production the importance of empowering teachers by training them to problem-solve and then expecting them to be self-reflective and to continuously improve their practice.
Kanban
One of the ideas that has been taken from Lean Production by agile practitioners is Kanban - which means 'visual card' in Japanese.
For an example of how Kanban boards can be used to help children plan, see Princess Kanban. This is on the agileschool blog, which you may find interesting. More recent materials are now on the Agile Classrooms site.
Trello
Trello is one of the tools that can be used to create Kanban style boards online. It is an easy-to-use, free and visual way to manage your projects and organise anything. Naturally there are other tools too, but this one seems to be the most popular right now, and amongst teachers and their students too.
Monday: Auckland West / Gore Wednesday: Ashburton / Auckland East / CHCH Catholic CoL / Kaitaia / Opotiki / Rotorua / Te Awamutu / Wellington Thursday:Auckland Central / Bombay / Christchurch / Hamilton / Levin / Tauranga
User Stories
In software development and product management user story statements are often written on story cards following the format: As a (role) I want (something) so that (benefit). The idea is to capture what a user does or needs to do as part of his or her job function. It captures the "who", "what" and "why" of a requirement in a simple, concise way, often limited in detail by what can be hand-written on a small piece of paper. However there is no requirement that all user stories should be written this way. Our 'learning stories' in the sessions will be written in a more unstructured style as they will be more open ended than software requirements.
Epics
User stories are short, simple descriptions of something to be achieved. They need to be small and focused enough to be achieved in a short time frame and allow success to be tested. A story that is too big is known as an ‘epic’ and has to be broken down into smaller stories. ‘Introduce BYOD to the school’ is an epic, and ‘Introduce BYOD to one pilot class’ is still too big. However, ‘Send a survey to families from one class asking if they are willing to provide a device for their child to bring to school’ is a smaller, story-sized step
3'c's
User stories have three critical aspects, Card, Conversation, and Confirmation. Ron Jeffries wrote about the 3'c's all the way back in 2001 and his advice is still good today. A good story card will likely end up with the back covered with results of the conversation(s) and confirmation tests.
Scrum Masters
Scrum Masters task on the "Meaningful Learning on How Agile and Lean Approaches Could Help You In Your Practice" -team project is to make sure that
- the Cards chosen represent a variety of labeled 4 themes (LEADERSHIP, TECHNIQUES, PROCESSES, VALUES)
- just one or two of your team Cards are in action “Problems we are solving” at one time
- the team’s main Conversations are recorded as comments
- an acceptance test is written in the description of the card - so that you know how to justify Confirmation to others in a stand up meeting
- record the outcome of the confirmation to the description and move the card to “Things we have learnt”
- she/he is ready for the Stand Up Meeting on time
- What was the meaningful learning onhow to make your practice more Agile and Lean?
- Was the learning confirmed (acceptance test)? If not, what are you going to do next? Any obstacles?
- What was the meaningful learning onhow to make your practice more Agile and Lean?
The Agile Manifesto
The key values of agile are embodied in the 'Agile Manifesto' - http://agilemanifesto.org/
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
Agile is fundamentally about learning, people, and change - three things we struggle also with in education and handle poorly at the present time. (Peha, 2011).
Agile Schools
Steve Peha, a technologist and educator in the US, has worked extensively in applying the lessons of agile and lean to the classroom. His article on InfoQ, 'Agile Schools: How Technology Saves Education (Just Not the Way We Thought it Would) (Peha, 2011) provides some interesting ideas on how the agile manifesto can be reinterpreted to apply to schools, and how agile techniques might be used in the classroom.
Lean Production
According to Barney and Kirby (2004), educators can learn from lean production the importance of empowering teachers by training them to problem-solve and then expecting them to be self-reflective and to continuously improve their practice.
Kanban
One of the ideas that has been taken from Lean Production by agile practitioners is Kanban - which means 'visual card' in Japanese.
For an example of how Kanban boards can be used to help children plan, see Princess Kanban. This is on the agileschool blog, which you may find interesting. More recent materials are now on the Agile Classrooms site.
Trello
Trello is one of the tools that can be used to create Kanban style boards online. It is an easy-to-use, free and visual way to manage your projects and organise anything. Naturally there are other tools too, but this one seems to be the most popular right now, and amongst teachers and their students too.
Monday: Auckland West / Gore Wednesday: Ashburton / Auckland East / CHCH Catholic CoL / Kaitaia / Opotiki / Rotorua / Te Awamutu / Wellington Thursday:Auckland Central / Bombay / Christchurch / Hamilton / Levin / Tauranga
User Stories
In software development and product management user story statements are often written on story cards following the format: As a (role) I want (something) so that (benefit). The idea is to capture what a user does or needs to do as part of his or her job function. It captures the "who", "what" and "why" of a requirement in a simple, concise way, often limited in detail by what can be hand-written on a small piece of paper. However there is no requirement that all user stories should be written this way. Our 'learning stories' in the sessions will be written in a more unstructured style as they will be more open ended than software requirements.
Epics
User stories are short, simple descriptions of something to be achieved. They need to be small and focused enough to be achieved in a short time frame and allow success to be tested. A story that is too big is known as an ‘epic’ and has to be broken down into smaller stories. ‘Introduce BYOD to the school’ is an epic, and ‘Introduce BYOD to one pilot class’ is still too big. However, ‘Send a survey to families from one class asking if they are willing to provide a device for their child to bring to school’ is a smaller, story-sized step
3'c's
User stories have three critical aspects, Card, Conversation, and Confirmation. Ron Jeffries wrote about the 3'c's all the way back in 2001 and his advice is still good today. A good story card will likely end up with the back covered with results of the conversation(s) and confirmation tests.
Scrum Masters
Scrum Masters task on the "Meaningful Learning on How Agile and Lean Approaches Could Help You In Your Practice" -team project is to make sure that
- the Cards chosen represent a variety of labeled 4 themes (LEADERSHIP, TECHNIQUES, PROCESSES, VALUES)
- just one or two of your team Cards are in action “Problems we are solving” at one time
- the team’s main Conversations are recorded as comments
- an acceptance test is written in the description of the card - so that you know how to justify Confirmation to others in a stand up meeting
- record the outcome of the confirmation to the description and move the card to “Things we have learnt”
- she/he is ready for the Stand Up Meeting on time
- What was the meaningful learning onhow to make your practice more Agile and Lean?
- Was the learning confirmed (acceptance test)? If not, what are you going to do next? Any obstacles?
- What was the meaningful learning onhow to make your practice more Agile and Lean?
References
Barney, H. & Kirby, S.N. (2004). Toyota Production System/Lean Manufacturing. In B. Stecher and S.N. Kirby (Eds.), Organizational Improvement and Accountability Lessons for Education From Other Sectors (pp. 35-50). Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.
Briggs, S. (2014). Agile Based Learning: What Is It and How Can It Change Education? InformED. Retrieved from http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/agile-based-learning-what-is-it-and-how-can-it-change-education/
Peha, S. (2011). Agile Schools: How Technology Saves Education (Just Not the Way We Thought it Would). InfoQ. Retrieved from https://www.infoq.com/articles/agile-schools-education
Barney, H. & Kirby, S.N. (2004). Toyota Production System/Lean Manufacturing. In B. Stecher and S.N. Kirby (Eds.), Organizational Improvement and Accountability Lessons for Education From Other Sectors (pp. 35-50). Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.
Briggs, S. (2014). Agile Based Learning: What Is It and How Can It Change Education? InformED. Retrieved from http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/agile-based-learning-what-is-it-and-how-can-it-change-education/
Peha, S. (2011). Agile Schools: How Technology Saves Education (Just Not the Way We Thought it Would). InfoQ. Retrieved from https://www.infoq.com/articles/agile-schools-education