Agile

=Agile=



Agile is a project methodology which is currently the predominant approach to the software development life cycle (SDLC) in the world today. It was developed by a group of software development luminaries. Here is their manifesto:

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value: That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.
 * **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 methodology seeks to reduce risk, particularly the risk of delivering a system that is not what the users intended, specified or can use productively toward their goals. Like ADDIE, Agile has feedback built into every step. In my opinion, Agile goes a step beyond ADDIE in terms of flexibility, as each step of the process is subject to change and adaptation at any point which prevents the process from hardening into a dogma that developers and users must fight against to achieve their goals.

Agile methodology also embraces a number of practices, such as Scrum and XP

My approach to Agile methodology is, I believe, in the spirit of which it was first created, that is, a lightweight, low dogma approach that gets software in front of the people that are going to use it quickly, cleanly, without a huge burden of documentation and tasks that distract from the goals of the team or organization. In my Agile practice, I always include the target users of the system as early in the development life cycle as possible, create prototypes as soon as possible, and elicit feedback and incorporate it into subsequent iterations of the system. I try not to require 'sign offs' or anything else that boxes in the users and causes conflict. This is not always possible to achieve, but working with these goals in mind has, in my opinion, allowed me to deliver better products quicker, more efficiently, and at a lower cost.

Applying Agile methodologies to the eLearning hub, I will keep documentation and related tasks to a minimum (where it concerns my clients, that is, Noosphere Media), publish prototypes as quickly as possible, incorporate user feedback into subsequent iterations, and keep a versatile architecture and approach that embraces change and innovation.