IEP: Reflection

This project has been extremely satisfying. I feel like I am finally finding a way to fully use the particular mix of strengths I bring to education. I have always enjoyed programming, and this is the clearest focus I've ever had for applying my programming knowledge.

I am still planning to release this program as open source software, once I have established that it works as expected. A motto in open source is "Release early and release often," and the guidelines at Sourceforge encourage developers to bring code public in the early phases of development. However, I prefer a model of establishing a minimum level of functionality before releasing code, because adding developers too early can just confuse things. I am also using this program as a way to learn Python, so I want to bring the program to a certain point before being open to collaboration anyways.

I have another long-term goal in mind as well. The software I would really like to see produced is a high-quality curriculum design tool. Engineers use AutoCad to design their work, so they can easily revise their plans as improvements arise. Teachers are still mired in the cut-and-paste, manual-revision world of word processors for most of their curriculum design work. We need a well-designed, database-focused curriculum planning tool that facilitates curriculum development and refinement. I would like to apply what I learn from the Transcript Illustrator project to this larger project.