The first step would be to define the goals and objectives of the education technology platform. You would need to clearly articulate what problem the platform is trying to solve or what needs it is trying to address within the education system. Some examples could include helping teachers develop personalized learning plans for students, facilitating collaborative learning between students, or providing adaptive practice and assessment tools. Defining clear goals will help guide the entire development process.
Once the goals are established, comprehensive research needs to be conducted to understand the current landscape of edtech tools and how existing solutions are addressing similar needs. This will help identify gaps in the market as well as gather insights on best practices from established platforms. The research should involve reviewing literature and studies, analyzing features of competitor products, and gathering feedback from educators, students, and other key stakeholders on their technology needs and pain points.
After understanding the target user needs and goals, high-fidelity design mocks or wireframes need to be created for the key functional components and features of the proposed platform. This includes designs for the homepage, subject modules, assessment features, teacher dashboards, reports, and any other relevant sections. Interface design best practices from human-computer interaction research should be applied. The designs need to be reviewed by sample users to gather initial feedback and refine based on insights.
In parallel with designing, the technology architecture and infrastructure requirements of the platform need to be planned. This involves deciding on the programming languages, content management system, database, hosting environment, and other technical specifications. Security, privacy, and accessibility also need to be prioritized from the beginning. Existing open-source platforms and components may be leveraged where possible to reduce development efforts.
Once the designs are finalized based on user research and the tech stack is decided, full development of the product can begin. This involves coding all the designed interface elements as well as the backend functionality based on the objectives. Continuous testing and quality control methods need to be followed to ensure bugs are minimized. Security best practices like encryption and input validation must be implemented.
As front-end and back-end development progresses, sample subject modules and content need to be developed in parallel. This helps test key features and provides something to showcase during pilot testing with actual users. Development should follow an agile approach with frequent testing, feedback cycles, and scope prioritization based on what provides most value.
When basic functionality and key features are developed, an initial closed pilot testing phase needs to be done with a small group of target users. This helps identify any usability flaws or gaps and fine tune elements based on real-world feedback. Analytics also need to be integrated to track engagement and gauge what’s working.
After addressing feedback, a second slightly larger pilot phase could be conducted to continue validating the product. Promotional and educational materials also need development at this stage to help new users onboard smoothly. Additional advanced features identified during research may get added based on resource availability.
The platform would need a full launch with marketing, training, and support resources in place. Continuous enhancement based on analytics and ongoing user research becomes important. Monetization models may get tested and modified based on actual adoption levels. Performance benchmarking also assists in technical improvement and scalability.
Developing an education technology platform requires extensive planning, iterative user-centered design, continuous testing and refinement, and eventually scaling up based on real-world use. The entire process needs to be thoroughly documented for the capstone project and supported by relevant research, design artifacts, code samples, as well as pilot testing outcomes and insights. This helps demonstrate a rigorous process was followed to develop a viable product that addresses important needs in the education domain.