Agile Methodologies (Lou)

• Originally from software development.

• Focus: Collaboration, adaptability, and improvement.

• In education: Supports student-centered and flexible learning.

“Think of teaching like managing a project: You have goals, tasks, a timeline, and stakeholders (your students). Agile helps manage this efficiently.”

Scrum in Education:

• Roles:

  • Product Owner = Teacher (sets learning goals)

  • Team = Students

  • Scrum Master = Teacher or a student (facilitates progress)

• Sprints: Short cycles of learning or project work (1–2 weeks)

Kanban in Education:

• Visual board with columns: “To Do – In Progress – Done”

• Helps track learning tasks or group projects (paper or digital)

User Stories

Definition: A way to describe learning from the student’s point of view.

Structure:

“As a [student], I want [goal] so that [benefit].”

Examples:

• “As a student, I want to present my project so that I can improve my public speaking.”

Sprint Planning Simulation

Objective: Plan a lesson or unit as a sprint.

Steps:

1. Define a user story (e.g., “As a student, I want to research a country so I can create a travel blog.”)

2. Identify 3–5 tasks (research, write, design, present).

3. Set a timeline (1-week sprint).

4. Define “done” (clear criteria of completion).

Retrospective

Definition: A structured reflection after a learning cycle.

Simple questions:

• What went well?

• What didn’t go well?

• What can we improve?

Suggested Takeaways:

• Agile helps build student ownership of learning.

• Tools like Kanban, sprints, and user stories promote clarity and motivation.

• Start small: Try Agile with one project or unit first.