Apps in the Field: Prototyping HyperSite for Describing Work Practices in Workplaces

Abstract

Mobile applications running on smart phones and other Internet aware devices can and are being used to support teaching and learning. In the Operations discipline, students can benefit from capturing media of work practices in organizational contexts. However, there are limits to the use of off-the-shelf apps and deciding what kinds of app functionality may be required for particular disciplines is being addressed in a program called the App Research and Development Initiative (ARDI). This chapter describes HyperSite, a design and digital prototype for an app that can be used in Operations related studies. HyperSite supports the qualitative coding of digital images, video, and audio. Qualitative codes can be predeveloped by field teams, assigned to media after they have been collected or deferred until subsequent observations and analyses are made. Collected media can be organized into projects and managed within the app. The experience of designing HyperSite provides some insights into how educational technologists can approach bespoke app development including how this process can shift traditional categories by considering, for example, students as researchers and industry organizations as educational partners.