Writing custom code removes the limitations of what's possible. Here are a few examples of projects with code I've written. I've included extensive descriptions to convey the context in which they were made, my role in making them, and what the results were.
Course Management Python Module
for Penn State's College of IST |
Ongoing
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Project Managing a portfolio of courses often means making the same updates to many courses. Some of this repetitive work can be automated by using the scripts and the LMS's API. While writing a script may require an investment of time upfront, it can be reused as much as you need. This allows for quicker response times when a need arises and makes it easier to scale the number of courses we support.
My Role: This has really been a one-man project. When I started, I new very little about Python, and it has been a great way to learn – my code continues to improve as does this module's usefulness in my daily work. While I would like to bring in collaborators to work on this, it's purpose is a bit niche and the code is still a bit messy. Results: While the code is constantly being updated and revised, it is a very useful and adaptable tool. While there are limitations to what I've been able to do, overall, the scripts have not only saved time but have also been more accurate than doing many of these tedious tasks manually. |
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River Crossing Game
for Penn State's College of IST |
Completed 5/2020
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Project: When it was decided that an existing Flash-based version of this game was no longer suitable to keep, we rebuilt the game with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. This version replaced the original in our SRA 421 class
My Role: For this project, I worked with the instructional designer for the course, along with an illustrator. I handled working out the logic for the game (based on the original version) and wrote all the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Once the basic mechanics were in working order, our illustrator drew all the elements needed and they were incorporated. Results: The final product successfully works as a replacement for the original. After reviewing it for accessibility, I had to go back and make some additional modifications, and I learned a bit about HTML ARIA attributes in the process. Link: http://personal.psu.edu/bjd42/river_game/ |
Learning Object Repository
for NW Regional Outdoor Science School |
Completed 5/2016
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Project The purpose of this project was to build an online system to house and organize Northwest Regional Outdoor Science School’s digital resources. The Outdoor School program has been around for a long time and consequently has a lot of material that has been developed for it, but those resources were often disorganized and/or not easily accessible. This project helped consolidate existing resources, provide a place for staff to contribute newly developed resources, and make them all easily searchable.
My Role: I took on this project as my capstone professional project for my MSEd: Info Tech degree. I received support for the project both from faculty at WOU and from Outdoor School staff, but mostly I planned and developed this project myself. I experimented with multiple web development approaches before building the final product using Google Apps with custom functionality and user interface built using Google Apps Script. I was able to present a working prototype at the spring 2016 start-of-season, all-staff meeting, where I was also able to hear suggestions and conduct informal user observations, both of which further enhanced the development of this project. Results: The resulting product allowed staff (and any other interested people) to search materials by specified criteria, and also allowed them to contribute new resources to it. Admittedly, I was not an expert coder and the code would benefit from some refactoring, but the repository functioned as intended, and it offered outdoor school staff access to resources they previously may not have had. In order to make this repository a useful resource from the outset, nearly 1,000 already existing Outdoor School resources were catalogued and added to the repository prior to its launch. Link: To see the project in its current live form (no guarantee it's still up), visit: https://goo.gl/Kp9vQc |
Camera Settings Simulator
as a proof-of-concept |
Completed 5/2016
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Project: This simulator was built as a proof-of-concept and served as an exercise in building simple front-end web apps. The goal was to give users the ability to see exactly how different combinations of camera settings would effect the image captured.
My Role: This was primarily a personal project, so all work on it was completed by me. I conceived the idea, took the photos, and wrote all the code for it. Results: The end result is a successful simulator to that illustrates how the main camera settings impact the picture being taken. Making everything work without creating a separate image for each setting combination required using some non-standard CSS, but continues to work with current versions of both Chrome and Firefox web browser. Link: https://brianjdaigle.weebly.com/camera-settings.html |