An investigation into the appropriateness of using agile processes to build an educational management information system

Abstract

Since there was a need for an Educational Management Information System (EMIS) in the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan, we designed and implemented a prototype for use in the ministry and investigated the appropriateness of using Agile methods for producing the EMIS. The prototype consisted of a database containing data about schools and a Dari interface which was used by educational planners, managers and policy makers of the ministry for decision making and planning. Agile methods are relatively new in software engineering and have an approach and development guidelines which strive for user satisfaction and early incremental delivery of software. We adapt them to local conditions due to their collaborative client-developer approach. The interface, a key component, is easy to use and efficient. The key research result is an evaluation concerning the appropriateness of using Agile Methods for developing the EMIS. Focus groups and surveys were used to develop the prototype and accomplish the study.