CST426S - Learning Journal Reflection

What went well? What would you improve? What was the most impactful part? What challenges did you face? What advice do you have for future SL students?

     Overall, the service learning project at the Kern County Sheriff's Mounted Posse was a valuable experience. The goal of my project was to design and implement a photo upload and storage system that would enable event participants and volunteers to upload photos via a mobile friendly website. Something I feel I was particularly successful in was applying the skills and principles that I have learned through the computer science courses, to solve  a real world problem. Planning, designing, and developing this system had provided me with real world experience of not just developing a system, but also how a system as such can be beneficial to an organization even after the class is done. I feel that I accomplished something useful by providing a solution for the organization.

     The most significant takeaway I had from this service learning experience was the opportunity to be involved in using technology for the betterment of community organizations. I tend to see computer science and programming as an extremely technical and objective field. However, this experience opened my eyes to see that technology can be used in much more dynamic ways. It demonstrated to me how technology could improve user participation, usability, and overall efficiency within an organization. My collaboration with the site supervisor was especially important because it made me truly focus on the end users of the system I was designing and not just the technical aspects of the design.

     The main challenge of this service learning project was trying to design a system that could be easily used by anyone regardless of their technical skills. Doing so made it so that additional planning and revisions were necessary for the functionality and simplicity of the system to meet the needs of the users. If I were to change anything about this project, I would want to dedicate more time to gaining a better understanding of the user needs by collecting feedback throughout the design and development of the system.

     For students pursuing service learning projects, I highly recommend communicating with your site supervisor frequently, taking the time to thoroughly understand their organization's needs before diving in, staying organized and aware of your time management, and remaining open to changing design specifications as the project progresses. Service learning projects provide unique opportunities to take your classroom knowledge and put it to use while at the same time contributing something meaningful to your community. The more you immerse yourself in understanding your site's vision, the more useful and worthwhile the experience will be.

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