The Life Cycle of a Cutting-edge Technology Course - A Coaching Experience on Android

Abstract

What is the role that a university should play in the spreading of cutting-edge technologies? It is argued here that one possibility is to bring focused cutting-edge technology courses in the standard curriculum. It is contended that such courses have shorter lifespans than conventional subjects and, consequently, their implementation needs to be more dynamic. These claims are backed by discussing the life-cycle of an Android course running biannually from Spring 2010 to Spring 2013 at Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya. The rise phase of this course (which lasted two semesters) was a challenging experience that motivated students and lecturers to play a cooperative and active role in the creation of true working Android applications. The course held stable for two semesters while student motivation began to fall as smart phones increasingly became everyday objects. During these two phases the course was offered as extra curricular in the undergraduate phase. Two added factors were instrumental in the decline (or fall) phase: the availability of on-line information and the fact that the course became a requirement of a master's curriculum.