Chapter 8: Fast Prototyping as a Communication Catalyst For e-Learning Design

This chapter proposes a renewed perspective on a known project management model, fast prototyping, which was adapted for the specific issues of e-learning development. Based on extensive experience with large e-learning projects, we argue that this model has a positive impact on elearning project team communication, and that it provides a good basis for effective management of the design and development process, with specific stress on human-factor management. The chapter stems from the experience gained at the eLab, e-learning laboratory (www.elearninglab.org), a lab run jointly by the Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI—University of Lugano) and the Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana (SUPSI—University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland) in Switzerland. It contains three case studies of different applications of the fast prototyping model, and has a strongly practical focus.