New Version Planning

As we're still getting started, please feel free to insert notes and comments where you like - just try to avoid changing or deleting things you yourself didn't write. We'll come up with a shared structure as we go. Also consider using the "discussion" tab at the top if you aren't sure where to comment or want to have a dialogue.

These items at the top are on the agenda for discussion, but don't have a clear place they belong yet:

• POST handler/API reachability
• Chat capability
• Containers
• NSJail, chroot?
• Physical systems: controlled via ordinary SSH, provisioned with PXE or other net boot methods?
• How to model shared resources and contention?
• Staged/prerequisite content in guide/scenario
• How to refer to observation/logging instruments
• How do we assess correctness/domain truth in a model of learning objectives?
  • Navigating a filesystem:
    • "Can a student navigate the filesystem?"
      • "Can the student compose an absolute path?"
        • "Does the student use / to begin an absolute path?"
        • "Does the student refer to directories present at the root of the filesystem?"
      • "Do they correctly use find?"
      • "Does the student map correctly between paths and the purposes of the file hierarchy?"
        • "Does the student look for binaries in /bin/?"
      • "Does the student use ~ to refer to their home directory?"
    • What artifacts help to assess this?
• Sample learning objectives:
  • Hierarchically: course/domain; module/unit; learning objective; concept/skill cluster; knowledge components; tasks
  • Scenario (course): Getting Started
    • A learning objective: Students will be able to navigate the filesystem
      • Compose paths
      • Navigate directories
      • Aware of working directory
      • Understand path substitutions (~, ., etc.)
      • etc...
    • A more specific learning objective (or, alternately, a skill cluster): Student will be able to recognize (name) and locate a hidden file in a known directory
      • Give filename of the file in question
      • Identify the path of the file in question
      • Source and provide information about the file, content in the file
      • Differentiate between a file that is and isn't hidden
    • Task (independent, but linked to learning objectives and knowledge components):
      • Find all the files that end in ".gif" using the find command
    • Knowledge component (independent, linked to tasks):
      • Student uses 'find" when searching files
      • Student uses 'ls' to list and examine available files
      • Student appropriately applies path prefix (absolute or relative)
      • Student composes valid pattern for file extension
• Quality of life:
  • Authentication/account naming is a system-wide standard/service
    • How does this behave in designs where students are meant to seize other identities?

Functional requirements:

• 20-300 students simultaneously? Semi-simultaneously? ~150 concurrently, 500+ at large institutions?
• Telemetry layer for instrument/orchestration health
• Students are provided a learning environment that is safe to explore/attack without threatening the application host infrastructure
• Two weeks unattended uptime
• Per-user resource caps configurable per host (if not per-scenario or finer-grained)

Ubiquitous language:

(See What is Ubiquitous Language? | Agile Alliance, Cosmic Python or DDD Resources - Domain Language)

• Scenario
• Learning objectives
  • e.g.
    • "Students will be able to use ls to list the contents of a directory"
    • "Students will be able to log in to the exercise via SSH"
  • Milestone
    • Do these have sufficient resolution to see why/how students arrived at a correct answer?
  • What are indicators of student progress on learning objectives?
    • How do events (such as those matched by milestones) correlate with questions?
      • What are students asking about in help requests?
      • Can we select semantics from log data (commands, chat, questions)?
  • How do we know tangibly that a student is completing learning-related tasks?
• Questions (are exercises distinct?)
• Guide
  • Guide section
• Student
• Instructor
• Hint
• Intervention
• Prediction
• Learning environment
  • Underlying system state?
    • What denotes/distinguishes a command?
• Observability/instrumentation? (Name?)

User stories:

(Supported use cases, written in terms of the ubiquitous language above)

• Instructors make Scenarios available to Students
• Scenarios configure the Learning Environment to support Learning Objectives
• Scenarios may include a Guide to support exercises and tasks in the Learning Objectives
• The Learning Environment can offer Interventions based on Student performance
• Students start and stop the Learning Environment of Scenarios made accessible to them (the Learning Environment does not consume resources when not in use)