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The Hawthorn University web development project is a true technical marvel. Building this system required our developers to think very broadly and to focus heavily on the users experience. The user interface had to be friendly and easy to use. At the same time, the system had to be very powerful with the ability to quickly retreive and process data. |
Company Overview:
- Hawthorn University is dedicated to providing dynamic online holistic nutrition education, to train and certify competent individuals to work in the field of holistic nutrition. The uniqueness of Hawthorn lies in th e quality of educational materials used, the detailed individual attention to students, the utilization of forward thinking educational tools to allow students and instructors to connect over distances, and the practical application of concepts using professional tools throughout the programs.The underlying philosophy at Hawthorn University supports the concept of biochemical individuality in our health needs and the learning process. At Hawthorn we support students in deepening their learning explorations of holistic nutrition. Programs are a combination of experiential and intellectual approaches and are comprised of modules which include oral lectures, textbook and research assignments, practical activities, and online and teleclass (conference call) discussions.
Objectives:
- This system was to be completely developed using open-source technologies. Open-source was used, because this system needed to be cross-platform and browser-independent. This systems was to offer the same experience for Windows Internet Explorer users, Mozilla Firefox users, Safari users as well as users of all operating systems.
- The Hawthorn University system also required a “bullet proof” document upload system. Students, Administrators and Instructors needed the ability to upload documents without worry of software error or upload failure.
- This system needed to be modular so enhancements can easily be added.
- Automatic PDF generation was required for student enrollment documents and reports.
- The Hawthorn University system required multiple user levels (Administrator, Instructor and Student) Additionally, the Administrator user level required access restrictions within itself.
- A community feel was need to the student classroom area.
- This system required intense usability development and testing.
Technologies:
- This web application uses a MySQL database back-end.
- The entire system is written in PERL, using MOD PERL.
- PDF files are generated using PERL and PDF::API2