Although program directors who participated in the PIER
alpha test report satisfaction with PIER, they continue to raise the same implementation concerns reported in the literature to date.
The new model for T&E shifts the emphasis from buying to two basic but not necessarily sequential domains: The first domain is the world of acceptance tests, or
Alpha Tests.
Alpha Tests are activities to sufficiently characterize systems in support of contractual necessities, management, and initial fielding decisions.
A new course development process was started after the
alpha test. The curriculum specialist is the leader of this team.
New technology products, for example, pass through "
Alpha tests," which prove concepts in protected environments; "Beta tests," in which the product is subjected to extensive acceptance-testing by a set of preferred customers; and, finally, "release-based upgrade," in which field experience is built into a regular program of product upgrading.
Typically the
alpha test is followed by a "beta test," where the innovation is piloted with a group of average users to discover the fine-tuning necessary before general implementation of the innovation on a broad scale is undertaken.
Buy the handheld because the best-of-class nursing system will run on it." Rather than nomadic or mobile computers, Steiniger prefers to call the devices "handheld clients," a term he said better describes the configuration and function of the devices used in the
alpha test.
The
alpha test ended before more style-based optimizations could be added.
Reliability was determined through internal consistency by applying Cronbach's
alpha test. The alpha value was set at 0.05 for significance.
Summary of
Alpha Test Site Statistics (a) Institution No.
Skyfire works on Windows Mobile 5 and 6, Symbian phones with Nokia's S60 platform and is currently in a closed
alpha test for BlackBerry.
Then there should be an
alpha test and a beta test in which the course is run for selected audiences and tweaked according to their input.
