Project "Scope Creep"

I have been a part of a project that encountered scope creep.  While working on an internal project (software implementation) that was to be implemented company-wide, it was very important to keep the project focused, as it was a huge undertaking and we were on a tight timeline.  For my piece, I was the lead on training.  This meant conducting pilots to each of the training heads, designing and delivery training, and designing all of the documentation and training materials for the staff.  It was huge and I remember thinking I was in way over my head.  Because of the large scale of the project, I had to design my materials and training to accommodate each department.  As the project progressed,  it was discussed that I would design and deliver training customized to each staff’s role within the department.  While I agreed it would have been more effective training, it was way out of scope.  Fortunately, I had a manager that was able to nip it in the bud, knowing it would not be possible for me to do this without additional resources and time, two things we did not have.  Looking back, if I had been the project manager, I do not think I would have done anything different.  The PM I worked with was incredible, and managed all of the aspects of the project, with training being only a piece of it.  She trusted me and my opinion, thus with the support of my manager, I think the proper outcome took place.

Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources

There is a lot of information on the web that can be helpful resources for instructional designers when estimating costs, effort, and/or the activity durations associated with the projects. 

Recommended Resource #1: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html#hours

This site was particularly useful because it offered advice on budgeting, training cost guidelines, estimating development hours, eLearning development time, and instructor preparation time.  There is even a tool available that is an Excel worksheet that helps you to estimate training costs.  I was actually really glad I came across this site, I think it will be an excellent resource for me in my occupation when having to perform tasks associated with estimating costs and budgets.

Recommended Resource #2: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/creating-your-project-budget-where-to-begin/1045600

This site contained an called “Creating your project budget.  Where to Begin?” This article offers guidelines on the basics of budgeting including identifying project costs.  It also includes a section on risk assessment and emphasizes the importance of including it for a successful budget.  I could relate to this article because it stresses the importance of coming in under budget for customers, rather than over.  As I have gained more experience in budgeting, training, and instructional design, I think my accuracy has improved with this component (estimating costs) of the project.

References

Clark, Don (n.d.) Estimating Costs and Time in Instructional Design. http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html#hours

Doll, S. (2002). Creating your project budget: Where to begin? Retrieved February 2, 2011, from http://www.builderau.com.au/strategy/projectmanagement/soa/Creating-your-project-budget-Where-to-begin-/0,339028292,320265341,00.htm

The Art of Communication

We completed an exercise for our project management course in which  the same exact message was communicated in three different ways:  email, voicemail, and face-to-face.  When analyzing my interpretation of each of the modalities, I concluded the following:

Email:  I thought the email was a little harsh.  If the person hadn’t written “I really appreciate your help” at the bottom, I think it may have been taken in a negative way.  I’ve actually had this experience in which someone thought I was upset with them because of an email.  It wasn’t true!  I didn’t realize how harsh the email sounded until I re-read it.  A very good lesson.

Voicemail:  I thought the voicemail was better than the email because the tone of the person’s voice was pleasant and not angry.  It certainly was a very good communication method.

Face-to-face:  This one was just as good as the voicemail.  There really is no replacement for seeing someone’s facial expressions when they are communicating with you.  This person actually smiled at the very end.

When making a decision about which modality to use, I think it really depends on what you are trying to communicate.  I found this great video on youtube that gives ideas on when to use an email verse calling or talking to someone face-to-face.  There is an advertisement at the beginning of it (sorry)!   http://www.videojug.com/interview/to-e-mail-or-not-to-e-mail-2

Laureate Education (n.d.) The Art of Effective Communication.  Retrieved September 20, 2012 from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html.

Learning from a Project “ Post-mortem”

 

I had the opportunity to be the training lead on a large-scale internal project that meant implementing (and training) and new customer relationship management software company-wide.  Fortunately, the project was a huge success.  The only thing that I really wish would have been different was the issues I had with the software when I was trying to train it, as it was still being developed/fixed.  Because of the short timeline, I was literally teaching and developing materials before the environment was ready.  This caused a lot of frustration, as we encountered multiple errors when working in the software.  It gave a poor impression of the quality of the software, and often left me unable to complete the desired tasks.  If I could “wave a magic wand” and change something about the project management of the project, it would be to make sure these two critical areas did not overlap.  I would request a go-live ready environment prior to giving any training.  It was very difficult to plan and get on everyone’s schedule, so I understand why/how it happened.   A lot of the trainees travel, thus getting a block of time on their calendar was a challenge.  I had to plan months in advance.  If any challenges came along the way (which there were multiple ones), this caused issues with scheduling.  I rescheduled 120 employees at one time; doing it again was not an option, so we just proceeded with the errors.  Somehow, someway, we worked through the issues and had tremendous success with the implementation of the new software.

A Course in Project Management!

My journey in instructional design continues with a course in project management.  As an instructional designer for a software company, project management is a big part of my role.  I also have the pleasure of working with several very talented project managers within my company.  I am hoping to gain more knowledge in this field that can help me be a more effective and efficient project manager in my occupation.

Reflection

     “Expect the next decade to have more change than the last 50 years,” (Gates, n.d.). Technology is constantly changing and it’s changing the way we learn. Distance education has already had an impact worldwide (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, p. 14). I anticipate it having even more of an impact for many years to come, perhaps even becoming the primary way we learn. What is the perception of learners today in regards to distance learning? What will it be in five to ten years, or ten to twenty? As an instructional designer , I already utilize distance learning daily in my occupation. I am therefore already a big advocate for this avenue of learning and witnessed its success first-hand. Not everyone feels this way, however. Some still shy away from this form of learning. Distance learning is ever-changing, but I intend on being a proponent for improving societal perceptions of it and a positive force in its continuous improvement.

I believe in the next five to ten years distance learning will begin to be integrated into most schools, universities and corporate training programs and will be widely accepted. The flexibility alone makes it an extremely attractive option. If designed correctly, it can be just as, if not more, effective. In time, individuals will start to see its effectiveness. In ten to twenty years I think it will be a standard way of delivering education for educational institutions and businesses and people will perceive it as the “norm” in learning. While it is difficult to predict what technologies will emerge by then, based on the rapid acceptance of distance learning right now, I think the upward trend will continue. While I don’t think traditional classrooms will be completely extinct, I think the blended learning option will be extremely common and the perception of distance learning a positive one.  

I am very excited about my chosen field of instructional design. I specialize in the distance learning arena for my occupation. Recently I offered what are called “Virtual Boot Camps” to our customers. It was a new experience for my learners and for me. Because it was new, I had a couple issues with the technology piece as I went through the training. I remained positive and managed to do some workarounds to get through the trainings. After the boot camps were over, one of my evaluations indicated that the learner was very impressed at how I handled the challenges of technology and remained positive. As an instructional designer, I feel it is my role to be an advocate for this type of learning, be prepared for the challenges it may bring, and embrace the changes that are inevitable. Doing these things will hopefully contribute to my learner’s gaining a positive perception of distance learning.

I intend to make it a priority to be a part of continually improving distance education. This means staying up-to-date in the latest research, trends, and technologies available. It means staying in tune with learner’s needs and perceptions. It means knowing that I will need to update my materials, adapt to the new developments and help my learners continually transition. Distance learning is evolving into a huge part of how people learn, but I believe it has only just begun.

I personally do not think I could have chosen a better field than instructional design because of the timing of the onset of distance learning. For many years I envied those that had chosen a field of specialization and were committed to growing in it. I have finally found that in instructional design and technology. My interest lies in the distance learning component. It is an ever-changing field that utilizes my creativity, planning, and analyzing skills. I am excited to see what happens in the next five to twenty years in distance education, and even more excited to be a part of it.

References

Gates, Bill (n.d.). JudyBrown.com qutoes. Learn from the past imagine the future. Retrieved
     August 18, 2012 from http://www.judybrown.com/quotes.html.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: 
     Foundations of distance education (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Best Practices for Converting to a Distance Learning Environment

Many companies are changing over from traditional classroom training to a blended delivery which includes online delivery. When doing so, there are some best practices that have been found.  Click the following link to Best Practices when Converting to a Distance Learning Environment for a guide that was created for a similiar scenario.

The Impact of Open Course

I did a review of an Open Course that is offered through Stanford University. It is called Technology and Entrepreneurship and can be found at http://e145.stanford.edu/.

 Does the course appear to be carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment? How so?

 This course is extremely organized and appeared to be pre-planned as evidenced by the outline of the course (i.e. gave a thorough overview with links to videos) and a succession of topics, ending with a summary. Study questions, recommended readings, and resources are listed throughout the course. My only criticism is the lack of interesting graphics. I found it to be very boring with the exception of the links to the videos. While the aesthetics were pleasing, there was very little interesting pictures or graphics otherwise.

Does the course follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in your course textbook?

There are several recommendations that the textbook Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek, 2012) provides. This course seemed to follow many of those recommendations. For example, the instructor references why certain majors should study entrepreneurship (addressing the target audience). The instructor did a great job highlighting what content was going to be delivered, as well as the desired outcomes (p. 173). The course was very carefully designed as evidenced by the amount of time spent outlining what was going to be presented, and discussing what should be learned by taking the course. The medium chosen is accessible to any student that has access to the Internet and the instructor uses a lot of links to www.youtube.com. The instructor also did a good job of outlining why the content was relevant to the needs of the learners.

 Did the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students?

 The instructor was very consistent in having learners complete study questions that engaged the learners in the material that was being presented and forced them to work with their teammates to complete assignments.

Summary

Until now, I had never heard of “OpenCourse” . I was impressed by ability to access a well-designed course from a highly reputable university. While the objective of these courses is to gain knowledge about the topic being presented, it opened my eyes to the fact that I could see how instruction has been designed from these highly reputable universities. This will give me another avenue of learning how to design effective distance education.


Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a

      distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Collaborating Using Technology

The Scenario: Collaborative Training Environment

A new automated staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same time or in the same location. As an instructional designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing collaboration.

Sharing information has become quite easy with the use of technology.  Streamlining and organizing it, however, can be a challenge.  When looking for a solution for information sharing that can include the ability to share screen captures, documents, and participation in ongoing collaboration, my first suggestion would be Microsoft Sharepoint (www.sharepoint.microsoft.com).  Using Sharepoint, a site can actually be created targeted for the new information system.  Users can share documents pertinent to the new system.  They can break down the sites even further into specific topics, etc. so that users are not having to sift through documents not relevant to their role.  In addition, there is a setting that can send users an email every time something new is posted.   A case study was done for L&T Infotech and their use of Sharepoint.  They used the system to give access to employees about certain events, profiles of people, and as a community for collaboration and sharing.  Not only did their business collaboration increase, but so did their productivity (Microsoft, 2012).  

Another solution is a discussion board.  Employees can pose questions as they are learning the new system, and work together to get answers.  There are several successful discussion forums online that are open to the public.  For example, www.beachbody.com hosts one that helps individuals that are trying to lose weight and get fit.  Users are able to pose questions to individuals from all over the world, and receive answers and encouragement.  The same could be true for this company.  Also, those using the discussion forum could read old posts to see if the question they are having has already been addressed by someone else.

Keep in mind users may need to have training on using Sharepoint or the discussion forum as well.  “Many students have never before studied in an online educational environment (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, p. 134).  In order for the source of information to be useful, they have to know about it and know how to use it.

Works Cited:

Microsoft Case Studies. (2012, April 13).  IT Services Firm Increases Business Agility and Employee Productivity with Enterprise Social Networking and Collaboration.  Retrieved July 15, 2012 from http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-SharePoint-Server-2010/LT-Infotech/IT-Services-Firm-Increases-Business-Agility-and-Employee-Productivity-with-Enterprise-Social-Networking-and-Collaboration/710000000439.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

 

Defining Distance Education - Mind Map

Defining Distance Education

Distance learning and education without a doubt is ever-changing.  This makes defining it a daunting task. 

Depending on who you ask or what article you read, you most likely will get a different response each and every time.  For example, I wrote a paper on distance learning/education in my last course.  One article said, “E-learning is often also referred to as “distance learning” or “online learning”.  It can be defined as “the use of internet technologies to create and deliver a rich learning environment that includes a broad array of instruction and information resources and solutions, the goal of which is to enhance individual and organizational performance” (Tufan, 2010).   Thus, prior to starting this course, I thought of it basically any type of learning that takes place online and typically have referred to it as “e-learning”, as that is what my company calls it.   My professor for the Distance Education course I am currently enrolled in quickly corrected me, letting me know that e-learning is one type of distance education/learning, but is not synonymous (Dawson, 2012).

 I cannot say for certain that it depends on one’s profession, experience, and technological know-how, however, if everyone took the distance education course that I am enrolled in, I think they would get a better understanding of how to define it! 

I have designed instruction for a variety of distance learning courses, some I find to be more effective than others.  For example, my ‘live’ trainings in which I train individuals across the country on software via Web Ex and teleconference seem to be quite effective, as I can see the progress my learners are having.  Pre-recorded sessions that my learners access online, however, are more difficult to assess the efficacy, and I am unsure how many learners actually access them.  I most recently started venturing into virtual classrooms.  These are similar to the Web Ex sessions I provide, but I can view multiple learners accessing their software at the same time, verse just sharing one desktop.

My revised definition is, “institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors,” (Simonson, p. 32).  This definition is far broader and covers all aspects of the education/learning.

One of the reason’s I chose to pursue this Master’s degree is I believe distance learning IS the future.  The sky is the limit for this type of education, and if designed and delivered properly, it can be as, if not more, effective than traditional classroom training.  Some predict that this type of education could soon become the principle way to educate in the world (Radovic’-Markovic’, 2010). 

References:

Dawson, Rosemary.  Response to discussion post dated June 28, 2012 for Distance Education   class.  Walden University.

Radović-Marković, Mirjana (2010) Advantages and Disadvantages of E-Learning in Comparison

to Traditional Forms of Learning.  Annals of the University of Petroşani, Economics, 10(2), 2010, 289-298.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance:   Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson, p. 32-41.

Tufan, Didem.  (2010). The Effectiveness of E-learning in Corporate Training Programs.   Retrieved May 27, 2012 from http://metu.academia.edu/DTufan/Papers/850914/The_Effectiveness_Of_E-Learning_In_Corporate_Training_Programs_-How_It_Is_Managed_And_Evaluated.