Handleing Project Change

From a team of 15 to a team of 4

Whoever said change is good never; never had to plan an event usually with a team 15 plus people with a single team of 4.  I am an Education Manager for a local program serving children 3 -5 years of age.  I am responsible for putting together our Annual Art Show.  The show use to have a committee of about 15 – 20 people from various areas.   Last year due to some other agency commitments it was left up to my team of 4 to plan and implement the event.  The event requires 17 site to implement various art activities on site bring them to the event as well as on art piece for the silent auction.   I was stressed the entire spring preparing for the April even In addition to the event my regular duties and those of my team must continue.  To my advantage I have dynamite plan that I had created for previous events.  All that was needed was to change the theme, update the material to match the new theme.  In our course reading this week I seem to have followed the steps to handle changes in scope form (Greer,2010):

1.       Stay calm. Remind yourself that the original project scope documents were created at a tem when you knew less than you know now.

2.       Pinpoint the exact change.

3.       Analyze the impact

4.       Discuss the impact with your project team

5.       Report the impact to the sponsor

6.       Update the project scope statement and overall plan

7.       Obtain written sponsor approval of the change and the corresponding revised plan. 

If I knew them what I know now about project management, I could have saved myself so much grief.  It appears I knew enough to get by. The event went well and on the surface seemed great.  It was at great cost and stress to my team.  Planning and preparation for other projects during that time and what was needed suffered during that summer as well.  Having great plan to start is the key I am learning with project success.  It was a hard time of year but you can take solace during a project in knowing this too shall pass.   All organisms have a life cycle.  They are born, grow, wane, and die.  This is true for all living things, as well as organizations, companies, and projects (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer,2008)..

Reference

·         Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

·         Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Instructional Design

Instructional Design

What to charge? How to calculate?

As an individual about to enter the field of Instructional Design, I am trying figure what to charge for services.  There are so many questions and ways to calculate these services.  I have provided a few helpful links and resources please enjoy.

1.       Estimating Costs and Time in Instructional Design

The link above provides some various costs to estimating training costs.

2.       Let’s Talk Instructional Design

The link above is to goldmine of blog. Its budgeting and planning down in manageable terms with some simple examples that transition to more difficult projects.  The site also provides links to additional resources some of which contain some great budgeting tools.

3.       Michael Greer’s PM Resources

The link above was truly a find.  The page is filled with articles, tools, videos, and more for The Project Management Minimalist.  Yes it is by the one and only author we have grown to love of the book The project Management Minimalist: just enough PM to Rock Your Project!

Communicating Effectively

What is communication?  It is a Big word with a Big meaning and a Big deal to most people. Communication defined by Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer,2008 is sharing the right messages with the right people in a timely manner. The question that puzzles many of us on occasion what is the best communication approach to use in certain situations.  In the business world sometimes it is clear and other times it can feel like a hit or miss.

Multimedia Program: "The Art of Effective Communication"

The example in the link above is a clear example of the use of communication and how the same message delivered three different ways can take on several meanings.  The same message was conveyed via, email, phone message and face to face.  As you analyze the example it is important to remember there are two communication approaches formal and informal ( Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer,2008):

A.     Formal communications are preplanned and conducted in a standard format in accordance with and established schedule.

B.     Informal communications occur as people think of information they want to share.

As I reflect on the different forms of comommunication, I considered the following questions:	Email	Phone	Face to Face
How did your interpretation of the message change from one modality to the next?	My interpretation of changed as it progressed.  The email conveyed a serious tone It appeared to be accusatory in tone and was putting blame on Mark for not doing his work and holding up Jane’s.  It also convey a since of a more serious problem by putting it in writing.  The phone message tone softened the message a bit but still had a not so positive undertone.  The face to face cleared up many of my perceptions.  Jane started by first coming to Mark with a smile and appears she was passing by.  It appeared very informal which keeps the tone positive.
What factors influenced how you perceived the message?	*Type of font used *Punctuation *Opening greeting *Closing Greeting	*Tone *Pitch of voice *Emphasis placed on certain words *Closing and the sound when the phone hangs up	*Tone *Pitch of voice *Body Language *Facial expression
Which form of communication best conveyed the true meaning and intent of the message?	It is hard to say which form of communication best conveyed the true meaning and intent of the messages.  If the intent was documenting this as a formal problem with past concerns the email was it.  If was a simple request with no other intent but a gentle reminder the phone call or face to face was the way to go.  I could also change that as a manager in the program I work for sometimes email is the best form of communication for me.
What are the implications of what you learned from this exercise for communicating effectively with members of a project team?	As a member of a project management team I have learned the following: 1.       Communication is the foundation of any project 2.      Communication while a great tool must be used wisely.

        

In closing I would like to add to my earlier definition of communication sharing the right messages with the right people in a timely manner and in a way that fits the purpose of the intended message.

Resource

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Small Project in need of some BIG Plans

Our church earned and award through the city to distribute food to the community every quarter.  The Project manager (Coordinator) of the project had participated in a full food back before but never a temporary set-up.  The project would always have 200 -300 clients serviced in a single day.  On the day of the event volunteers stated showing up at about 6:00 a.m. to truck loads food, shopping for meat was needed at the local grocery store, bagging and sorting food.  The single most frustrating part of the project was the coordination and utilization of volunteers. Most events we had plenty of volunteers however many went underutilized. Based on Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer,2008, suggest that every project passes through the following phases:

1.      Conceive phase: and idea is born.

2.     Define phase: a plan is developed.

3.     Start phase: a team is formed.

4.     Perform phase: the work is done.

5.     Close phase: the project is ended

Under the guidance of a project manager, projects move through these 5 stages.  I believe the project went through each of the fives it was steps 2-4 where I believe things fell apart.  I am not quite sure if a formal plan was developed however I do know a committee of stakeholders and experts was not established.  Teams were not formed until the day of the event.  The work was done however not in the most efficient and fair manner. For this project as soon as one ended the new planning should have began.  The deliverables were accomplished far beyond expectations and continued to grow each quarter, however at what level of frustration to the volunteers and the coordinator.  While the seemed like a small, easy, well intended project it needed some big planning.

Resource

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Open Course Source

The Impact of Open Source

Open courses provides free and open access to a selection of courses.  The aims of the course are usually to expand access to educational resources to expand your knowledge.  One source of open courses is Harvard Open Courses: Open Learning Initiative; http://www.extension.harvard.edu/open-learning-initiative.  The Harvard open courses at Harvard Extension School are videos for the following free Harvard courses are made available by the Harvard Extension School’s Open Learning Initiative. Featuring Harvard faculty, the noncredit courses are open to the public. You do not need to register to view the lecture videos.

A word to the wise as it relates to online learning the courses are not designed of online learning.  Keep in mind that courses previously taught in traditional classrooms may need to be retooled.  The focus of the instruction shifts to visual presentations, engaged learners, and careful timing of presentations of information (Simonson, Samaldino, Albright & Zyacek 2012).  The courses are truly informative and quality lectures. The courses fit the basic definition of distance education.  Distance education emerged in response to the need of providing access to those who would otherwise not be able to participate in face-to-face course (Beldarrain, 2006).  The course in a traditional learning environment was well thought-out and planned.  They do not however follow the basic recommendations for online instruction Instructional design is a systematic process.  A critical part of the process is to consider the components of  a successful learning system(Dick et al., 2009) These components are the learners, the content, the method and materials, and the environment, including technology.  The interactions of these components create the type of learning experience necessary for student learning (Simonson, Samaldino, Albright & Zyacek 2012). 

 

 

 

Resources

·         Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2), 139–153.

·         Dick, W., Carey,L., & Carey, J.O.(2009).  The systematic design of instruction,(7^th ed.). new York; Longman

·         Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.  Chapter 7, "The Student and Distance Education” (pp. 150 - 191)

Tools to Create Interactive Tours

Interactive Tours

Case Scenario
A high school history teacher, located on the west coast of the United States, wants to showcase to her students new exhibits being held at two prominent New York City museums. The teacher wants her students to take a "tour" of the museums and be able to interact with the museum curators, as well as see the art work on display. Afterward, the teacher would like to choose two pieces of artwork from each exhibit and have the students participate in a group critique of the individual work of art. As a novice of distance learning and distance learning technologies, the teacher turned to the school district’s instructional designer for assistance. In the role of the instructional designer, what distance learning technologies would you suggest the teacher use to provide the best learning experience for her students?

Web 2.0 tools are the tools of the future for teachers.   As the twenty-first century progressed, it has become more and more evident that course management systems, and indeed the Web itself in its first decade of widespread public use, reflected the teacher-centered instructional paradigm(Brown, 2007) Beginning in the early 2000s, however, a new generation of web applications emerged, tools that are highly participatory and promote collaboration, networking, sharing, and widespread generation of content, and the editing and mixing of content from diverse sources for new purposes (Simonson,  Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  The teacher can combine several Web 2.0 tools to create the desired interactive environment provided by interner4classrooms(Brooks & Byles,2012):

1. Audio/Podcasting- Online audio broadcasting. Will allow for two way communication between the students and the museum curators.
2. PLN Tools - Personal Learning Network - A PLN is a collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online. There are many tools that help you in creating your own personal PLN for professional.  The PLN tools can also facilitate the conversation between the curators, teacher and student.
1. Twitter - Connect with other teachers and share, discover and discuss ideas.
2. Plurk - Connect with others to share ideas, events, and information.
3. Ning - Online service for creating, joining and sharing Social Networks
4. Twitter Kit - What is a PLN? Why is it important? Module 1 - Watch more Tech Videos at Vodpod.
3. Graphic Organizers - Use these tools to create a picture representation of relationships between facts, terms and ideas.  The organizers can support the students in participating in a group critique of the individual work of art.
1. Bubbl.us - Create mind maps online. The directions for using this tool are on the right side of the page.
2. Cacoo - Click on play for instructions, then create a mind map.
3. Gliffy - draw and share diagrams on the web
4. Mindomo - Web-based mind mapping tool - free registration - very similar to inspiration

Please leave any comment suggest of ways to support the teacher.

References

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

Web Resources

http://web2012.discoveryeducation.com/web20tools-presentation.cfm

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/web2.htm

http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/

Defining Distance Learning

Distance learning is ever changing and growing.  In simple terms the definition to me is learning from a distance or the absence of the face to face traditional classroom.  Distance education is defined by(Simonson & Syacek, 2012) as instruction-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructions.  Edwards(1995) uses the term open learning to describe a new way of looking at education in a quickly changing and diverse world.  He indicates that distance education and open learning are two distinct approaches to education. 

Distance learning may seem like a new idea or concept but it is not.  However, the concepts that form the basis of this type of education are more than a century old(Simonson & Syacek, 2012). Distance education can be determined as far back as over 160 years.  An advertisement in a Swedish newspaper in 1833 touted the opportunity to study “composition through the medium of the post.” In 1840, England’s newly established penny post allowed Isaac Pitman to offer shorthand instruction via correspondence.  Three years later, instruction was formalized with the founding of the Phonographic Correspondence Society, precursor of Sir Isaac Pitman’s Correspondence Colleges(Simonson & Syacek, 2012).

I am in the education field and staff development days are becoming fewer and fewer.   The need for web based training and learning opportunities are growing. The motivating factors for corporate e-learning are predominantly economic (Moller & Huett, 2008).  The benefits of distance learning for me have been , convenience, no travel time to a site,  the ability to complete my assignments at my own rate by assigned due dates of course.  In the technology world distant education is no longer a thing of the future but of the present.   With rising cost of gas and everything else the need for distance training and education is a must to cut cost for businesses and individuals.

Distance learning is here to stay.   The Distance Education and Training Council(DETC) calls distance education a “mainstream “educational delivery method and predict more than a 300% increase in students served in the next five years(DETC,2004) The rapid growth in information technology is reshaping the learning styles of students.  The education field must be ready and keep up with this ever changing environment.

In this fast pace changing environment of distance  education a lot is still left  learn In this environment  it is difficult to arrive at on definition or agree on a theory on how to practice and do research in the field of distance education(Simonson & Syacek, 2012). New technology is developing and growing daily and so does the need to address student learning in non-traditional methods.

Reference

·         Distance Education Survey,(2004).  A report on course structure and educational services in distance education and training council member institutions.

·         Edwards,R.(1995).  Different discources, discourses of difference: Globalisation,distance education, and open learning.  Distance Education,16(2),241-255

·         Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 1: Training and development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75

·         Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70.

·         Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.  Chapter 2, "Definitions, History, and Theories of Distance Education" (pp. 32–41 only)

Distance Education Mind map