Things always change.... It is how you deal with it that matters

I work for an online school as a teacher. Every summer we have different committees that are assigned different projects, that most of the time flow into the school year as well.  This summer my committee was in charge of re-structuring one of our content blocks. . Each content block lasts for 9 weeks, with 4 lessons every week. We had to look at the objectives and make a timeline of how long we should spend on each one, and then re-work the lessons that already existed from the year before to fit any changes we might have made. Our group got started and really took the time to look at each objective and lesson and made a lot of changes by getting rid of things we did not feel were really important and extended the timeline of others that students seem to need more time on. Our group started out on track of the deadlines put in place when all of a sudden things started changing.

Scope creep, or scope creep, is defined as “any addition, reduction, or modification to the deliverables or work process as outlined in your original project plan.” (Greer, 2010, pg.35). During this time our staff was also doing a book study, and  we talked about the book and our projects at every meeting. It seemed that every time we talked about the book, our boss decided that “this would be a great thing to incorporate in our new lessons.” While I admit that some of these things were great ideas, it caused us to have to go back and start over again every time. In the end the goal was to make better lessons for our students come September but it also made us fall behind our deadline of having the lessons ready to go by the first day back to class. Even though the scope and expectations were changing our deadline remained the same and the work continued to pile up causing a lot of stress. There was no flexibility from our boss even though the projected deliverables at the beginning were much different than what was expected at the end. When the staff kept feeling the pressure of the deadline the lesson quality was what suffered in the end. So adding in all the extra work as the project was already in motion, just ended up making the deliverables less detailed because the deadline remained the same and there was just not enough time to do everything being asked of us.

If I was the Project Manager there are a few different things that I would have done. First of all if the ideas that the book study brought across were truly valid and would make the lessons better for the kids (which they did) then I would have still wanted them included in the lesson revisions.  The main thing that was missing from this decision was analyzing the impact of the change as well as discussing the impact with the project team. (Greer, 2010). When analyzing the impact of the change I would have found that in order to not change the quality of the finished product the schedule had to give. The teams needed more time in order to make the changes that were being asked mid-project. It would have been different if those changes were projected at the beginning of the process, but these changes were thrown in all throughout the summer which meant a lot of time was spent going back to re-work what was already done and previously considered acceptable.  The other thing that was not done was to discuss the impact with the team. Our project manager just continually told us that no matter what the deadline could not change because the first round of classes needed to have the new lessons. If I were in that position I would have had a choice to make, could I figure out how to re-work the deadline, or was I going to be ok with over-working my staff and/or having lessons turned in that weren’t up to par just to simply meet the deadline.  Our lessons work on a weekly basis, so as PM I would have re-worked the deadline so that as long as the lessons were done and in the staff folder a week before they needed to be used that would be ok. That way not all 9 weeks of lessons would need to be done by start date, just week 1 and week 2. Then as the weeks went by the other lessons could filter in. This would lessen the stress on my team members, make them feel like their concerns were valued, and give them more time to turn in really good lessons, all the while still getting the lessons in on time to teach them at the proper time.

It was a tough situation for all of us involved. Those who actually took the risk to voice their concern got nothing in return.  An employee or team member that feels valued and cared about is going to put a lot more effort into the product that they are making. That is the main thing that was lost in this particular situation, the staff didn’t feel that their effort and time were being valued as the work just continued to pile up and no extra time was given.

Resources

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

Estimating Budget and Activity Durations for PM's

I must admit that I am a novice at best when it comes to anything having to do with project management, so I often feel out of my element when trying to do certain things such as estimating budgets and time spent on activities for a certain project. Thankfully the Internet exists and there are a lot of different resources out there. Here are a few that I found that helped me wrap my head around the idea of budgeting time and money.

The first is the program Project in Microsoft Office, who knew? Not me! Check out this website:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/how-scheduling-works-in-project-HA010213027.aspx

Project uses a scheduling engine that will align the projects and tasks with the available resources, but as with any kind of program you have to understand how it works. This is a great website full of different articles that explain how Microsoft Office Project works. It touches on how you schedule a project, how the start date affects the schedule, the default settings, constraints, deadlines, calendars, resources assignments, and any other information that can help analyze the progress. If you are like me, it will overwhelm you at first, but having a program that can help you do the thinking is awesome. 

I then stumbled across the Bright Hub PM website and a page of glorious Excel templates. Again, major novice over here so ANYTHING that is already set up for me is going to make my life so much easier. You can click the link on the page to download project budget templates. It also goes on to say that by using a template you will be less likely to forget about different important items that should be included and not to mention the calculations are already set up for you. There are three different templates to choose from that range from personal to business. If you are as excited as I am by this check it out here:

http://www.brighthubpm.com/templates-forms/75727-use-our-excel-project-budget-template-to-simplify-your-life/

Resources:

How Scheduling works in Project (2013). Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/how-scheduling-works-in-project-HA010213027.aspx

Levine, R. (2010). Use our excel project template to simplify your life. Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/75727.aspx

Communication is Key....

We were asked to view the same message three different ways: an email, a voicemail, and in person. Here are the thoughts I had after viewing each message:

Email: Message seemed pretty clear that Jane needed Mark’s report in order to complete her portion of the project by the deadline. Did not really seem like she was frustrated at this point, just sounded like a reminder to him even though she knows he is busy. She did state that she knew he had meetings all day, and that if he did not have the report done that if he could let her know when he would have it or if he could at least send the data if it was not done. Overall I thought it was a friendly reminder to Mark that Jane wasn’t trying to be pushy but really needed his information.

Voice mail:  The exact same message was conveyed about what Jane needed. The tone in her voice was light and friendly, there seemed to be no sign of anger or frustration. She was just stating the facts that she understands he is busy but she has her own deadline to meet and needs his information to do so. As I sat after hearing the message I did not feel she was being pushy or rude.

In Person: Jane walked over to Mark’s cubicle and again the content of the message was the same. There was no doubt this time that she was being friendly and understanding as you could see her relaxed posture, and also hear the tone in her voice. She just needed his information as soon as he could get it to her.

After viewing the exact same message three different ways it really shows you how different methods of communication can bring across the exact same message in different ways.  Although in the end it seems like I had the same understanding of what Jane was saying, after each example my confidence in what I was getting from Jane increased. I was pretty sure after reading the email she wasn’t mad, even more sure after hearing her voice, and positive after seeing her in person.  This is a great example to show us that even though technology is awesome, and it makes things easier, it is not always the best way to communicate. If your only communication to your teammates is through email you are leaving the door open to miscommunication about the underlying feelings behind a message. To you it may seem simple and straight forward because you are busy and just jotting down what you need to know from the person, but to them it could come off that you are mad at them or even that you don’t necessarily see them as a person, just as someone who needs to get something done for you. The best way to communicate important information is always going to be in person. That way they can read your body language and hear your voice and will know exactly what is being asked of them without having to try to figure out if you  are angry or not.  As a PM you can also read the facial expressions, tone, and body language of your team member to make sure they understand, or see if they are stressed and/or confused about the project. 

As we continue to read, communication is so important when it comes to the success of a project.  “The key to successful project management is effective communication- sharing the right messages with the right people in a timely manner.” (Portny et al, 2008, pg.357). Even though it is much faster to shoot someone an email, or leave them a voicemail (which is better than an email), the most effective way to communicate is going to be in person. This way you are also forming a better relationship with your team members which will only make a positive impact on your project. In the end it is going to be more beneficial to see that person face to face, even using technology this is an option today.

Resources

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.

The things we learn in Undergrad...

Back in undergrad our class was assigned to design a lesson plan that utilized technology.  The big ideas were up to us as an individual group, but we had to choose from several different objectives. Once our projects were completed we had to present them to the class and teach the class full of college students the lesson and allow them to use the technology based instruction that we created.

What a disaster this was.  Our group had a great idea in theory but none of us had enough technological knowledge to put it in play the way we had envisioned it.  Add to that the fact that several of our group members commuted to class and lived an hour away and were unwilling to meet up on campus to get anything done together. Given our situation we divided up the tasks, where obviously in order for the project to come together and be successful the pieces needed to fit back together in the end.  In the end, it did not work even close to the way we had imagined. The game we put together did not have a specific theme throughout, even with font and graphics. Some group members did an awesome job while others just threw things together.  Our presentation was all over the place because we weren’t aware of what the other group members had done (the ones that refused to meet outside of class), add in the fact that some group members did not complete their section at all.  Overall it was an embarrassment to stand in front of the class that day.  Thankfully the professor graded the project individually so those of us that did participate and met outside of class time did not receive a failing grade, but it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth about group work in a college setting from there on out.

There are a lot of things I know now that I wish I knew then, that lovely hind sight being 20/20.  I think the biggest thing that we are learning about being a PM that would have helped this project be more successful is the selection of team members and the role of those members.  If we would have talked a little bit more before actually assigning different sections of the project we would have realized that a few group members were going to be a problem and we could have assigned those people smaller portions that would have been easier to fix when not done properly.  Murphy says it the best when stating “The selection of an appropriate project team is crucial to meeting the goals of the program.” (Murphy, 1994, pg. 9).   He also talks about how there should be three to eight members with distinct roles including project manager, instructional designers, subject matter experts, end user, and an instructor. (Murphy, 1994).  Obviously for my particular situation we would have had all these jobs, but I really think it would have made a huge difference if we had a project manager and a couple people that were able to meet on campus be the instructional designers. From there jobs could have been delegated to those that could not meet but it would have been way more organized because the several people that were able to meet would have one theme going and be able to get the others on board with an organized plan. It would have also been helpful to comb the group to see if anyone felt comfortable with the technology and could serve as a SME.  

Being more organized in the beginning and forming roles for certain people rather than just cutting the project into sections could have saved our group a lot of stress.  It would have also given us the chance to have put together a better product, and been able to have fun with it.

Resources

Murphy, C. (1994). Utilizing project management techniques in the design of instructional materials. Performance & Instruction, 33(3), 9--11.

Hello EDUC 6145 Classmates

Hi everybody! Looking forward to working with you all this semester.

My name is Stephanie. I currently teach for an online school (K12 Services). I teach online Math classes to students who are struggling in Math. I love working from home, especially since I have a 6 month old baby boy. I must admit working full time, being in grad school, and being a first time mom is a lot to handle but so far so good :)

Steph

What the Future of Distance Learning Means to an Instructional Designer

If anything is a guarantee in the world of technology it would be that things are only going to continue to become better, faster, and more advanced. Distance learning will have the same future, as technology advances so will the ease and popularity of distance learning. I think most people would argue that as technology advances we are going to see less and less of the brick and mortar classroom. Simonson et al states that we can look to see these changes not so far in the future and that is will be seen at home, the workplace, and throughout education. (2012). The more technology advances and becomes easier to use, the more we are going to see it being used in all sorts of settings.
I believe the hardest part is trying to predict when and what changes will take place. I think in the near future (5-10 years) that we will see an advance in the way distance education is being handled and have more streamline, advanced classrooms where the design flaws will decrease and the learner autonomy will be less stressful. In the more distant future I really see the movement toward more online education reaching down even into the K-12 schools, I currently work for an online grade school and every year our attendance increases. I really hope that the brick and mortar classrooms do exist still as I think there are a lot of benefits of learning in a face-to-face environment; I think a blended classroom would be a perfect scenario of learning with technology but also closing that “transactional distance” between teacher and student that might be hard to handle as a younger less experienced student. (Simonson et al, 2012).
As an instructional designer I think that the best way to be an advocate for distance learning is to be great at what you do. The better the online programs, the less negative things people will have to say about them. Taking the job seriously and seeing it through from beginning to end to ensure that all learning goals are being met and all learners have a sense of community will take the reputation of distance learning in the right direction. Make sure that whatever your plan is, that everyone is on board with it. Having the approval of all the stakeholders can make or break the reputation of the program. (Simonson et al, 2012). In doing all of this you are going to create a positive working relationship and that usually projects a positive learning experience. The more this happens, the more people are going to talk about distance education in a positive way, thus changing the reputation of distance learning. It won’t happen over night because change is not always an easy thing, but with hard work and creating reputable programs minds will be changed.
Instructional designers have a large responsibility for continuing to improve distance learning. As the name states, we are the ones in charge of designing the instruction taking place. The number one thing that can contribute to the improvement of distance learning is to know who your audience is, and make sure you are designing a perfect scenario for that specific group of people. According to Simonson et al, the learner “is often considered after the planning and organizing of the hardware, the content, and the instructional place. But it is the learner who is the crucial member of the distance learning system. It is the learner who needs to be considered early in the planning..” (2012, pg 218). If we want to change the view on distance learning this can not be the case. It takes a lot of time and attention to detail but if you want a quality product that will really make your learners have an experience unlike anything they would get in a classroom this is step that needs to happen. This will be my main focus as I start a career as an instructional designer. I would love to make my mark on ID by making it a more personal learning experience.
We know technology is going to continue to advance, therefore we do not know exactly what the future has in store. As a future instructional designer, and current distance learner the only thing for certain is change. I am excited to see how the advancement of technology is going to change learning for the better. A bright future that we can’t even imagine is straight ahead.

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

Best Practices: A Guide for Turning a Face-to-Face Training into Blended Learning

We were given the following scenario in my grad class this week:

“A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.”

With this scenario in mind we were asked to create a best practice guide for this trainee to help them make their face to face course into a successful blended course. What do I mean by that? A hybrid or blended course, by definition, reduces face-to-face "seat time" so that students can pursue additional teaching and learning activities online. To be successful, a hybrid or blended course requires careful pedagogical redesign. (“How to Redesign Your Course for Blended Learning”, 2009) Dr. Piskurich says that the best way to teach is face-to-face on the job training, but obviously in today’s fast paced world that is not the most efficient way to go about it, and this is exactly what is happening in our scenario. (Laureate Education Inc, n.d.).The following guide is filled with Pre-Planning questions, a Teacher Checklist, and things to remember.

Pre-Planning

This step is going to be the most important. Switching over from face to face sessions into blended learning is not as easy as you might think. There are many different things that need to be considered, most importantly you want to make sure that you are not just simply adding online activities to your course as that ends up being more work for both you the trainer and your trainee’s. Part of planning is to map out what you think your course might need.  Here is a great tool to help you start thinking about design issues when taking a face-to-face training and turning it into blended learning.

Are you ready for redesign?

1. What do you want students to know when they have finished taking your hybrid course?

2. As you think about learning objectives, which would be better achieved online and which   would be best achieved face-to-face?

3. Hybrid teaching is not just a matter of transferring a portion of your traditional course to the Web. Instead it involves developing challenging and engaging online learning activities that complement your face-to-face activities. What types of learning activities do you think you will be using for the online portion of your course?

4. Online asynchronous discussion is often an important part of hybrid courses. What new learning opportunities will arise as a result of using asynchronous discussion? What challenges do you anticipate in using online discussions? How would you address these?

5. How will the face-to-face and time out of class components be integrated into a single course? In other words, how will the work done in each component feed back into and support the other?

6. When working online, students frequently have problems scheduling their work and managing their time, and understanding the implications of the hybrid course module as related to learning. What do you plan to do to help your students address these issues?

7. How will you divide the percent of time between the face-to-face portion and the online portion of your course? How will you schedule the percent of time between the face-to-face and online portion of your course, i.e., one two hour face-to-face followed by one two hour online session each week?

8. How will you divide the course-grading scheme between face-to-face and online activities? What means will you use to assess student work in each of these two components?

9. Students sometimes have difficulty acclimating to the course Web site and to other instructional technologies you may be using for face-to-face and online activities. What specific technologies will you use for the online and face-to-face portions of your course? What proactive steps can you take to assist students to become familiar with your Web site and those instructional technologies? If students need help with technology later in the course, how will you provide support?

10. There is a tendency for faculty to require students to do more work in a hybrid course than they normally would complete in a purely traditional course. What are you going to do to ensure that you have not created a course and one-half? How will you evaluate the student workload as compared to a traditional class?

(“How to Redesign Your Course for Blended Learning”, 2009)

Your job as the trainer in a blended learning environment

In a distance learning environment, the trainer’s role goes from being the sole person doing a majority of the talking into someone who coaches the students throughout the course. (Simonson, et. al., 2012)  A huge part of this is going to be to make sure that your learning activities are structured to promote collaboration. The following is a great check list to ensure you are doing everything you can as the instructor to encourage student collaboration.

 

(“Blended Course Checklist”, 2009)

Important things to remember:

  “Blended learning course design entails more than simply converting content for online delivery or finding ways to supplement an existing face-to-face course. Ideally, designing a blended course would begin with identifying learning outcomes and topics, creating assignments and activities, determining how interaction will occur, and selecting the technologies to best achieve those learning outcomes. However, a variety of constraints often affect the way blended courses are developed, which can compromise their quality.” (Kelly, 2012).

      Make sure that through your pre-planning you avoid the common mistake of designing a course and a half by just adding online assignments to your already existing training.

     When in doubt, add in simple technologies that you know will work, and as you become more comfortable you can add in more complex activities.

Resources 

Blended Course Checklist. (2009). Simons College Blended Learning Initiative. Retrieved from http://at.simmons.edu/blendedlearning/implement/documents/pdfs/blended_checklist_teachingPhase.pdf

How to Redesign Your Course for Blended Learning. (2009) UW-Milwaukee Technology Center. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/a/idahopd.org/blended-learning/redesigning-your-course

Kelly, R. (Nov, 30 2012). Recommendations for Blended Learning Course Design. Teaching & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.magnapubs.com/blog/teaching-and-learning/recommendations-for-blended-learning-course-design/

Laureate Education, Inc. (Walden University). (n.d.). Planning and Designing Online Courses [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3396926_1%26url%3D 

. 

Simonson, S. A. (2012). Teaching and Learning at a Distance. In S. A. Simonson, Teaching and Learning at a Distance. New York: Pearson.