Assignment: Scope Creep

In an example of scope creep from my own personal experience I would like to highlight a recent event planned at my former job. In my former job, at times we were asked by our supervisor’s  to plan sale events in our downtime or in periods when sales are running low. Alex, a co-worker of mine, came up with an idea for a sales event at one of our local universities during the school’s homecoming weekend right on campus. Alex was so excited about the event that we all bought into it and assigned him as lead on this project. So in turn Alex assigned specific duties to everyone with the hopes of this event becoming a huge success.

After each person was given their role and assigned their duties we set off to begin our planning. There was roughly two weeks to plan and implement the event. The duties assigned were someone in charge of inventory, someone in charge of acquiring the mobile equipment needed, another person in charge of food and refreshments, and Alex handled acquiring the location-getting permission from the school, and on campus advertisement. The day of the event came and everything was set perfectly according to the responsibilities we agreed upon in the beginning but little interest actually came to the event. A few college students participated but we didn’t see any alumni after all it was homecoming weekend.

Afterwards, everyone gathered to try to gain an understanding of what went wrong. One by one we went down our responsibility list and check off everything we did. Alex was last and he was able to check off everything on his to do list. Then all of a sudden one of my co workers stated to Alex “ Do you think things would have turned out differently if you advertised outside of campus and into the community ?” That became a valid question which made sense  especially considering the only time the alums would be on campus would be during events. Afterwards Alex apologized, because that was a factor that he did not consider.

I believe this situation taught all of us to take more time to carefully plan our events and try to take every consideration under advisement. More importantly, we learned to be more critical of each others duties when we planned events from that point on.

Estimating Cost and Allocating Resources

Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources

Helpful Resources

1.      Estimating Instructional Development (ID) Time

http://michaelgreer.biz/?p=279

This website features valuable tips concerning estimating time for instructional development projects such as: development time vs. training time, non-writing time vs. project time, and executing time spent. The most helpful thing to me about this resource how the author uses ratios to illustrate his points.

2.      Estimating Costs and Time in Instructional Design

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html

This resource was great in providing an assortment of estimates for different ID tasks. Also this resource gives a clearer understanding of ratios that are most likely to be suitable for each task as well as including links to other resources such as cost estimation spreadsheets, stock photographs, and digital recordings

Effective Communication

Effective Communication

Communication is a vital factor in any project and especially in today’s workplace. Without effective communication ideas cannot properly be expressed, deadlines could not be met, basically people would not be able to do their jobs efficiently. This week , three different forms of communication in the workplace were examined . These modalities proved to be very informative about how communication can be effective.

Email

Although this is probably most common, email doesn’t show the appropriate urgency of meeting a deadline or show how a person really feels about a particular part of a project or any other job responsibility. Messages through email can be sent very quickly and through great distances without having the other person(s) in attendance.

Voicemail

Voicemails can help show a sense of urgency and convey a real sense of emotion but the delivery can be a problem. Voicemails are dependent upon when the other person checks the message and cannot be sent to more than one person at one time.

Face to Face Interaction

This modality is probably the most traditional method of transferring information. Through face to face interaction ideas, emotions, and importance can easily be transmitted. In the past, this form of communication was totally dependent upon having that other person(s) in your immediate presence, but through modern technology we can now send video messages as easily as we would an email.

Each of these modalities have their own strengths and weaknesses and depending on the situation each could effectively be used in any project.

Project "Post-Mortem"

The Wireless Company is a organization comprised of roughly a dozen cellular communication stores. Each store within this organization provides customers with a wide variety of services from prepaid to contract services, cellular devices, device accessories, and wireless internet service.

A short time ago, I had the distinct privilege of presenting both the store level employees and organization leads with strategies of how to effectively sell wireless internet service. This project included me as both the project manager and instructional designer. Also there were two subject matter experts that were readily available for the project. What I believed lead to the success of this project were two things: first, I conducted surveys from random employees within the company on challenges of selling wireless internet and effective means of guiding the conversation to the customer to the subject of wireless internet service; second, I conducted extensive research on the selling process in general drawing upon responses giving by the subject matter experts.

What would have made this project more successful would have been more time to complete the project rather than a couple of weeks. In the end, I was not dissatisfied with the final product and neither was the organization.

Welcome

Greetings,
Welcome to my blog. This blog is in extensive use within my master's program at Walden University. For now this blog will be used in conjunction with the course - Project Management. I look forward to traveling down this journey of learning with you.

Thanks,
Norris

Reflection

As an instructional designer, the current and future perception of distance learning should always be taken into consideration. The instructional designer should focus on being a strong supporter of distance learning. Also as the technology changes in the instructional design field, the ID must be supportive and help to find ways to improve the process. Although distance learning is always improving, the ID must realize that he or she must change or improve as well.

            The future of distance learning seems to shine very brightly. Through growing acceptance of distance education by: increased online communication, practical experience, and growing comfort with online discourse (Siemens, 2009) this perception doesn’t seem too farfetched.  Although a seemingly vast majority of traditional students believe that face to face learning is better, the ever changing improvements of distance learning will certainly sway their opinions.

            The instructional designer’s role in the future of distance learning is not only improving societal perception of distance learning but also the continuous improvement of distance learning. Factors that will aid the ID in this quest will be: new communication technologies, contributions by experts around the world, and increased use of multimedia, games, and simulations (Siemens, 2009). The ID must be aware of the latest technologies in communication so that they can be used as learning tools. The contributions of experts around the world will allow for a mesh of different ideas that will allow continued improvement in distance learning. Also the increased use of multimedia, games and other stimuli will allow the ID to find new ways to keep their learners interested and motivated.

            Although current and future perceptions of distance learning cannot easily be determined in comparison with each other, the instructional designer must take proper considerations.  By being a strong supporter of distance learning and being committed to its ever changing technologies and processes the instructional design will do his or her part to ensure outside views of distance learning are changed.

References:

Laureate Education Inc. (2009). The Future of Distance Education [video]. George Siemens

                                       

Converting To Distance Learning

Converting To a Distance Learning Format

The Scenario

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.

Considerations:

·         What are some of the pre-planning strategies the trainer needs to consider before converting his program?

·         What aspects of his original training program could be enhanced in the distance learning format?

·         How will his role, as trainer, change in a distance learning environment?

·         What steps should the trainer take to encourage the trainees to communicate online?

Solution

The training manager must learn the software that he or she is using for the online portion of their program because if there are any issues with the software or if the students have questions about the software the training manager should be the person to ask questions to or to address any issues that are found. Also the training manager understand that students learn differently when designing their program because he or she must create modules that will gain the attention of its learners whether that be for learners who respond more to audio stimuli or learners who respond to visual stimuli. Finally the training manager must monitor the students whether that is through discussion boards, or through formal / informal evaluations that could be anything from direct emails to the students to course evaluations.

By converting to a distance learning format, the training manager gives his or her learners the freedom to continue to function in their personal and professional lives on their on time. Also in an distance learning environment, discussion can take place without the informal apprehension that face to face interaction can present.

Within a distance learning environment, the trainer will assume more of a role as an facilitator. The role of facilitator in online discussion is to guide and observe. The facilitator must monitor the discussion board and be active in discussion.  If the facilitator is not actively participating in the discussion the students can lose interest in the material or the purpose for instruction could be lost (Laureate Education Inc, 2009).

The training manager must take several steps to encourage the trainees to communicate online:

1.      Be accountable and make sure the project did what it says it was going to do.

2.      Monitor the effectiveness of the course

3.      Reflect on the impact of the course, did you make a difference?

4.      Organize the content

5.      Take all consequences into consideration

References

Laureate Education Inc. (2009). Facilitating Online Learning [video]. Dr. George Piskurich

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.) "Distance Education: The Next Generation" [Video]. Dr. Michael Simonson [Narrator]. 

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

Open Source Course

Open Yale courses

URL:  http://oyc.yale.edu/african-american-studies

Overview:

The purpose of this course is to examine the African American experience in the United States from 1863 to the present. Prominent themes include the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction; African Americans’ urbanization experiences; the development of the modern civil rights movement and its aftermath; and the thought and leadership of Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X (Holloway, Jonathan. 2010).

Analysis

This course is broken down into twenty-five lecture sessions that were all pre recorded with course materials available for download as well. This course does appear to be carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment because of how well the course has been broken down online. Since the lectures are pre recorded the distance learner can access each lecture at any given time. Also the syllabus provided does carefully guide the distance learner through what is expected from the course along with recommended reading materials. The survey that is also presented on the coursesite asks questions that give the instructional designer the desired feedback he or she is seeking.

This course does seem to follow the recommendantions for online instruction listed in our text but I do not believe the course designer implemented course activities that maximized active learning. Although the course designer did follow the ADDIE model, there were no activities in place that would keep the learner actively interested in the materials presented. Although each session was carefully planned according to the syllabus, the actual session in play was just a recorded lecture that could easily lose the motivation of the learner presented to.

References

Holloway, Jonathan. (2010). African American History: from Emancipation to the Present. Retrieved October 7, 2012 from http://oyc.yale.edu/african-american-studies

Distance Learning Technologies

            This week in our distance learning class we explored distance learning technologies. In an example given this week of collaborative training environment I chose to select two distance learning technologies and explained how they would work in the example given. The example that I chose was:

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.

            The two technologies that I have identified that would be best suited for this example are Discussion Technologies and Media Sharing Sites. Discussion technologies are participatory in nature and require that a number of individuals write and respond to each others posts. Learning management systems or LMSs, such as eCollege and Blackboard, integrate discussion technologies such as discussions forums, group collaboration areas, and virtual chat tools into the online learning environment (Laureate Education Inc, 2012).

            Media sharing sites are web sites that facilitate the sharing of content and artifacts such as text, pictures, videos, presentations, and audio files. The artifacts posted on media sharing sites can be viewed and commented on by a much wider audience than a video sent to a family member or a friend. Presentations created and shared through media sharing sites allow presenters to share the presentation with users across the globe. Users can in turn comment on the presentations and share their own ideas thereby providing feedback that may assist presenters in enhancing their content (Laureate Education Inc, 2012). A good example of this technology would be Photoshare (www.photoshare.org); this website allows people from all over the world share photos for free with its focus being on public health.

Resources:

Laureate Education Inc. (2012) (Producer). Theory and Distance Learning [video]. Retrieved September 23, 2012.

Defining Distance Learning

Distance learning has been a subject that I have not given much consideration to in the past. This mentality could possibly be because I considered distance learning as somewhat of a passing fad that would just fizzle out in time. But after actually participating in distance learning practices and truly gaining an appreciation of the concepts it encompasses I have changed my view. I can now say that as an adult learner how we learn or how we educate ourselves is an ever evolving process.

Dr Simonson (n.d.) suggests that distance education/learning can be defined as formal education in which the learning groups are separated by geography and sometimes by time. I somewhat agree but would ask that we take this definition a step further by saying that the learning groups that can be separated by geography, time, ethnicity, and economy. Geography and time are obvious in the definition because of the separation of time zones as well as countries. Ethnicity and economy could mean anything from bringing together a wealthy Chinese scientist in Beijing with a Cuban college freshman student in Miami, Fl through a virtual classroom. But how about I go even one step further and state that the learning groups are separated by geography, time, ethnicity, and economy but brought together by some technological means.

When I think of distance learning I automatically think of this term in relation to technology. This concept of distance learning is driven by technology. Technology is the most efficient means to bring people together across great distances through time zones regardless of that person’s ethnicity or economic state. I believe that as distance learning evolves further its relationship to technology will continue to be one that will become more apparent in time. Whether that technology involves space age technology such as holograms or an even more streamlined process for online classrooms the technology will continue to influence the concept of distance learning.

Prior to beginning this class, distance learning, I must say that my view of the subject is somewhat blurred. This means that I and am still not quite sure on how I want to define what this means to me. My hope is by the end of this class my definition will be more focused and my view of the topic will be clearer.

References: Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.) "Distance Education: The Next Generation" [Video]. Dr. Michael Simonson [Narrator].

Distance Learning Mind Map: