Thoughts on eLearning Project Management...

An important step in any project, is to be sure everyone, SMEs, instructional designers, media producers, graphic designers, etc. are in agreement on what the project "looks" like. The project should be clearly defined in the project scope and any questions or clarification needed should be done upfront when possible, while planning and organizing the project.

The second phase of the project involves gathering information, developing the blueprint, creating and testing draft materials or mockup, and then producing master materials upon approval of the draft material or mockup.

During each step within the second phase it is important to share the information with the stakeholders. In particular, the blueprint or design specifications "will allow all relevant reviewers to look at course content and strategy at a point before a lot of energy and cost is expended in writing text and transitions, formatting job aids creating graphics or case studies, or writing scripts. This early review permits the design team to make substantive structural revisions while the course is still easily revisable." (Greer, 1992).

Obtaining approval to proceed after creating and testing draft materials or mockup is key to the success of the project, but it is also where many projects can go awry or be delayed. This is when a project manager may find that some of the stakeholders didn't express their concerns for the original direction of the project or didn't provide all of the necessary information. Additionally, if there were any holes in the planning of the project, this is where it will become apparent.

And this is where my current project has been stalled again... It's a learning lesson in progress.

DiSC Profile

This past Tuesday I attended Part 1 of 3 workshops called, "Working Collaboratively to Serve Our Students." The focus for most of the workshop was on getting to know more about each of the attendees, who were new employees at DU, and reviewing/discussing the results of our DiSC profile that each of us had taken earlier.

I had forgotten that I had taken the DiSC profile before, but when I saw the results graph, I immediately recognized it. It looked the same as it did when I took it over 10 years ago. Ugh! My primary dimension is a high "C" (Conscientious) and my secondary dimension is a fairly high "S" (Steady). I'm fairly low in both the "D" and "i" dimensions, which means I'm conservative (ok with me), mild, quiet, unsure (double yuck), dependent (double yuck again) and modest (ok) and logical (ok) controlled, retiring (double yuck) suspicious (yuck) and pessimistic (yuck again). I'm not totally thrilled by the results as it frames me as a very boring person, at least in my mind it does. On the other hand, it definitely provides some benefits to my employer as I'm accurate, conscientious, steady, calm, and systematic and consistent in achieving results.

So, my question then is, "How does this relate to my role as Instructional Technologist"? I'm not sure. In my mind, it doesn't seem to fit as well as some of the other profiles would. It does fit as a project/production coordinator, which is what I did for 12-14 years and it did fit within the role of Instructional Design Technician position at my previous employment, since the position was really about completing projects.

In my new role, at my new employer, there are a lot of technology projects that could and possibly need to be addressed and I can see that my being involved would be helpful, but I'm not sure that is what I was hired for. Additionally, I don't know that we have the resources we need to complete the projects. I do have to admit this is another area that I'm usually good at. I usually can find the resources I need to achieve what needs to be accomplished. The only issue that I won't have any control over and can make the difference as to whether or not the results are successful is getting the money to obtain the resources needed. Hmmm...I guess I need to meet with my boss sometime soon to clarify and plan a few things.

Instructional Architect vs Builder

Over the past two weeks, I've searched for a description of my role as an Instructional Technologist (IT) that would better define the role for me, that would help me to "see" how the role fits within the Instructional Design (ID) team, specifically, and the DU Online team overall.

One of the first descriptions I came across that provided an overview of what I do was by blogger, Amy Thornton. In her blog post called, "What Does an Instructional Technologist Do?", Amy breaks her job down into six points of focus:

• Evaluate new technologies to discover new and better ways to enhance instruction
• Assist faculty in discovering methods of improving their instruction with and without technology
• Conduct training sessions teaching faculty and staff how to use new technologies
• Conduct research studies evaluating the use of technologies and their impact on student learning outcomes
• Create training materials to accommodate the self-learners and provide resources for our “customers”
• Manage the implementation of new technologies on-campus for the use of instruction.

This is an accurate picture of what I feel I should be doing and will be doing (once I have some additional training and direction) with one exception. The "implementation of new technologies" will be for online rather than inseat or "on-campus," although it's not completely impossible that I will participate in implementation for inseat eventually.

Even though I now had a description that gave me an overview of what I need to be doing, I still questions how I should be fitting in with the ID team. Obviously, some of this direction will come from my boss and from the ID that I work with, but when I came across an EDUCAUSE Quarterly article from 2005, called, Leadership in Instructional Technology and Design: An Interview, written by Peter DeBlois (2005), I found the exact description that made sense and reflected the views of the ID on our team.

DeBlois interviewed two faculty members and three participants, at the end of the first Instructional Technology Leadership Institute held in 2005. One of the faculty, Lawrence Ragan, described the two branches of instructional technology and instructional design in this way, "The designer's role is to craft a learning experience so that you achieve an outcome, and the technologist's job is to create the environment for that to happen in." He went on to say, "Think of an interior designer. He isn’t the one doing the building; he tells you where he thinks the lighting should go and how things should be arranged. He doesn’t build the furniture. The technologist says, “You want a chair, I’ll build you a chair.” The designer is the one who has to think about placing it." In other words, the ID is the "architect" and the IT is the "builder."

I like this description and believe that I have the skills and natural ability to be the "builder." But having said that, I recognize that there are several software programs used by the ID and others in the DU Online team that I need to learn and learn quickly to be better able to assist them effectively. Additionally, I need to learn the ID's "instructional blueprint" to be better able to "build" appropriately and become more aware of "institutional" and "campus" priorities to build the right things at the right time. At least now I have a focus!

New places and new faces...

Monday was my first day at my new job. I'm working as an Instructional Technologist at DU in GR. Although it takes time to adjust to a new place and new faces, I think I'm going to like it. The culture here seems more business-like, than it did at my last position, but I'm not surprised since one of DU's strengths is its focus on educating students for careers in business, information management, and health professions.

One of my responsibilities will be to educate and encourage faculty in the use of technology to better engage students and enhance learning. Although challenging, this is an area I am excited about and look forward to being involved with.

Today I've attended a Wimba session on Blackboard 9 at the DU Connect '10 online conference. Later tonight I hope to attend a couple more sessions, along with attending sessions tomorrow. Not only does this introduce me to some of the faculty members and online team members, it also gives me an idea of how things are done here at DU.

I'm hoping to be able to update this blog more regularly in the upcoming weeks and months and begin sharing some useful ideas and tools.

Thanks for listening!

Does Teaching Online Really Take More Time?

Does Teaching Online Really Take More Time?

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How Wikis Streamline Student Collaboration Projects

How Wikis Streamline Student Collaboration Projects

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About me and this blog...

It was probably 8 or 9 years ago that my interest in the Internet and the World Wide Web (www) really began. I had just graduated with a Bachelor's in Business Management from Cornerstone University, Grand Rapids, MI, and I was working at a small marketing/communications firm, as a Production Manager. I had just helped our company switch from dial-up to DSL a year or so earlier and had started to use the Internet to search for potential vendors and new technology that we could use in the production of various deliverables, such as CDs, DVDs, forms, banners, brochures, educational binders, and other material. In addition to producing some of these items, we also outsourced some parts of the projects to various vendors.

Over the next 2 to 3 years, the company started doing business as a CME provider, focusing on education for physicians, rather than marketing/communications. This change in focus brought about the development of the company's first Website, which in turn led me to take a couple of online classes in HTML and Web Design, which introduced me to Blackboard, an online learning management system.

In August 2008, I started an online Master's program in Communications with emphasis in New Media. In October 2008, the company experienced some significant losses and I was laid off. A freelance graphic designer we had worked with, knew of and told me about a temporary Instructional Designer position at a university that she felt would be perfect for me and had the potential of becoming a permanent position. I applied for the position and thankfully, was hired.

Since being hired, I have learned a lot more about instructional design, but of course, there's still a lot for me to learn. In the meantime, as I'm learning, I've begun to read quite a few instructional design blogs and decided I would like to start one too.

This blog will provide a place for me to share my thoughts and experiences in online learning and technology, along with providing a place to share links to cool tools and great articles.