Analyzing Scope Creep

A project I worked on for a previous employer that I got thrown into for whatever reason, involved the implementation of three new systems.  An outside team came in to handle the design and implementation of these systems and there was practically immediate scope creep that I got volunteered to handle. 

For this project, the team that was brought in initially was a smaller group of people, but within a few weeks, the small group grew to around 100 people.  During this process, my company was also outsourcing jobs and that meant we had people coming in to shadow employees who were being laid off and that added an additional 50 people to the scope of things.  The problem or scope creep that occurred was with gaining security access to our computer systems for all of these people.

Having multiple projects occur at the same time created a great deal of problems.  About 90% of the IT personnel were being outsourced, so there was a big bunch of confusion surrounding who would be responsible for what and also a great deal of frustration and anger towards our company for allowing this to happen. 

Each person that was brought in from the outside company had to go through a security process in order to gain access to our network as well as security measures to gain access to each share drive, program, etc. on our network.  What would normally have been about a one-week time-frame to grant access went to being a one month or more time-frame due to the fact that so many people were requesting access and the people that were granting the access were being shifted around and/or outsourced.  This is where I came in at and was charged with coordinating all of the access requests as well as badgering the IT department on a daily basis to get the access granted.  I had no prior experience with this type of activity so I had to become a quick learner and a very patient person.

To deal with these issues, I formed a quick alliance with the manager of the implementation team and together we came up with a way to track the requests and a list of contacts to attempt to speed up the process.  It did not seem as though we were very successful because the process was still entirely too long from beginning to end; however, we learned later on that we were much more successful than any other departments who were going through similar situations.  I worked a lot of overtime, learned how to effectively deal with the people that I needed to help get this access granted, and learned a great deal about myself and my coordination skills.

Looking back on this project, I think there were many things that could have been done differently.  The first thing is that there should have been a better understanding of the time it would take to get the access granted.  Secondly, if information had been provided to me prior to a new person coming onto the project, the requests could have been put in before the person actually showed up on the job and this could have eliminated at least a week or two of wait time.  I would have staggered the newcomers a little more so that there were not five to ten people showing up on a Monday morning for work that were not able to access our systems and therefore were somewhat useless.  Lastly, I would have made sure I formed a better relationship with the IT manager so that there would have been smoother communication and possibly shorter wait times for access to be granted.

Communicating Effectively

Interpreting how a message was meant often depends upon the person receiving the message more than it does on how the message is delivered.  Several people can hear the exact same message and each interpret it differently. 

While viewing and listening to the message in this assignment, I did not feel that there was much change from one modality to the next.  The email and voicemail sounded possibly more desperate, but other than that I thought all three were very similar with somewhat of an understanding that Mark was busy but that Jane was in desperate need of his report.  I was not compelled to think that Jane had any ill will toward Mark at any point, and only felt she needed his work in order to do her work.

As far as my perception of the messages goes, the email is less personable because there is no voice contact for the listener to hear the tone of the voice, so it may have come across a tad more desperate.  Since all three contained the exact same information, I perceived that this was incredibly important to Jane and that she was not at all angry with Mark because he had not provided her the information.

The voicemail displayed the true meaning and intent of the message because it showed that Jane was kind and sympathetic to the situation and merely wanted the information she needed to complete her work.

I feel that Jane communicated very effectively with Mark to help get the information she needed.  She displayed kindness, sympathy, and a little bit of desperation to her co-worker, which, in most cases, would cause the co-worker to feel sorry for her and provide the information she needed.  More often than not, demanding behavior or anger is not the proper way to communicate with anyone, especially someone that is involved in the same project.

Learning from a Project “ Post-mortem”

For a previous employer, I participate in the implementation of three new systems for the Accounting Department.  My direct supervisor was the project lead for our company and I was the first point of contact for the entire finance tower, which included approximately 200 people from an outside organization.  When the project started, my job as an Administrative Assistant did not include project support, but I eventually become more of a project coordinator with the vast majority of my work supporting the project team and not my employer. 

The project team was charged with implementing a new accounting system, a new time-reporting system, and a new expense-reporting system.  I was not very involved with the new accounting system, but I participated heavily with the other two systems from the beginning, including demo selection for each. While I did not actively participate in the work that was being done by the project team, they relied on my extensively for support in other ways.  Once the project work was near completion, I was recruited to be a trainer for my company’s employees for the expense and time reporting systems, as I had extensive familiarity with these system’s operations and the language that was permitted for the systems to operate effectively.

Even though I was not a member of the project team, I had excellent rapport with them and I was able to include some key processes that allowed employees to better understand the new systems.  The team had neglected to include any comparisons between the old systems and the new systems so that employees could relate the necessary steps needed to perform the operations correctly.  I was able to update the training material and training sessions with screen shots and additional information making the new systems relevant for employees to better comprehend.

My supervisor did, however, limit the amount of updating I could include in the training materials and unfortunately for employees of my company, a better learning experience could have been possible with more expansion of the material.  I understand that she may have felt that since we were paying this company to produce the material, interference on our behalf was not necessary; however, since it was for the benefit of our employees, we could have avoided unnecessary questions later on by including more.  The majority of questions posed could have been prevented if we would have involved ourselves more with the training material because “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” (Achong, T.).

The Project Manager for the project team was incredibly stressed and overall he did a good job with what he had to work with.  The biggest contribution he could have made to improve upon the process would have been to ensure we had at least one member of our company assisting the project team throughout the process of developing material. This one simple step could have assured that all of the information presented was conveyed accordingly.  Another improvement he could have made would have been to have the project trainers use the company’s computers to double-check the material and guarantee that the step-by-step instructions were applicable on our equipment.  Instead he relied solely on his project team of trainers to develop the material and therefore it was a huge disaster when the material was rolled out.

References

Anchong, T. (2011). Practitioner voices: overcoming “scope creep””. (Video Program). Laureate Education, Inc.

Reflection

After somewhat of an eye-opening discussion question survey this week, I have become more aware of how others around me feel about distance learning.  It did not affect how I perceive distance learning, however, and I feel as though they just might be scared of this type of learning environment because they do not understand it.

The future of distance learning, in my opinion, is going to be tremendous and have stupendous growth.  If you look at the growth in just the past 5 – 10 years, it shows what the potential for growth could be going forward.  The advances in technology are vast and changing on a regular basis with upgrades and new inventions and if that is any indication of how distance learning will advance, it has nowhere to go but up!  For this reason, I am very excited about my future career!

As an instructional designer, I will be an example of what an online degree program can produce and I will take every opportunity to prove to those around me that my degree is just as valuable as anyone else’s.  People tend to be scared of things they do not understand, so I hope to be able to reassure future learners that distance education is not anything to fear, but something to treasure instead.  I will try to incorporate all of my learning into designs that give students everything they need to succeed in this environment as well and attempt to build what will “bridge that gap of comfort” (Siemens).

Also as an instructional designer, I will attempt to use “practical experience with new tools” (Siemens) to assure learners that distance education is becoming a way of life.  In order to accomplish this, I will challenge myself to stay abreast of new tools by constantly researching the hottest items on the market and the most current trends, especially up and coming tools for the younger generation.  Without staying on top of technology, it would be difficult to advance in this profession and I have every intention of succeeding as an instructional designer.

I am incredibly excited for what my future holds in this career and believe I have what it takes to succeed.  I am curious about technology advances and enjoy researching and learning new tools, so with these attributes, I do not believe there is any better option for me than the one I am pursuing.  This field is projected to grow going forward and I will do everything within my power to grow with it as well.

References

Siemens, G. (2011). The Future of Distance Education. (Video Program). Laureate Education, Inc.

WK 7 Application pdf

<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/viewer?authuser=0&srcid=0B35maQpV5Dp3MDk5N2IxOWUtMmFjZi00OWQwLThmMGUtMjM0MmM4N2Y0YTRm&pid=explorer&a=v&chrome=false&embedded=true" width="640" height="480"></iframe>

Best Practices for Converting to a Distance Learning Format

Pre-Planning Strategies

Converting a traditional face-to-face training course into a distance learning or blended learning course will require some work at the onset, but will likely make things easier on the facilitator/trainer further down the road.  The first step to making this a reality is composing pre-planning strategies for converting the course.  Below is a reasonable checklist for you to follow:

□	Create lesson plan/syllabus defining training time and modules if necessary
□	Trainer should be well versed on lesson plan
□	Trainer should be well-trained on ALL software that students will use including hosting software (CMS, Wiki, etc.)
□	Increase activities and/or applications for trainees; include chat and DQ areas
□	Develop adequate activities to test learner’s comprehension of training
□	Transfer lectures into written material
□	Be certain learners are familiar with software prior to training
□	Secure server space to store training materials
□	Provide contact info should they have technical or personal difficulties

Enhancing the Original Classroom

Enhancing a distance learning training course using some of the original training material is definitely a plus.  One of the most beneficial ways a distance learning format can enhance the course is by allowing introverted learners more opportunity to partake in discussions without feeling like they are out of place.  Often times, shy people fail to speak up and ask pertinent questions in a face-to-face environment because they are scared, but in a distance learning environment they are more likely to participate in discussions, etc.

Another important aspect of converting to a distance learning environment is that all the material used in a face-to-face course can still be used.  The end result of the course should remain the same – the learners should learn the material – so using the same material only makes sense.  You will need to store all of the written material, as well as PowerPoint’s, videos, multimedia, etc. on the secured share drive so that the participants can access it at all times.

Changes in the Trainer’s Role

The trainer’s role in a distance learning environment will shift somewhat compared to the role in a face-to-face environment and quite possibly be more difficult.  One of the biggest changes for a trainer is the lack of contact with the students, thus creating the need to engage the learners more than was necessary in a face-to-face environment.  It is incredibly important for you to stay in contact with the learners by reaching out to them more than was necessary in the face-to-face setting, maintaining a presence with them, and being as active as possible in their learning environment.

One of the most challenging changes with this type of conversion is the lack of face time you will have with the learners.  With less lecture time, this requires you to develop more written, audio, and visual material than was required before.  With that also comes the need for more content organization of the material.  What was previously spoken will need to be made available to the learners in a coherent format in order for them to learn the material properly because “nothing helps lose the attention of a learner more than the facilitator fumbling with something that they should know” (Piskurich).

With less face time with the students, you must also convey to the students what their expectations are for the course as far as time constraints and assignment cut-offs.  In a traditional face-to-face course the instructor would be available at every meeting to oversee the student’s progress but this is not an option in a distance learning environment.  “The more informed the students, the greater the chances for success,” (Simonson) so setting goals and sticking to them will help enhance the experience for the students as well as yourself.

The plus side to developing all of the training materials and organizing them in a coherent manner is that once it is done, your time will be freed up a great deal and there will be less time needed for instruction. 

Encouraging Trainee’s Communication

As you take on a new role in the distance learning environment, it is very important to set boundaries for the learners to maintain a healthy role in online communication with their classmates.  One of the things you can do to ensure that communication continues in the training environment is to develop a detailed guide on how to use chat and discussion forums in the training environment.  It is also a good idea to make discussions a requirement for a passing grade and provide students with detailed minimum requirements for such discussions.

In order to set the precedence for communication within the program, it is always best for you to communicate with the students on a regular basis online and lead by example.  By doing this, it helps the learners get a good feel for what they need to do and helps keep them abreast of the fact that communication is the best way to handle any type of questions or concerns they may have.  “The “kiss of death” for any distance course is the lack of student participation,” (Simonson), so being assertive with your students can encourage them to also take an active role in their learning process.

References

Piskurich, G. (2011). Planning and Designing Online Courses. (Video Program). Laureate Education, Inc.

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 Course Analysis

The course I chose to evaluate was obtained through the open course site Open Culture (http://www.openculture.com/) and was a course offered by NYU in Introduction to Sociology http://www.nyu.edu/academics/open-education/coursesnew/intro-sociology/molotch-lecture1.html.

Initially I was not impressed with the first impression of the course.  There is very little information describing the course, the instructor, or what the course entails, but there is some info there.  There is an option for joining others in a live study group, which is always helpful in a course such as this.  It does not appear to be pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment because it contains none of the elements of a typical distance learning environment.  It does not follow the general guidelines that “the instructor needs to balance content with the limited time for learning activities and possibly remove extraneous, nonessential information” (Simonson).

The course begins with a 53 minute video with the instructor offering information on the subject at hand.  The video basically includes the professor standing at a podium lecturing during one of his classes and also writing on a white-board.  The first thing I note is that there is no syllabus available for students to review and this is the first big mistake for any course.  If there are no guidelines to follow then it is very difficult to obtain the proper structure of the course and therefore difficult to know what the objective of the course will be.

With the professor merely lecturing, this is not typical of a distance learning course and therefore not very effective.  Two minutes into the video and I am already distracted due to the lecture-style that the professor is using, as well as his rambling.  This is very ineffective for an online course.

There are 28 lectures available on this subject, each with the professor lecturing in a classroom-style face-to-face environment, which is not conducive to a distance learning environment.  What works for a traditional classroom is not typical in the online environment and generally needs to be evaluated and adjusted so that online learners can better perceive the information.  There is no use of photos, worksheets, videos, or other elements typical for distance learning and no activities or assignments available for learners. 

As far as the course design goes, this course is not designed effectively for distance learners.  One of the major components of distance learning courses is not included in this course: “quality distance learning programs are participatory in that they emphasize the involvement of the learner in all facets of program development and delivery” (Simonson).  There is no involvement from learners in this course, only lecturing from the professor.  Further, “activities should provide ample opportunities for online learners to explore on their own” (Piskurich). 

Considering all of these factors, this open course in Sociology is not indicative of typical distance learning and would not be considered effective in online learning.  This particular open course site does not offer what some other open course sites offer, such as discussion areas, chat rooms, testing, announcements, email, forums, etc.  Without incorporating some of these into an open course classroom, it would be very difficult to classify this particular course as an effective distance learning environment.

References

Piskurich, G. (2011). Planning and Designing Online Courses. (Video Program). Laureate Education, Inc.

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

WK 3 Application

As an instructional designer for a major corporation who has purchased a new automated staff information system, I would choose to implement a training workshop across six regional offices using either a Course Management System (CMS) or a Wiki.  Since this implementation will take place across several different offices, the information contained within the training program will need to include updated information that staff members can share with others as they also complete the training and the use of a CMS and/or Wiki would allow for this to occur. 

With a CMS, there would be several areas in which employees could post any screen shots, documents, or just FYI information for employees who complete the training after them.  A CMS could house a Discussion Board, collaboration area, live classroom, and file management areas that would allow for the sharing of this type of information as well as the actual training course.  Employees would be able to take the course at their leisure as well, which would allow for staggered training, and an email could be generated to employees who have previously participated in the course to let them know there have been updates.

CMS’s are good for educational training activities, but can also be quite useful for any type of training.  CMS’s offer great benefits for training because “students need this kind of structure and detail to help them stay organized and on task” (Simonson).

Blackboard is a CMS that I am highly familiar with as I used it throughout most of my undergraduate career as a distance learner.  The website http://www.blackboard.com/Markets/Higher-Education-(1)/Client-Stories.aspx provides several different success stories and examples of how this CMS provided the much-needed tools for their clients.  Reading through these accounts of client appreciation gives me the reassurance I need that a CMS is the right choice for this training course.

With a Wiki, a training module could be uploaded to the wiki allowing the participants to take the training course, then offer suggestions in an additional area that will be designated for such.  A wiki would be my second choice behind a CMS because I believe a CMS has more to offer; however, a wiki could be an adequate way to conduct such training and allow for updates because they “can be an excellent tool for collaborative online writing assignments and group activities compiling information in a single online resource” (Simonson).

Wiki’s are still an emerging technology that has a great deal to offer learners.  The website http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/webbuilding/archives/page9341.cfm provides valuable information on how some non-profit organizations have been successful using wiki’s: “collaborative Web sites that allow users to create and edit online content without requiring extensive technical skills” (Tech Soup). 

References

Blackboard. (21, January 2012). Retrieved from http://www.blackboard.com/Markets/Higher-Education-(1)/Client-Stories.aspx

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

Tech Soup. (21, January 2012). Retrieved from  http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/webbuilding/archives/page9341.cfm

Distance Learning Mind Map

Defining Distance Learning

The computer evolution came to fruition when I was in high school and I can still remember taking my first computer class.  After graduating and starting business school, I remember being very intrigued by computers and what they had to offer for the future of business.  Never would I have imagined the force they would prove to be in today’s technological world but I am so glad that they peaked my interest at an early age!

Even though distance learning has apparently been around for ages, it did not become an enormous success until the last ten years or so.  I do recall seeing distance learning classes such as studying from home via mail programs years ago, but current-day distance learning has become so much more.  For me, I truly believe it will become common-place going forward and we will see many more ways in which distance learning will enhance all ages of education.

Before starting this course, my definition of distance learning would be exactly what I consider distance learning to be – completing my education from a distance.  I have completed my entire higher education through distance learning via the internet and plan to use this type of learning to help others learn from a distance going forward. 

While I understand there have been different types of distance learning available for many years, the current evolution of distance learning appears to be taking off way better than prior attempts.  “Edwards uses the term open learning to describe a new way of looking at education in a quickly changing and diverse world” (Simonson) and I couldn’t agree more.  One of the reasons I believe this is true is due to the technological advances we have seen in the past twenty years, particularly in the last five to ten years.  Modern day technology makes it incredibly easy to do and learn practically anything from a distance, and I believe these advances will only increase.  As we see technology continue to grow, distance learning will likely grow right along with it and we may see increases in distance learning from elementary school on.  I think the only draw-back from this is that children will have a harder time adapting their social skills, but I do think it is a very likely possibility for future generations.

For people who do not like technology or who do not wish to familiarize themselves with technology, there could be many challenges in the future; however, children are growing up today with computers and do not realize there was a time when computers were not a daily staple in their households.  The future generations will become increasingly more adaptable to technology and this will allow for may more advances in technology for education and career choices.

My future vision for distance learning is that more people warm up to the idea and begin to realize that an education is an education is an education.  Being in a face-to-face environment does not necessarily give you a better education; in fact, many could argue that being able to successfully complete a program through distance learning means that you are more independent and smarter because you did not have as much guidance.  Distance learning is exactly what it implies – learning from a distance, with or without extra guidance.

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.