Man, That's Creepy

Some Background

     In early December of 2011, an email went out to every middle school teacher in the district.  The email was a search for middle school science teachers who would be willing to serve on a district wide committee that would be responsible for choosing the new middle school science resources for the district.  The district secondary learning specialist, the math intervention-learning specialist, and the district school technology specialist would lead the committee.  The committee would be comprised of   two science teachers from each middle school. Ideally, each school would have enough teachers that an application process would take place and teachers would be selected from the application pool.  As it would turn out, only one teacher from my school volunteered to be on the committee, which still left one more person that would need to volunteer from my department.  When I proposed this to my department at our monthly meeting, there was no interest.  So being the department chair, I went ahead and volunteered to be the second representative.

Some More Background

     The expectation for teachers who are part of this committee would be several days off the floor in order to take part in committee activities.  These activities would include defining criteria of the resources to review, narrowing the resource publishers to no more than four by the end of December, review of resources and publisher presentations, and a recommendation of the chosen resource to the school board by the first week of April 2012. 

Creeping up.

     This project experienced several different forms of scope creep.  The first began after the second meeting in Mid December.  At the end of the second meeting, the teachers voted and approved a group of four publishers who would present their resources in mid January.  The scope creep occurred when our project manager informed us that two other publishers, who were not part of the original review, would be added to the presentations for review in mid January.  Because of the extra publishers, a second day of review and presentations would be necessary in order to gather needed information. 

     The second instance of scope creep occurred at the end of the second day of presentations and review.  At this time, the committee narrowed the choice down to two different publishers.  One that was technology based, and the other that took a more project based approach to science instruction.  At this time, the committee was asked by the committee leaders to pilot one group of resources or the other in order to gather data that could then be shared with the group in a meeting that would take place in early February of 2012.  This would add a considerable workload to the members of the committee, as they would need to incorporate these resources into lessons that had already been planned and designed.

     A third occurrence of scope creep took place when the committee met in February.  Despite the intention to pilot the resources, some teachers did not receive the resources from one of the publishers in a timely fashion.  As a result, a few of the committee members could not provide the feedback that was requested at the January meeting.  To go along with this, the committee leaders were informed by the head of the district learning services that the committee would need to do a full alignment comparison of each resource to the new state standards.  In the end, this alignment would mean yet another day off the floor, and would add yet more time to our timeline.  Already it was becoming obvious that we would not be able to meet the original district deadline of early April.

     Two final instances of scope creep would occur once we were finally able to complete the standards alignment comparison, and make the recommendation.  The first came once the recommendation had been made by the committee.  It was at this time we were informed we would need to take a much larger role in the presentation of our recommendation to the school board.  Originally, we were informed that all we would need to do was make our recommendation.  The school board revised this, because on the initial presentation by the committee leaders, the board decided they wanted to be able to question committee members and gain a greater understanding of our thinking behind the recommendation.  The second instance would come when our presentation was bumped from the meeting in early May to the end of May due to other district business.  In the end, our recommendation was approved over a month later than originally projected. 

Hindsight is 20/20

     From my perspective, I am not sure most of the scope creep could have been avoided.  I really feel like the project manager did an above average job of monitoring the project (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, with Kramer, 2008) and trying to stay ahead the inevitable scope creep.  One might point to the addition of the two publishers as avoidable scope creep, however it would turn out the recommendation by the committee would turn out to be one of the resources that was added late in the review process.  As far as the other scope creep that occurred, those were instances that came from outside influences such as district superiors, school board requests, and the state department of education.  In the end, one change that could have been made in order to reach the original deadline would have been to start the process sooner.  The original delivery date of early April was going to be tight even without any type of scope creep.  Starting the process sooner seems like a logical, but it is unknown whether the leadership team was available to begin the project process sooner.

References

Portny, S., Mantel, S., Meredith, J., Shafer, S., Sutton, M., & Kramer, B. (2008). Project management:

     Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Learning to Walk

 

            There are many areas in education and instructional design in which I feel very comfy.  Project management, and specifically the territory we are entering now (schedules and budgets) is like learning a new a new language for me.  From the start, this class has been intimidating.  Though I am getting more comfortable with the language and the thinking process, it has been a struggle.  Therefore, in my search for this blog assignment, I looked for web sites that cast a wide net when it comes to project management.  The two web sites below are sites that allow one who is new to project management to gain insight in a variety of project management topics and resources. 

Allabout project management

            The title of this web site pretty much tells the story.  It is a web site that covers the basic topics of project management, and breaks down each into various resources and sub topics.  There are also links to scheduling and budgeting tools that could prove to be very useful for a novice project manager.

Project Connections

This web site is also a jack-of-all-trades web site for project managers.  Though it does cover various PM topics, it focuses on articles written by project manager experts.  Though some of the articles are far beyond the scope of my knowledge and experience, I did find some articles and ideas that are more in tune with where I am as a project manager.  

Wait....What?

 I am thinking back to an email that a colleague of mine responded to last year.  I can't remember exactly what the topic was, but it was addressed to all of the eighth grade teachers and to our assistant principal.  The email was a response to an email conversation that had to do with some discipline issues with students.  One of my colleagues responded very passionately to the email.  Words were sent out in all caps, there were countless exclamation points, and many bold and highlighted words.  As I read, all I could think was "wow, that is one mad eighth grade teacher".  As it would turn out, the email did not sit well at all with the assistant principal.  He was furious with this teacher.  He felt this email was completely out of line and very unprofessional.  As it would turn out, the teacher didn't mean for the email to sound angry, she just wanted to make some points about the topic.  What this teacher did not take into consideration was how this email would be perceived.  For many an email with all caps and many exclamation points means anger.  This is not effective communication.  This was also a pretty tough lesson for my colleague.

With as much technology as we have today, and as connected as we are as a species, it is fascinating to think that we still can have a difficult time communicating with one another.  If I have learned anything over the past couple of weeks about project management, I would say I have learned this; project management is an art form that mixes organization, vision, facilitating, management, leadership, responsibility and communication (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, with Kramer, 2008).  Maybe the most important of all of these pieces is communication.  A project manager has been likened to the conductor of an orchestra (Stolovitch, n.d.).  I would describe communication as the conductor's baton.  The baton is a tool that can greatly help the conductor because it helps clarify the music.  (Thompson, personal communication, May 16, 2012).  Communication is the same type of tool for the project manager.  Good communication helps create clarity in a project. 

For this week's blog post we were asked to interpret a message delivered in three different modes.  These modes were the message as an email, a voice mail, and as a face-to-face conversation.  We were then asked to synthesize our perceptions on the message in each mode.  The message is being sent from one worker to another, and the subject is a missing report.  The worker sending the message needs the report because they need data in the missing report to finish their own report by a given deadline.  Here are my initial thoughts on each mode immediately after seeing or hearing each mode.  I decided to have a little fun with this part, and delivered my thoughts in the modes presented to us in the blog assignment media presentation.

Email Response

The message seems pretty calm and straight forward.  The author is saying they need something very soon, and they are somewhat apologetic by saying they understand the recipient is very busy etc.  There is nothing in the email other than the text that says this is important.  In other words, no all caps exclamation points, bold or flagged comments.

Voice Mail Response

Face-To-Face Response

In the end, a couple of things can be taken away from this week's blog prompt.  First, of the three types of communication demonstrated this week, the one that seemed most effective to me was the voicemail.  The message was professionally conveyed with a tone of seriousness and without the apologetic nature that seemed to show itself in the face-to-face conversation.  The second take away from this week is that communication is as critical piece of the project process and cannot be overlooked.  One has to consider the experiences and of each stakeholder, and communicate in ways that will are most effective for the stakeholder.  In other words, it will be very important to get to know the stakeholders and communicate with them in the manner they are most accustomed and comfortable (Burdovich, & Achong, n.d.).

References

Burdovich, V. (Writer), & Achong, T. (Writer), (n.d.).Strategies for communicating with stakeholders[Web]. Available from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/launcher?type=Course&id=_551248_1&url=

Portny, S., Mantel, S., Meredith, J., Shafer, S., Sutton, M., & Kramer, B. (2008). Project management: planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NH: John Wiley & Sons.

Stolovitch, H. (Writer) (n.d.) Project management and instructional design [Web]. Retrieved from             https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/framset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id-2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/excecute/launcher?type=Course&id_51248-1&url=

Here Comes the Bride

Ok, so I have been wracking my brains over the last couple of days, trying to think of a project I have lead that would be appropriate to talk about for this blog discussion.  To be honest, project management as presented in this course is pretty foreign to me.  I have planned a thousand lessons, helped out with more than one large scale school or district project, but on the whole I have never taken the reigns as a project manager.  Or so I thought.  It did not occur to me until I had a conversation with my sister last night when she reminded me that I planned my own wedding.  She added, “as far as I’m concerned, that’s a project and a half” (Brothers, personal communication, May 9, 2012).  I chewed on this bit of information for a little while, and reflected on the process of planning my wedding, and yeah, she is right, I was the project manager for my wedding, and that was a pretty big project indeed. 

So let us break this wedding project down, and see how I did.  I am going to do this based on the questions that were posted with this week’s blog assignment from an article on project post mortem (Greer, 2010).

1.  Are you proud of the finished product?  Yes I am.  The wedding went off without a hitch, and to this day I get a lot of compliments on how fun the wedding was, and how everyone seemed so happy that day.  I have added a link to see some pictures of the final project.  Feel free to have a look.

The Wedding

2.  What was the single most frustrating part of the project? For me, the most frustrating thing was being so far away from many family and friends who were part of the planning process.  For instance, my aunt from Michigan made my dress.  It is tough to do a fitting when you live a thousand miles apart.  It did require some extra travel for me in order to get this done, but it was well worth the time.

3.  What would you do next time to avoid this frustration?  I am not sure I would have done anything different in this case.  I made the choice to have my aunt make the dress, and so I knew I would need to plan a time in the summer to make sure I could visit for a fitting.

4.  What was the most gratifying part of the process?  For me the best part was watching everyone interact, and enjoy him or herself.  I worked very hard to make sure that everyone had what he or she needed to really enjoy the experience.  I feel like we took great care to satisfy all of the guests, kids, adults, family and friends.

5.  If I could change anything about the process, what would I change?  There really is not anything I would change.  We accomplished the goal of having a really fun wedding that would honor the vision shared by my husband and I, but would also satisfy our families in terms of the formality and grace of the ceremony.  We did this in a way that provided an excellent experience for our guests, and we did so well within our established budget.

6.  The stakeholders in this wedding took a very active part in the process.  To be honest, this wedding was more for my family and close friends than my husband and I.  The two of us were very content to have a private ceremony in the Denver county courthouse, but we also knew a wedding was something our families really wanted.  So we went ahead and planned the wedding.  The stakeholders took an active role in many ways.  As stated earlier, my aunt Julie made my dress.  My sister (the maid of honor) took care of all of the travel arrangements for my Michigan family to come to the wedding in Denver.  My mom arranged to have a wedding shower when I was visiting Michigan the summer before my wedding.  My aunt Carol and Uncle Phil made and decorated our wedding cake.  A group of close girl friends of mine took charge of decorating both the ceremony and reception areas, and my sister-in-law helped design and print our wedding invitations.  I took care of securing the spot for the ceremony, and reception.  I also made arrangements for the catering, bar, DJ, and on-site babysitting for our friends and family with young children.  My husband managed the budget, and he and my brother-in-law had the all-important job of selecting which beer would be served at the reception.  In all, this was a very team oriented project.

In reflecting on this week's discussion of controlling scope creep, I would say I did a pretty good job.  Did we experience scope creep?  Yes, particularly when it came to the guest list.  As stated in this week's video "Overcoming Scope Creep" Dr. Burdovich discusses how difficult it can be to control scope creep when supporters are asking for little favors here and there (Van Rekom, Achong, & Burdovich, n.d.).  It feels the same when your mom is asking you to invite just one more of her friends or distant cousins.  It can be very hard to say no.

The good news is that the wedding was successful, and I can now look back on that project from the viewpoint of a project manager.  Would the information I am learning in this class have been helpful in the project planning process?  Absolutely.  Who knows, maybe if I succeed in this class, and become a successful project manager and instructional designer, I can apply those skills and become a wedding planner.  Or maybe not.

References

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects (Laureate 

custom ed.) Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc. (p. 42-43)

Van Rekom, P. (Writer), Achong, T. (Writer, & Burdovich, V. (Writer) (n.d.)  Practitioner voices:
Overcoming "scope creep" [Web]. Retrieved from
https://class.walden.edu/webapps/portal/framset.jsp?  tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=/webapps/
blackboard/execute/launcher?type=Course&id=_551248_1&url=

I Hope I Can Manage This

Hey all,
Well here we go week 1 of the Project Management Course.  Here's to new adventures.

:) G

Some Final Thoughts on the Future of Distance Education

          As I sit here at my computer and contemplate my assignment to consider the future of distance education, I can't help but think of my grandmother.  My sister and I are the fourth generation of teachers in our family.  Our grandmother was a teacher for thirty years, and easily had the greatest influence on both of us deciding to become educators.  Truth be told as I would go to my grandma's classroom and help her decorate or clean, or whatever she needed, I really couldn't imagine myself being anything else.  I loved her classroom, and I wanted one just like hers.  My grandmother's very first teaching job was in a one-room schoolhouse that served the farm kids of southern Michigan.  She was teacher, custodian, woodchopper, school nurse, and principal.  For her, distance education meant the number of miles students would walk in order to get to school.  I often wonder what she would think of education today.  What would her thoughts be on the subject of distance education and its future? 

            I had an excellent opportunity this week to explore the question of the future of distance education with some of my fellow teachers, and when I reflect on that conversation, I realize though distance education has a bright future, there is much that will need to change in terms of perceptions as to its validity, improvement in design, and implementation that can reach into every level of education. 

            Distance education is not a new concept.  There has been some form of distance education for well over a century (Tracey, & Richey, 2005).  However, distance education has seen incredible growth over the past several years due to advances in technology (Tracey, & Richey, 2005).  These advances in technology have led to greater awareness and acceptance of degrees and achievements gained because of distance learning.  Reasons beyond awareness for this greater acceptance include, a greater number of people having experiences with distance education (Siemens, n.d.), greater practical experience with technology commonly used in the practice of distance education (Siemens, n.d.), expanded ideas of how people can interact and increase discourse using advanced technology (Siemens, n.d.), and a greater understanding in the private sector as to the cost benefits of increasing communication world-wide without having to increase travel budgets (Siemens, n.d.).  As technology continues to quickly advance, it would be practical to think distance education will gain even more acceptance in the very near future, and may one day be thought of with equal reverence as traditional face-to-face education. 

            There are those who feel distance education can never be as effective as a traditional face-to-face learning environment.  Opponents of distance education point to studies that show high incompletion rates in distance education (Larson, 2011).  Others point to qualitative data that documents student dissatisfaction with distance education due to a lack of interaction with instructors and fellow classmates (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  Granted, there is much in distance education that is still a work in progress.  For instance, distance education is seen by some as a cure all for every ill in education.  Unfortunately, those who make policy in education are implementing programs in distance education without really understanding the theory behind sound distance learning practice (Huett, Moller, Foshay, & Coleman, 2008). 

            With colleges and universities racing to become a part of the trend toward distance education, some have taken short cuts when it comes to developing their distance programs (Moller, Foshay, Huett, 2008).  They have relied on faculty and staff to use a craft approach to developing distance programs (Moller, et al, 2008).  Unfortunately, this craft approach lacks effective application of distance theory (Moller, et al, 2008).  If distance education is to reach its full potential, it must be designed by those with a strong knowledge base in distance learning theory and instructional design for distance education in combination with subject matter experts.  The role of the instructional designer in the acceptance of distance education cannot be overlooked.  Distance education that is created with the principles of systematic well planned design, implementation and evaluation will be the difference in the success of online education.  It will be instructional designers who help subject matter experts and instructors make better decisions about content and delivery methods (Simonson, et al, 2012).  With better practices in place, learner satisfaction and outcomes from distance education will improve.

            As distance education continues to grow, it would seem that its potential and impact on education will be immense (Beldarrain, 2006).  The emergence of new technologies coupled with growing positive perceptions will bring about disruptive change in education (Grush, 2012).  As an instructional designer in distance education, it will be my job to ensure the change is brought about in ways that will ensure best practices.  The result of this theory driven systematic approach to design will be positive, effective distance learning experiences for instructors and learners.  

           

References

Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster

            student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2) 139-153.

Grush, M. (2010, May 26). Josh Baron on education technology and disruptive change.

            Retrieved from http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2010/05/26/Josh-Baron-on-

            Education-Technology-and-Disruptive-Change.aspx?Page=1.

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman. (2008).  The evolution of distance education:

            Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3:K12). Tech

            Trends, 52(5), 63-67.

Moller, L., Fshay, W., & Guett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications

            for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher Education). Tech

            Trends 52(4), 66-70.

Siemens, G. (Writer) (n.d.) The future of distance education [Web]. Retrieved from http://

          sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6493362&Survey=1&47=

          8884161&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: 

          Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Tracey, M., Richey, R. (2005).  The evolution of distance education. Distance Learning 2(6),

          17-21

Hey all,
Well here is is at last my week seven application assignment.  It's been quite a day.  I'm pretty sure I am having my Friday the 13th on Sunday the 15th instead.  Anyway enough about me.  The assignment for this application is a best practice guide for an instructor who wants to convert a classroom course into a blended classroom/online course.  My focus for this assignment was to establish which theory to use as a foundation (Holberg's theory of Interaction and Communication, 1995), then move on to key considerations for pre-planning a move to a blended learnening environment.  The considerations included contextual, learner, and instructor considerations.  The guide concluded with a recommendation for the instructor of the course to work closely with an instructional designer to insure the best possible design result.

The link to the pdf can be found below

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?0ekr6u6ggxflx8h