I have a personal experience with scope creep. I did not know it was called scope creep at the time, I assumed it was a nuisance and a big problem. I was planning a fifth birthday party for one of my daughters at American Girl. The reservations require accurate head count because they reserve just enough seats for the party participants. There are typically ten parties going on at one time. American Girl schedules their parties during certain time frames. They open their doors every two hours for parties. When you schedule a party with American Girl they explain that the guest must arrive on time and you have one and a half hour for the party. Once you give them the final head count for the party, you can not increase the number of guest. I placed all of this pertinent information on the invitation and asked all of the parents to please RSVP by the due date. Well I am sure by now you can kind of guess where this story is going. The day of the party everyone was there on time, as we were walking into the restaurant I heard a voice call my name. I turned to see who it was, it was one of the parents who did NOT RSVP for the party along with both of her daughters (Only one is in my daughter's class). I was so shocked I did not know what to do. She explained that she did not get an opportunity to RSVP for the party and she hoped it was okay for them to come. I still have the other guests to begin entertaining as well as deal with this scope creep. I wanted to tell her that she could not attend this party because she did not RSVP and therefore was not included in the final head count. Instead I asked her to wait a moment and let me get the other guests seated and I would figure this out. Two other mom's volunteered to give up their seats to the little girls so they could enjoy the party. That was a great idea except for the fact that it left me and one other parent to handle the girls. I was hoping to have more parent support at the party so that I could host. I agreed to let the other moms leave so the girls could attend. It turned out to be a great party and I was glad it worked out. This could have been a disastrous party. The mother thanked me dearly for allowing them to attend and we are good friends to this day.

Scope creep is when individuals want to add more or change your project. Vince Budrovich stated saying “No” is one of a project managers essential tools for controlling scope creep. Dr. Stolovitch suggested letting individuals know in a friendly manner that their idea is great but not for this particular project and you would be willing to help start a new project using these ideas. The suggestions sound so great but what happens when they do not apply to your situation. “Avoiding scope creep is not possible. However, monitoring it, controlling it, and thereby reducing some of the pain is possible- if the manager follows a few guidelines.”

1. Include a change control system.

2. Insist that every project change is introduced by a change order that includes a description of the agreed upon change together with any resulting changes in the plan, processes, budget, schedule, or deliverables.

3.Require changes be approved in writing by the client as well as by a representative of senior management.

4.Amend and update all project plans and schedules to reflect the change after the change order has been approved.

(Portny et. al. 2008, p.347)

My personal experience doesn't follow exactly like the above suggestions, but I think I did follow some of the steps to avoid scope creep. I sent out invitations with the important information on it and explained that I needed a head count. I requested that everyone be on time and explained the length of the party. I thought I'd covered all of my basis but somehow a problem still occurred. I think in my situation I wasn't able to avoid the problems but I was able to reduce any other issues similar to this. I think as individuals we are always managing some type of project whether it is personal or work related. The only thing I see that I could have implemented differently is possibly stating that if you do not RSVP you can not attend. I thought using this type of verbiage was rude and chose not to use it and it caused a slight problem. In the future I will make sure my objectives are clearly stated. “Scope creep is inevitable with projects, but a change control system can lessen its stressful aspects.”(Portny et. al. 2008, p. 348)

References:
Portny, S., Mantel, S., Meredith, J., Shafer, S. & Sutton, M. (2008). Project Management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

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, p. 357) Regardless of how the message is delivered the key is the ability to communicate both orally and in writing very well according to Portny et al. In deciding which method to choose there are several approaches that one can exercise in their approach. There is formal communications where the information is preplanned and conducted in a standard format in accordance with an established schedule . Next there is informal communications and this occurs as people think of information they want to share. This week we were presented with three different forms of communication, one was in the form of an email, the second was a voice mail and the third form of communication was a face-to-face message and post our interpretation of the message as it was delivered in each of the different modalities.

In considering the different messages I viewed, I think they are all effective. However depending on the individuals personality or work habits the method of communication should be chosen. The first message I viewed was in the form of an email. I personally like to receive emails for several reasons. There is accountability from both ends and there is a paper trail verifying the content was sent. Emails are a quick way of reaching the individual because most people today have their emails sent to their mobile phones. This will allow the email to be read any place and almost immediately. Secondly, the email system has a format that will alert the sender when the recipient has opened the email, which can serve as verification that the email was read and received. Emails appeals to the visual learners by providing the material in a format that is readable. The sender can highlight important information that needs high priority so the reader will focus on certain information in the email. I am a huge fan of emails and personally think in today's society it is one of the most effective forms of communication. Written communication allows individuals to present data more efficiently and choose their words carefully in order to minimize misunderstandings according to (Portny et al 2008) There is a down side to emails. Emails do not “allow the intended audience to ask questions to clarify content, meaning, and implication of the message being sent.” (Portny et al 2008, p. 358)

The second form of communication was a voice mail containing the same content as the email. I am personally not a huge fan of voice mails because it leaves room for misinterpretation. How many times has someone left a message and you had to play it 100 times to understand the message? Or you were unclear about what the message was. Voice mail messages appeal to auditory learners, individuals who learn easily from listening. There is also a downside to voice mail communications. There isn't evidence that the intended audience received the voice mail. There are some steps that can improve communication suggest Portny. A follow up phone call to verify that the message was received or requesting the receipt to verify that they have received the messages. Individuals take a risk with voice mails because there may be a delay in response due to the fact that someone might not check it for hour or days.

The last communication was delivered in a face-to-face method. This is probably the best method. This method will allow you to appeal to all learning modalities. Face-to-face communication allows you to communicate with more than words. Effective communication is influenced by spirit and attitude, tonality and body language, and timing states Dr. Stolovitch. Face-to-face communication provides evidence that the audience received the message and you can allow the intended audience to ask questions to clarify content. It is also good to follow up your face-to-face meeting with a written correspondences highlighting the important facts that were presented.

What I learned that will help me communicate more effectively with others in the future?

A vital part of any project is possessing the ability to communicate effectively with your team. Clear and effective communication ensures that your team understands what you are saying. A lack of communication can lead to confusion, conflict, inaccuracy or incomplete results. I learned it is important when working with stakeholders to tailor your communication strategy to fit the specific needs of each stakeholder according to Rostropovich J. It is also important to meet very early on with a client to get clarification on how they prefer to communicate. Effective communication is tough. The only way to get better is to practice, practice, practice. Make all your day-to-day conversations exercises in communicating effectively and soon it will become second nature.

References:
How to Communicate Effectively | retreived November 18, 2010 from eHow.com

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Communicating with stakeholders [Multimedia]. Project Management in Education and Training. Retrieved from Week three resources.

Portny, S., Mantel, S., Meredith, J., Shafer, S. & Sutton, M. (2008). Project Management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Project Management

For this assignment I chose to discuss a project that I was in charge of about 5years ago. I was an elementary school teacher and I was the social committee leader. We were planning our annual Christmas luncheon. I was in charge of ensuring that this luncheon was a hit.

• What processes, project artifacts, or activities did you include in the project that contributed to its success?

• What processes, project artifacts, or activities did you not include in the project that might have made the project more successful?

What I did well

I have never taken a project management class but I felt I had enough knowledge and experience (A mom of three) from planning vacations to birthday parties. So surely I could plan a Christmas luncheon. The first thing I did was meet with the social committee and discuss location, entertainment, budget, and menu. It took five meetings for us to decide on the details for the event. Finally we decided to have a Christmas Breakfast at the school and have it catered. As a team we decided this was best for our staff. During the meeting I delegated responsibilities to different members who either volunteered or I felt could get the job done.

What went wrong

The day of the Christmas breakfast was here and the teachers lounge looked superb. It looked really festive and everything was in place except for the food. I wasn't concern at first because sometimes people run late and I was at work early that day so I gave him a little Grace. Thirty minutes passed and all of the teachers were there and still no food. Okay who was in charge of the caterer? You guessed it! It was me. I called the caterer repeatedly for 45 minutes before he picked up the phone. He stated that I did not tell him the event was today. I almost exploded. What was I going to do. I have a room full of people correction, hungry people waiting to eat. I also had entertainment for the staff. I started to cry because I could not believe this happened to me “Mrs. Party planner”. One teacher pulled me to the side and asked did I pay the caterer? And I said NO! She said good I will go home and prepare a breakfast for the staff and we can have the Christmas breakfast during our recess. I agreed and explained to the staff their was a communication mishap and we will postpone the breakfast until recess time. I did have the entertainment sing Christmas songs before they had to leave. The staff enjoyed the entertainment and they were extremely understanding of the situation. I think they sympathized because of my tears. In the end it worked out and we had a great time.

Reflecting on what went wrong I considered questions ten and eleven from the checklist.

10.Were all team/stakeholder roles and responsibilities clearly delineated and communicated? If

not, how could we have improved these?

11. Were the deliverables specifications, milestones, and specific schedule elements/dates

clearly communicated? If not, how could we improve this?

Initially I met with my team. We brainstormed and I delegated responsibilities. I was so involved in making sure that everyone was doing their part I forgot to make sure I did my part. I was in communication with the caterer constantly but somehow I did not communicate my need clearly. As a project manager I should have given all of the responsibilities to my team members and monitored their progress. I did not and that caused a project to fail.

References:

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

Distance Learning in the near future.

Considering distance learning in the near future we must look at the direction of technology. Technology has had and will continue to have a major impact on education. In fact,

technology will become more and more engrossed in our everyday lives. As more people become familiar and comfortable with distance learning the more it will be accepted. Universities are noticing an influx of enrollment of online students in the United States and outside of the United States.

Online learning is gaining a firm hold in universities and corporations. More and more academia say that their institutions offer online courses. “Many of them, especially those with a public-service mandate, consider online learning key to advancing their mission, placing advanced education within reach of people who might otherwise not be able to access it.” According to the Economist unit. Based on this information I think in five years or more online learning will be the chosen method of learning and training for education and corporations. Teachers will teach from more than one medium and textbooks will be replaced with online materials

No generation is more at ease with online, collaborative technologies than today’s young people—

“digital natives”, who have grown up in an immersive computing environment. Where a notebook

and pen may have formed the tool kit of prior generations, today’s students come to class armed with

smart phones, laptops and iPods.

This era of pervasive technology has significant implications for higher education. Nearly two-thirds

(63%) of survey respondents from the public and private sectors say that technological innovation

will have a major impact on teaching methodologies over the next five years. “Technology allows

students to become much more engaged in constructing their own knowledge, and cognitive studies

show that ability is key to learning success,” says New York City-based Queens College vice-president of institutional advancement, Susan Henderson. ( Economist Unit 2008)

I think as an instructional designer I can be a proponent for improving societal perceptions of distance learning through several methods. When conducting research I can be sure that I choose credible resources when conducting literature review. This will help to validate my information when presenting. I can also make sure that I understand that I am accountable to certain standards and should conduct myself in the most ethical manner at all times. I should also apply the equivalency theory that requires that distance learning and face to face education should have the same learning outcome and provide equivalent learning experiences to meet those outcomes. There are many more things that an instructional designer can do to be a proponent for improving societal perceptions, I have only touched on a few of them.

As in other environments, the rapid proliferation of e-courses doesn’t always translate to good instruction. Proper evaluations and assessments aren’t always administered which prevents the necessary refinement in e course development. (Moller, Foshay & Huett, 2008, p. 67). I will ensure that as an instructional designer that I remember that planning is critical to online courses. I should make sure activities align with the objectives, and make sure that I have the proper software and make sure learners have the necessary skills to use it. It is also important to understand that learners learn differently and I should consider that when designing course. I should seek out assistance from SME's and ask their input when designing courses. Make sure activities are engaging to keep students involved. Finally I think investing in facilitators training is extremely important to any online course. We learned a good instructional designer always plans a trainer training and this is a key part of implementation.

“There is the issue of a lack of trained professionals to conduct online learning. Our authors discuss the fact that teachers are not necessarily instructors and that instructional designers can function as content experts and distance education developers working alongside teachers. Finally, it is essential to get faculty buy in order to facilitate the necessary organizational change required to adopt online instruction as a venue that stands alongside face- to- face instruction. Without proper training of personnel and common value placed on distance education, it may never get very far. (Moller, Foshay & Huett, 2008, p. 69)

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Distance education: The next generation [Multimedia]. Distance Learning. Retrieved October 31. 2010

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70.

The future-of-Higher-Education, How will technology shape it. The Economist Intelligence Unit 2008 Retrieved October 31, 2010 from the website:

www.nmc.org/pdf/Future-of-Higher-Ed-(NMC).pdf

Training Material

I have been presented with the opportunity to help a training manager try a different method of training.
The training manger would like to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format.
This will allow trainers and trainees the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both face-to-face and online environment. I have highlighted some key points that I think are pertinent to online learning.
In considering the effectiveness of facilitating online learning there are several key components that should be used. Dr. Piskurich shared a few key points that are vital to distance learning. First the facilitator must know the software. It is important to train the facilitator on the software that the students will be learning. Secondly the lesson plan should be thorough and full of activities. It is important that the facilitator know the entire lesson plan to avoid stumbling when facilitating. Secondly, Facilitators play a critical role in student engagement. Additional research by Chickering and Gamson (1987) reveals that knowing faculty and faculty concerns assist students with challenging times and can enhance a student’s intellectual commitment. It is through human communication and interaction that students are able to connect with faculty. Therefore, with growing numbers of traditional courses and programs transitioning to online and blended formats, there is an increasing need to examine effective human communication in online environments to foster a personalized connection between students, faculty, and the institution.

View pdf


References:
Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin, 39 (7), 3-7.


Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Facilitating online learning [Multimedia]. Distance Learning

This week we had to select a free Open Course site and provide an analysis of the pre-planning and design for a distance learning environment. I chose http://web.mit.edu/ocw/ within the site there are over 2000 courses to choose from. They did not have a course related to teaching so I chose a different course. I chose Brain and cognitive sciences a course taught in the fall of 2004 at MIT. The instructor listed the requirements for the course in a column on the left. Listed is the Course home page, syllabus ,calendar, readings and assignments, lecture notes, exams and study materials. This is evident that the instructor pre-planned for the learners. Teaching at a distance requires planning and organization like face-to-face courses. I think the course appears to carefully planned and designed for a distance learning environment.
This course follows the recommendations for online instruction as listed in the course textbook.

The designer offered a variety of activities to engage the learner. The class offers Course Features such as Audio lectures, lecture notes and assignments (no solutions).There is a course description that gives the learner a general idea about the class. In the class description it states that one of the best aspects of Psychology is that you are the subject matter. This makes it possible to do many demonstrations in lecture that allow you to experience the topic under study according to the site. For each lecture, students are given a brief handout containing an outline, key questions, and points to ponder. Slides on visual perception and attention are also presented for lectures 4 and 5. The slides are also accessible on a pdf. According to the site.

The course also informed the learner in order to access some of the files in the course there are certain technical requirements. I like how the audio files are available of download from iTunesU. This gives the learners the opportunity to access the information from there mobile or ipods.

Overall I thought the course was effective in meeting the needs of distance learning. I think a video and more interactivity would enhance the course and provide a more meainngful learning experience.

References:
Wolfe, Jeremy. 9.00 Introduction to Psychology, Fall 2004. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare), http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed 10 Oct, 2010). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
MIT OpenCourseWare), http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed 10 Oct, 2010). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Collaborative Learning Environment

This week we were asked to chose one example to focus on and, in a blog post, identify several distance learning technologies that will provide a solution for the challenge. I chose the collaborative training environment training.

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.

When I decided upon the challenge I knew immediately which learning tools would be beneficial for the challenge. If I were the instructional designer I would choose Web 2.0 as a tool for training. The web 2.0 has so many capabilities and functions. We learned this week that web 2.0 is not limited to the education field and it exist primarily outside of the education sphere but extremely beneficial to the education field as well as any learner engaging function that can be incorporated into our next generation of course management systems according to Simonson et al 2009 p.244) In my training I would like to provide a hybrid type learning for the trainees. I would choose this type of training because I think it appeals to various learning styles. The learners will have various backgrounds and to ensure the highest probability of effectiveness, I think using different methods would be the most efficient. I would utilize podcasting to deliver the face-to-face training method. Podcasting is the process of recording and storing audio or video content on the internet for downloading and playback using various technology tools including the computer. Previously companies utilized the computer for trainings by converting manuals and instructor materials into slideshows or power point presentations for meeting training needs. I would also use a wiki or consider using a cms (course management system) like www.webstudy.com,or www.moodle.org. This will allow for discussions, forums, and assignments related to the training. This type of collaborations can be powerful to the learning world. Currently, e-learning and distance learning programs offer more engaging, interactive and virtual experiences to make the training meaningful. The shift towards social learning is mainly because organizations have started recognizing the tremendous need to build, manage and formalize their social and collaborative learning programs. Companies are reevaluating their training strategies and are looking for ways to accommodate learning programs that provide collaborative learning. According to Wikipedia, collaborative learning refers to various methodologies and environments where learners engage and actively interact to learn or attempt to learn something together. I was able to find several sites that are currently engaging in the collaborative training environment.


The first site is Northrop Grumman
Virtual, Interactive and Collaborative Training Resource/Environment
VICTR/E is Northrop Grumman’s interactive, virtual training environment. It replicates command and control situations and allows collaborative scenario training and analysis of warfighting methods, regardless of warfighters’ locations.
VICTR/E enables warfighters and developers to analyze human-to- machine interface options without expensive, elaborate hardware and software. Adjustments to scenarios and equipment positioning can be made in seconds with the click of a mouse.
VICTR/E reduces the logistical cost of expensive and limited resources through virtual representation in a very small footprint. With VICTR/E, warfighters spend less time traveling to training, less time setting-up courses, and they have more time to spend on training tasks, making more efficient use of down-time. Further, the low cost of a unit of collaborative training allows VICTR/E to be available to a larger cross-section of forces.

The second site that I discovered that is engaging in collaborative training is the Civil Safety and Defense Department.

Overview
The Civil Safety and Defense Department of the French Ministry of Internal Affairs is involved in safeguarding the population from risks that include everyday accidents, global disasters, forest fires and the protection of property from natural disasters like flooding.

It has different schools that specialize in training its members to combat a range of emergencies such as forest and urban fires, chemical leaks and flooding. Many of the trainees in these schools come from the 240,000 fire fighters in France, 80% of whom are volunteers, and who share their fire fighting responsibilities with full time jobs and careers.

The Challenge
The traditional way to train forest fire fighters is with outdoor training which is considered to be very expensive (as many vehicles and airplanes are needed) and also time consuming. In the past the Civil Safety and Defense Department has used a Flight Simulator as a tool for plane guidance training for forest fire fighting. But this method still involved too much paper-based studying and in-field simulation. They needed a more effective tool to simulate real fire fighting actions to train their personnel effectively while also keeping expenses low.

The Solution
The tools developed by ParallelGraphics were used by the EMI Informatiques company to create a complete collaborative 3D environment for forest fire fighting training. A training session involves around 20 students, each playing a role, with the training covering aspects ranging from ground navigation and map reading to planning and tactics.

All users can communicate with each other and see the fire, available transportation and the scenario unfolding (such as water planes bombing the fire) in a 3D simulation. Session managers are able to control certain parameters such as the growth of the fire, the time of day, weather conditions and many others.

“It is likely, however, that virtual worlds represent the standard learning environments of some point in our future.” (Simonson et al 2009 p. 246) What are your thoughts to this statement? I think it is highly likely that this statement is true.

References:
Collaborative learning. (2010, August 8). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:13, September 27, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Collaborative_learning&oldid=377826010

www.moodle.org

www.is.northropgrumman.com/products/victre/index.html

www.parallelgraphics.com/products/sdk/success/fire/

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

www.webstudy.com