Analyzing Scope Creep

"Scope Creep is defined as the tendency of a project to grow in scale and complexity as more individuals get involved. It also occurs as the details of the project are presented to the project owners who requested it, usually management, who then say, Can you also make it do this or that"(Milone, 2008).  I can recall when I was asked to train a class of ten on a certain subject that I was very familiar with.  To prepare to train the class I reviewed each individual assessment for the learners assigned to my class.  This way I was aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and it makes me aware of how I should train the class material.  I also prepared all of the material in segments pertaining to information I will present and also what I will assign to the learning coaches.  At the last minute right before the class is scheduled to start the organization added additional subjects and systems to the material to train, and I was also assigned additional learning coaches that I did not select to work with as well because the class size grew tremendously.  This presented issues because I now had to train unfamiliar information which made me implement time to train myself as well.  I also had to review the new learning coaches and interview them for their strengths and weaknesses so that I would not give them something they could not handle, and all of these additional tasks were not completed efficiently in my opinion because I did not have the time to do so.  Also certain material being presented was new and the organization wanted information throughout the class on the success of the material with the learners as well.  Therefore there were so many additional hands in the class than what I was accustomed to.  Because of this I scheduled a meeting to discuss the positives and negatives pertaining to the class and also to discuss my strengths and all aspects of what I can handle.  This allowed me to persuade them to eliminate the extra hands and appearances of management from the classroom which could disrupt my schedule and process pertaining to the material and changes I made. If I were managing the class and changes I would have originally had a meeting to discuss what changes would be made and what should we expect, and also what may be needed from the trainer and timeframes pertaining to those changes instead of shooting out a quick message advising of those changes at the last minute. 



References:

Milone, Tim. (June 21, 2008). Real world example of scope creep. In Tech Republic.

     Retrieved 12/5/2013, from http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-of-all-trades/real-world-  
     example-of-scope-creep

Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources

The two resources I have selected that would be useful in estimating the costs, effort, and/or activity durations associated with ID projects are listed below.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/5-steps-to-prepare-your-project-budget-HA001141182.aspx

The site gives 5 Steps to Prepare Your Project. The budgeting plan includes setting pay rates, entering per-use costs, entering fixed costs, setting types of tasks, and assigning resources.  I would use the information and enter per use cost and also fixed cost because that always plays a role in preparing the budget.  I also enjoyed the chart description listed below.

If a task's cost is based on:	And you want approximate costs, do this:	Or you want detailed costs, do this:
Hours worked or amount of material used	Specify rates for all work resources and material resources. Assign resources to tasks. Track hours worked or percent complete.	Specify rates for all resources/materials. Assign resources to tasks. Track hours worked.
A set fee for a task	Specify fees for tasks. Assign resources to tasks only if you have tracking needs beyond cost tracking.	Specify fees for tasks. Assign resources to tasks. Track hours worked or percent complete.
A set fee for use of a resource	Specify per-use costs for resources. Assign resources to summary tasks or subtasks. Track hours worked or percent complete.	Specify per-use costs for resources. Assign resources to tasks. Track hours worked or percent complete.

http://www.businessballs.com/project.htm


Although this site reiterated what most sites state about planning a project, I focused on the information pertaining to communicating your plan to the project team.  The project team is very important because they are assisting as well.  You are not working the project alone, and if you were you would not have a high percentage for success. 




References

Microsoft Project. (2003). 5 steps to prepare your project budget. Retrieved from

       http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/5-steps-to-prepare-your-project-budget-

      HA001141182.aspx


Rosenhead, R. (2010). Project Management. Retrieved November 27, 2013, from

      http://www.businessballs.com/project.htm

Communicating Effectively

Formal and informal communication.  The way you deliver a message is key to how the message is received.  As a project manager a lot of your time is to make sure everyone is on the same page and happy.  They also focus on timeframes and making sure all the pieces fit from start to finish.  90% of the communication is not in your words, for example the timeframe you submit information, how focused you are on detail.  You must be really clear in your communication to everyone including the stakeholders.  Emails and public meetings is a good way to keep everyone updated.  Communication strategies vary and never remains the same for everyone.  Someone mentions they were uncomfortable with a formal style of operating projects.  Sensing the style of the organization is very important because it may be different than what you are accustomed to and may take some time to evaluate.  Addressing communication should allow you to ask for advice in the organization, getting the key players together to discuss the communication strategies are also a good idea so that you are on the same page, probe your group for traps you could encounter, document and refine the information you gathered and present to the organization to ensure everyone agrees with your communication strategy.  Three forms of communication are email, voicemail, and face-to-face.  The messages were pretty much the same to me but for some can be misinterpreted.  The email message can be misread because we are reading from a paper document and there is not expression involved, the person reading the message can interpret the message in a good or bad way.  Voicemail went well because you can hear the tone in her voice when she is relaying the message, and the face-to face is also great because you not only get the tone of voice but you can also see their facial expressions and can completely interpret the message as a whole.  Depending on the personality type people may interpret the massage in many ways.  Therefore if it is an extremely important message it should be displayed face-to face.

 

 

 

 

 

Reference:

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Learning from a Project

I can recall in the past when I was trying to start my business and I had plenty to do.  One part of my  project was to create a website to utilize for my customer because we live in the technology age.  At  the start of the project I assumed everything was great and did not realize how much research and  effort it would take to create a successful website for my customers.  I created my website and  implemented the website live before I launched my business officially. I had a home page,  information about the business, pictures, and general information listed in text form on the site. Once  I launched the site I had many questions on how to do certain things, and also requested additional  information after viewing the site and this made me aware that this was not a success and something  additional was needed.  After reviewing additional factors and customer feedback I went in to make  changes.  First the site was a little boring because the main factors were presented in text form only.   I went in and included many visuals such as bright fun pictures that went with my company theme.  I  included audio aspects on the site such as recordings that maintained a lively tome of voice  explaining certain aspects.  I also included links on the site that led to additional information such as  my policy and procedures as well, and I included a contact page so that anyone could reach out to me  via the site as well.  I added a page where customers could make payments via credit card or paypal.   I decided to make the site a little more upbeat and detailed as well.  After the additional changes to  the site I received less questions on what additional services I offered, costs, etc. and more contacts  just asking if they could tour and possible enroll.  I didn't realize that my website was an additional  aspect that could have such a massive impact on business success,   

Reflection on the current and future perceptions of distance learning in our society

I think that distance learners will increase over time as it has been doing over the years.  Dr. Siemens (2010) states that distance learning will continue to increase and be accepted in society.  He gave a great example.  In the video he stated to think back five years ago and compare it to distance learning today.  Five years ago when individuals were contemplating distance learning and the technology that should be used, it was not a realistic thought that technology could be as magnificent as it is today.  As years pass technology grows and its uses expand.  Five years from today we should have additional technology for distance learning classes that are not thought of today. 

As a current trainer I am currently aware of the importance of learning regardless of the environment.  As a trainer I have trained in traditional classroom settings, distance learning settings, and assisted with material creation as well.  This makes me aware of what is needed in the classroom for many different students.  As an instructional designer I will strive to develop effective methods to create distance learning courses that will assist in not allowing distance learning courses to stand out in a negative manner only because the majority or accustomed to a traditional classroom. 

As I learn and technology improves I will be able to create distance learning courses that will work for all learners, even the current learners that may not have the learning style that is perceived to be needed for the current online courses today.  In fact, one article referenced the use of a “craft approach” wherein instructors simply convert their face-to-face traditional instruction into an online format, without changing anything except location (Moller et al., 2008).  Another aspect is that when converted to online the designer will pay more attention to adding exceptional technology throughout the course and put less focus on the material and format.  I will make sure to focus on exceptional quality, analyze effectively, design to fit the learners, and improve the current designs.

I will continue to be a positive force at my organization in my field as I have been.  I always find ways to improve my online courses by getting to know my students and receiving feedback from my students.  This feedback allows me to see what is stated continuously and it allows me to make the needed improvements for my learners in the course.  I will also continue to increase my knowledge in the field and also use that knowledge to create effective material and successful learners.  Although there are usually strict timeframes I will make sure I enforce the needs assessment phase because that will make a great difference in my material.  The needs assessment phase is particularly important to ensuring that the instructional program will be designed to actually meet the needs of the institution and/or learners. Glossing over this part of the process often results in superficial evaluations and negative results (Moller et al., 2008).

 

 

 

 

References

 

Moller, L., Foshay, W. R., & Huett, J. (2008, July/August). The evolution of distance

education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web. TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70. Retrieved from http://lynnmunoz.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/the-impact-of-distance/.

 

Siemens, G.  (2010).  The future of distance education.  Laureate Education, Inc.

(Producer).  Video

 

Converting to a Distance Learning Format

                      Converting to a Distance Learning Format

      Take a look at the video listed below. The video below shows us a school that transitioned to a

blended learning environment. The blended learning environment also was not held in two different

location. Please view the video below.

 
          In the video they show a classroom setting of students sitting in a classroom setting

learning the daily material. The school transitioned to a blended learning environment, but with

the transition the students sis not transfer the online environment to a different area. The students

that were learning in the traditional class remained in the same class as the students that were

completing online lessons. The teachers would have the students rotate from listening to the

teacher to completing online assignment. Do you think the student's working online can focus on

the material if they are in the same room as the students learning from a live teacher? There are

many ways to set up a blended learning environment and this gives you something to think about

because the students must always come first.

       Pre-planning strategies the trainer needs to consider before converting the blended

learning program is critical. An important aspect of distant learning is to provide a valuable

learning experience to students who might not otherwise have access to learning (Simonson,

2012). The trainer must first review the course to examine the needs of the course and the

needs of the students. During the review the trainer should review both aspects to see what has

been working over time and what may not have been working for the class and the students.

During the review phase the trainer or designer should collaborate with a subject matter expert

to make sure they are aware of all aspects and to received information and advise that would

assist with class improvement.

            A blended learning approach combines face to face classroom methods with computer-
mediated activities to form an integrated instructional approach.

Therefore if the trainer will be moving from a traditional course there will need to be many aspects to

consider because the class will now be working partially online and some students may not have an

online class experience. The blended learning course has to present the best of both worlds related to

the live classroom and online environment. The trainer would review to verify what information

would be better presented online and also what appropriate CMS system should be used for

the course to make it effective. Videos, and material can be enhanced in the online environment

to show pictures, video, and audio that would make the course more exciting. As an online

trainer, the trainer must try to find a good way to communicate and interact with the students

consistently. Never allow the learners to remain passive (Simonson, 2012).







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

     distance: Foundations of distance education : Pearson.
   

Distance Learning - The Impact of Open Source

The Impact of Open Source

The distance learning course I chose is titled, “Conversations you can’t have on a campus: Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Identity.  The course is organized well and the requirements and material are very clear to students and readers.  The course follows the recommendations for online instruction as listed in the text book.  It lines up with Andragogy-Malcolm Knowles theory.  Knowles theory is relevant to adult learners.  Andragogy deals with frameworks for programs designed for the adult learner. “The attainment of adulthood is concomitant on adults coming to perceive themselves as self-directing individuals” (Brookfield, 1986).  On an adult learner could work with the format of this online course because all basis of the material is self -directed and it is placed in a format so that the learner can explore, read, and review the information while learning the set-up of the site and how to access certain information and material. 

The course designer implemented the course activities to maximize active learning for the students.  There are six sections formatted in the course.  The course home, the syllabus, calendar, readings, assignments, and download course materials.  The home page provides the title and gives a brief description of the course.  There is also a syllabus that gives a more detailed description and also provides the requirements for the course.  I really enjoyed the calendar, readings, and assignments sections because everything is formatted in a basic way and it is very easy to view and understand.  The students will not have to view many different sections or find many different sections to get the information that they need. The view of the assignments section is listed below.  The topics are listed and there are the pdf document links listed to take you right to the information you need.  This format will allow students the opportunity to spend most of their time on their work and assignments and less time trying to learn the sight and finding information.

 

TOPICS	REFLECTION PAPERS
Affirmative action at MIT	(PDF) (PDF) (PDF) (PDF) (PDF) (PDF)
Religion and sexuality	(PDF) (PDF)
Relationship between MIT and Wellesley students	(PDF) (PDF)
Evolution and creationism	(PDF) (PDF) (PDF)

Course: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/political-science/17-s914-conversations-you-cant-have-on-campus-race-ethnicity-gender-and-identity-spring-2012/index.htm

 

References

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2006). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.).

 

 

Technology in Distance Learning

Example 1: Collaborative Training Environment


A new automated staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same time or in the same location. As an instructional designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing collaboration.

Collaborative Training Environment /different locations & different timeframes

When an automated staff information system is needing to be implemented and trained in six different offices, at different times, a good learning technology to use would be computer web-based resources such as videoconferences and web ex systems.  Another valuable source would be voice and audio as well.  Using telephone, and audio conferencing. 

When using the internet and web- based applications the instructor can train anyone in any location as long as they have internet.  With web-based application there are applications that can allow the instructor to record training sessions and information the learners can sit and review at any time.  This way regardless of when they can learn the information everyone will view the same recorded information, but just at different timeframes. 
Video tapes, satellite delivery, and DVD are other valuable resources.  Video tapes can be reviewed at any time.  The instructor can present via satellite which can be recorded and viewed at any-time and in any time zone.  A DVD would also supply the same advantages.  If the students are all in different locations but also can not all get together at the same time with the instructor something should be created and implements for the learners in which they can view and listen to the training materials at the time in which they are available. 

 

 

 

References
Jonassen, D. (2006). Modeling with technology: Mindtools for conceptual change (3rd ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education
Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (2009). A Teacher's Guide to Distance Learning.
In Overview of distance learning technologies. Retrieved July 21, 2013, from http://fcit.usf.edu/distance/chap5.htm.
US Department of Education. (2010). Technology and Distance
Learning. In ED.gov. Retrieved July 21, 2013, from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/tdlearn.html.

Distance Education Over Time

Distance education has been around for a long time.  “Distance education is described to be distance learning and distance teaching. It is described by mike Simmons to be formal education in which the learning group are separated by geography and sometimes by time (Simonson 2012).”  The definition of distance learning is always changing because technology continues to change.  Distance learning has been around for many years and therefore may have been described differently in the past.  One of the earlier forms of distance learning was done through correspondence courses started in Europe.  This stayed the primary means of distance learning until the middle of this century when instructional radio and television became more popular (Imel, 1998). 
As technology has changed, so has the definition of distance learning.  Videotaped lectures have been a standard in university and professional courses for the last two decades (Moore & Lockee, 1998).  Audiotapes and lessons sent through the mail have been used in correspondence courses to teach subjects such as foreign language for quite some time (Teaster & Blieszner, 1999).  Today, the Internet and compressed video have taken distance learning in new directions, allowing distance learning to occur in real time. Live video instruction is the most popular and fastest growing delivery mode in the United States (Ostendorf, 1997). In my thirty-four years of life I have seen distance learning change dramatically.  We now have technology today that was unthinkable many years ago and therefore has changed the way we learn and teach today. 
I can recall when I was in elementary school and we were just being introduced to the computer and the schools were allowing us to use the computers for short time spans throughout each day.  Now the only thing we know is computers and we are using them all day in our personal lives, in schools, and in the work place.  There are schools out there today who include computers and tablets in requirements instead of only textbooks.  There are also many schools today who offer all classes online instead of in a classroom environment.  This includes elementary, Junior high, high schools, and universities.  Distance learning will soon be the core of learning in our learning environments.  These changes will allow everyone to have a chance at learning many types of information regardless of where they are located, distance learning also allows schools and organizations to save money and not cut deeply into their budgets.  This occurs because organizations and schools no longer have to buy large areas of space to supply to their employees so that they have an area to work. 
I think many of the changes of distance learning is based on a person’s profession because not all things can be learned and absorbed online.  The changes are also based on technical knowledge because the things we think cannot be taught inline may be able to be taught with the proper advanced technology to include all required aspects of learning that may be hands on to make sure the student succeeds.  My learnings from this week has not altered my thinking on distance learning because they are stating all of the facts that I was currently already aware of.  This may be due to me working in a training and learning environment for many years.  As I continue through the course I am sure I will learn a lot of information about distance learning that I am currently unaware of. 
As times continue to change I can see everyone using distance learning to train their employees and also children in school environments.  As each day passes technology evolves, and with those changes distance learning will change as well and may take over.  Keep your eyes open as times change and technology changes to view the massive changes that will occur in distance learning and the increase that will occur in environments that will utilize distance learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Imel, S. (1998). Myths and realities of distance learning. Columbus, Ohio: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education. Ohio State University.

Moore, D.R., & Lockee, B.B. (1998). A taxonomy of bandwidth: considerations and principles to guide practice in the design and delivery of distance education. Unpublished manuscript: Portland State University

Teaster, P., & Blieszner, R. (1999). Promises and pitfalls of the interactive television approach to teaching adult development and aging. Educational Gerontology, 25 (8), 741-754.

Ostendorf, V.A. (1997). Teaching by television. Teaching and learning at a distance: what it takes to effectively design, deliver, and evaluate programs.  (71), 51-57

Welcome to my Blog

Hello my name is Ava.  Many aspects of my blog will discuss Distance learning.  I look forward to communicating with you.