Personal Development Plan

When considering a personal development plan for my professional future I took into consideration the four approaches used in by employers; formal education, assessment, job experience, and interpersonal relationships (Noe, 2010). I figure if successful companies all over the world are using these four approaches, there is a good chance I could use them to work for me as well. 

 Formal Education

When considering employee development, formal education programs "include off-site and on-site programs designed specifically for the company's employees, short courses offered by consultants or universities, executive MBA programs, and university programs in which participants actually live in the university while taking classes" (Noe, 2010).

 My personal development plan is scaled down considerably from this definition. It involves continuing my education to receive my Masters in Instructional Design and Technology. I will also be taking courses in web design and development, and several business classes. Because the majority of my professional experience is in education I feel these classes will make me more valuable to a company. The web design will help if I chose a career with a smaller company that cannot afford IDs and web developers, while the business courses will give me a better understanding of the inner workings of corporate America. "Leadership, entrepreneurship, and e-business are the most important topics in executive education programs" (Noe, 2010), so I think they are a great place for me to begin my personal focus. 

Assessment

Assessments are basically a collection of information about my behavior, communication style, values, and skills (Noe, 2010). Because I am a teacher the major assessments that I receive are formal and informal observations. As I began to focus on changing my career path I knew I would need an analysis of my strengths and weaknesses in order to have an appropriate plan (Noe, 2010) for my personal professional development, so I spoke with my administrators about offering me additional information during my post observation meetings. Much like a professional appraisal system I asked them to give me specific information about my performance problems and ways to improve (Noe, 2010). This has helped me to get a better understanding of my shortcomings. I have also spoken with a recruiter in one of my fields of interest to find out what additional skills I needed to become more hirable. 

Job Experiences

To be successful in any job it is important for me to be able to learn new skills, apply the skills and knowledge in a new way, and master my new experiences (Noe, 2010). Because I have been in the same

field for thirteen years, I have decided to gain new experiences as I prepare for my career shift. I will be teaching fourth grade next year in order to gain a more robust understanding of elementary math skill development, which will be beneficial for a career in elementary curriculum development. This "job rotation will allow me to be exposed to a "series of job assignments in various functional areas of the company" (Noe, 2010). I have also offered my services this summer to develop a math pacing guide for all of the grade levels in my current school in order to ensure that each grade level is aligned with the state and common core standards. This is a way to enlarge my current job by adding challenges and new responsibilities. 

Interpersonal Relationships

"Employees can also develop skills and increase their knowledge about the company and its customers by interacting with a more experienced organizational member. Mentoring and coaching are two types of interpersonal relationships used to develop employees" (Noe, 2010). Because I am looking to move towards a career field that is very different from my current field I have befriended a woman who has a job I would one day hope to have enough experience to hold. She works with me to help develop my skills, motivate me, and gives me feedback with a lot of my plans and ideas for future employment in the curriculum development field.  By having this coaching relationship I feel more confident that I am headed in the right direction for my future career goals. She also gives me tons of resources to look over and learn from to stay current and introduces me to other people in the field and has even helped me to begin applying for several freelance opportunities. 

Raymond Noe (2010) states that "the development planning process involves identifying development needs, choosing a development goal, identifying the actions that need to be taken by the employee and the company to achieve the goal, determining how progress toward goal attainment with me measures, investing time and energy to achieve goal , and establishing a timetable for development". As I reflect on my personal development plan I feel it definitely meets all of these expectations, and allows me to feel confident in my future professional endeavors. 

References 

Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee training and development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

The following link is a PowerPoint developed to persuade the administration of a charter school to consider investing in an employee development plan for their teachers. The school teaches content through teacher written "expeditions". These expeditions are similar to project based learning units of study. The company that the school partners with to create the culture of expeditionary learning and teaching is called EL (Expeditionary Learning). The PowerPoint highlights several initiatives that the school can consider to show their staff that they are valuable to the school and increase their understanding of EL.

Click here to see the PowerPoint.

Technology in Training

With all of these new technologies that are being used to “enhance” trainings it is easy to see how people can being to rely on them instead of the actual training to teach learners. But when it comes to teaching and learning, technology should be used practically to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of a training (Stolovitch & Keeps, 2011). If you are using technology to make your training look good or up to date there is a good chance you are doing a disservice to your learners and the training itself. “New technologies have made it possible to reduce the costs associated with delivering training to employees, to increase the effectiveness of the learning environment, and to help training contribute to business goals” (Noe, 2010). In my blog I will highlight the positive impact several of these technologies have had on training.

Digital Collaboration

Digital collaboration as defined by Elliot Massie, of the Massie Center as “the uses of technology to enhance and extend the abilities of individuals and organizations to collaborate, independent of their vertical area” (Salopek, 2000).  It is basically using online forms of communication to teach, learn and share ideas. “Digital collaboration includes electronic messaging systems, electronic meeting systems, online communities of learning organized by subject where employees can access interactive discussion areas and share training content and Web links, and document-handling systems  with collaborative technologies that allow interpersonal interactions” (Noe, 2010). By utilizing some form of digital collaboration technology people can come together from every corner of the globe and share with and learn from each other. The former idea of collaborating involved people gathering in a place to reach a common goal. “But as technology and the digital world evolve, the word place achieves new meaning” (Salopek, 2000).

• Linux is a place where professionals can come together from all over the world to work on open source code.
• Buzzsaw.com in a place where “contractors, suppliers, and engineers can buy and sell products and services as well as exchange blueprints, designs, and other data to cut building time.
• 5 classrooms in Baltimore, India, and China are a place where students can discuss the currency exchange by using videoconferencing technology.  

Virtual Worlds

There are several different providers of virtual worlds on the internet; Second Life, ProtoSphere, Forterra and Virtual Heroes. The most widely used is Second Life. “The multi-user, high graphical fidelity, multimodal nature of SL creates many affordances for teaching and learning” (Mayrath, 2010).  A multitude of schools and organizations have used SL for its “computer-based, simulated online virtual world that includes a three-dimensional representation of real World” to “host learning programs or experiences” (Noe, 2010).  SL is free and designed to not only provide a place where people can role play, but also collaborate with people from around the world, generate 3-D models, and publish their work in multiple forms of media (Mayrath, 2010). Second Life has offered platforms for training and learning in several ways for several organizations:  Stapoil has a oil platform they use for safety training, Harvard University hosts law courses and “British Petroleum uses Second Life to train new gas station employees in the safety features of gasoline storage tanks and piping systems” (Noe, 2010).  

Global Kids (2007) listed the following as the Best Practices for Using SL for Real World Education:

• let students play, explore and have fun
• have a backup plan
• plan for things taking longer than expected
• use the multiple forms of communication in SL
• plan on students having different skill levels
• teacher becomes facilitator, students become peer mentor
• scale projects to fit resources
• use SL for distance collaborations
• give students opportunities to build relationships online
• use web 2.0 affordances

Virtual worlds can be a great asset to training because they can imitate real world environments. This allows learners to try their hand at new skills without it resulting in real life consequences or costs. “Virtual worlds can also be useful for teaching interpersonal skills such as time management, communications, leadership, and working under pressure” (Noe, 2010). Much like digital collaboration, virtual worlds allow people to learn from across the world.

Intelligent Tutoring Systems

There are three types of environments for this artificial intelligence based instructional system: tutoring, coaching, and empowering (Noe, 2010). These systems are designed to teach each student based on their individual abilities. These ITSs are “designed to provide appropriate lessons to individuals based on his/her background knowledge level, interest and learning style and assimilation rate prior to using the tutoring system” (Marion & Oluwafunmilayo, 2011).

Intelligent tutoring systems can do the following things that make them a great asset to many trainings:

• match instruction to individual student needs
• communicate and respond to student
• model the trainees learning process
• decide what information to provide
• make decisions about the trainee’s level of understanding
• modify teaching process based on assessments   (Noe, 2011)

Mobile Technology

This type of technology is great because it basically allows you to take your learning everywhere. If there is Wi-Fi, Bluetooths, PDAs, tablets, laptops and any other mobile device you have mobile technology! There are so many ways that we can use these mobile devices for training, learning and sharing information. Aside from accessing the internet from these devices, listening to podcasts, or reading articles, there are companies that are going a step further. “Some companies are using PDAs as their primary method for delivering training or as a follow-up to training programs delivered face-to-face or online” (Noe, 2011). Tyco International is using this technology to teach sales technicians to set the burglar alarms and Capital One is using iPods for the audio components of their Capital One University classes (Noe, 2011).  IBM has also created a “Mobile Blue Pages” which is “an internal company directory suited for IBM’s mobile sellers, consultants, technologists, managers, and executives and can be accessed via a mobile browser” (Ahmad & Orton, 2010). But a good thing to remember is that just because people can access multiple things from a mobile device does not mean they will. IBM thought that they would be able to have their 25,000 employee-development mini-courses being accessed by their workers from their PDAs, but in actuality employees were using their smartphones almost exclusively for in-field performance support and to access late breaking information (Ahmad & Orton, 2010).  Other information that was learned in this study:

• usability is crucial for the adoption of mobile phone applications
• employees prefer less information and options from their mobile phones
• users will quit an application that takes too long to load
• the ability to locate others quickly in a time of need increased users perception of their job performance 

I just read that people are more likely to turn around and go back home if they forgot their cell phone than if they forgot their money. This statement is a strong one, being constantly tethered to technology is our present and future. So mobile technology is here to stay and will only become more and more user friendly.

Web 2.0

The internet is very social now, with creating and consuming information an everyday activity for many users. Web 2.0 is a great resource to use in classrooms and in some training situations. “Web 2.0 services have the potential to enhance student-centered learning be facilitating collaboration and communication at little cost” (Cheon, 2010).  This technology allows us to use Facebook pages, youtube videos, synchronous editing, video conferencing, and many of the other technologies I have already mentioned. But many teachers may be proficient in the popular Web 2.0 services “they may lack exposure to the different types of Web 2.0 services and may not have been taught how to employ new technology in teaching and learning” (Cheon, 2010). “Adding information access and collaboration opportunities, especially back on the job following formal training, is one good approach” (Stolovitch & Keeps, 2011).

 

As for the future of Web 2.0 in training and teaching its services “constitute a new pedagogical paradigm that makes students a central part of the learning press. The K-12 classroom is filling with a new generation of learners labeled “digital natives”(Prensky, 2001)” (Cheon, 2010). These students are knowledgeable about these technologies, they are creators and contributors (Cheon, 2010). So teachers and trainers will have to be technologically savvy as well.

These are just some of the technologies that are out there that can have a major impact on your training and teaching. But remember “media and technology can substantially improve the efficiency of training and learning, which is extremely important. However, they have little to no impact on the effectiveness of learning” (Stolovitch & Keeps, 2011).

References

Ahmad, N., & Orton, P. (2010). Smartphones make IBM smarter, but not as expected. Training and Development, 64(1), 46–50.

Cheon, J., Song, J., Jones, D., Nam, K. (2010). Influencing preservice teacher’ intention to adopt web 2.0 services. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education. 27(2), 53-64.

Global Kids. (2007). An educational non-profit’s history of the teen grid: Global Kid’s adventure in best practices. Second Life Community Convention. Retrieved February 8, 2009 from Best practices using second life for real world education: http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/sets/72157601198270790/

Marion, A. & Oluwafunmilayo, A. (2011). Design and development of an intelligent instructive system. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. 12(4), 34-44.

Mayrath, M., Traphagan, T., Jarmon, L., Trivedi, A., Resta, P. (2010). Teaching with virtual worlds: Factors to consider for instructional use of second life. Journal of Educational Computing Research. 43(4), 403-444.

Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee training and development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Salopek, J. (2000). Digital collaboration. Training and Development. 54(6), 38.

Stolovitch, H. D., & Keeps, E. J. (2011). Telling ain’t training. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.

Planning a Needs Assessment

            Conducting a needs assessment is one of the first steps in the instructional design process. It helps a designer determine if training is the right answer to a company’s performance problem, if the program has the right content and objectives, if the trainees are properly skilled for the program, if it will actually deliver the desired results, and if the training is actually necessary (Noe, 2011). There are three step to a needs assessment; organization analysis, task analysis and person analysis.  I will use Whole Foods Market as my example for demonstrating these three steps.

            Whole Foods Market is the world’s leader in natural and organic foods, and has more than 300 stores in North America and the United Kingdom (wholefoodsmarket.com). The company that was started in 1980 has a mission based on three things – whole foods, whole people and whole planet. The company has 7 core values:

·         selling the highest quality natural and organic products available

·         satisfying and delighting their customers

·         supporting team member happiness and excellence

·         creating wealth through profit and growth

·         caring about their communities and the environment

·         creating ongoing win-win partnerships with their suppliers

·         promoting the health of their stakeholders through healthy eating education

(wholefoodsmarket.com)

           With almost any large venture taken in an organization a great first step is to get buy in. Because training is becoming a way to help companies achieve strategic goals I would include upper and mid-level manages, trainers, and employees (Noe, 2011). Whole Foods has an elaborate leadership team of regional presidents, VPs, officers and an impressive board of Directors, each of which is a stakeholder. There are also store managers, employees, certified partners and the most important stakeholder, the customer. Each of them has concerns and requirements for the training. Upper-level managers can help determine how the training is relevant to the company’s business strategy, the type of training that is needed, and who needs the training. Mid-Level managers can also help determine who needs the training, how it will affect the budget, and what positions will be positively impacted by the trainings. The trainers are “primarily interested in needs assessment to provide them with information that they need to administer, develop, and support training programs” (Noe, 2011).

           The three steps to a needs analysis are not performed in a particular order. But the organizational analysis is usually conducted first because it can determine whether the training fits with the company’s strategic objectives, and if the company has the time, budget or expertise for the training (Noe, 2011). The company’s main focus is to sell the highest quality food at the most competitive prices. This would require cutting costs in other areas, and if money can be saved by improving employee productivity with the training there is a great chance it will get the support needed from management and trainers.

How does this training align with the company’s seven core values?

Which of your experts can help develop the program content?

What might customers, certified partners, and stakeholders need to know about this training program?

How will this training be perceived by our employees?

(based on questions from Nickols, 2005 & Tannenbaum, 2002)

           The second step would be the person analysis, to identify the employees that needed the training and “the factors that influence performance and learning (Noe, 2011).  I would interview several employees and look for recurring trends in the interview data to measure person characteristics, input, output, consequences, and feedback (Noe, 2011). To get a better understanding I would ask the store and warehouse employees the following questions in an interview setting:

Do you feel that your new hire training fully prepared you for your current position?

Do you feel motivated to do your job?

Does anything keep you from feeling 100% successful in your work day?

Is there a skill that you would like to learn that would help you do your job better?

            The final step would be the task analysis. This is a “description of work activities including tasks performed by employees and the knowledge, skills, and abilities to complete the tasks” (Noe, 2011). I would start this process by having managers and workers give descriptions of the different positions. This could be done using questionnaires and interviews. I would use these two techniques because they are inexpensive and I can collect and summarize data from a great deal of people (Noe, 2011). I would take the different descriptions and compare them to the actual job descriptions the company keeps on file, to determine if there is a collective understanding of the requirements for each job and task. Then I would observe the actual work being done in each position to determine if the workers have the ability to do the jobs and tasks. I will also take into consideration the working conditions and the impact they have on the completion of different tasks. By using an observation in this portion of the analysis process I can be bale to generate data that is relevant to the work environment while minimizing the level of interruptions (Noe, 2011).

            If the performance problem is due to employees not having the knowledge or skill needed to perform a task, training is most likely the best answer. But this cannot be known until a needs assessment has been done. Even if there is limited time and resources, it is wise to conduct even a small one to determine your course of action.

References

Nickols, F., “Why a stakeholder approach to evaluating training”. Advances in developing human resources (February 2005): 121-134;

Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee training and development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Tannenbaum, S., “A strategic view of organizational training and learning”. Creating, implementing, and managing effective training and development, ed. K. Kraiger (San Fransico: Jossey-Bass, 2002): 10-52.

Photos from wholefoodsmarket.com

Elevator Speech on Training

We had to write a 90 second "Elevator Speech" in class to persuade someone to see the importance of training in any organization. This is my speech:

My Elevator Speech 


I can understand where you are coming from when you say that you feel that training is unnecessary, a lot of people feel the way you do. And with the economy the way it is right now it can really seem unneeded. But actually there are big changes happening all over because of new technologies, rapid development of knowledge, globalization and e-commerce (Noe, 2010). Training prepares employees for these changes and without it there will be a performance gap in any organization. In this competitive job market workers want to stay relevant and training not only makes them equipped, but it makes them feel appreciated. 

When asked more than a third of employees said they "would like proper training for new duties and responsibilities" (Bradley, 2010).  

Training does not just add much needed skills and knowledge to your workforce it also stimulates employee engagement. This is important because "disengaged employees influence the overall health of an organization" (Bradley, 2010). It is estimated that in the near future 85% of the jobs in this country will require extensive use of knowledge. So employees will be required to understand the development systems of their product or service, be able to share this knowledge, and use it to tailor their organization's offerings to meet individual customer's needs (Noe, 2010). You cannot possibly do this without training. So basically, training should be viewed as a mandatory element of every company as opposed to a luxury. 

References

Bradley, A. (2010). Shifting away from an employer’s market. Training and Development, 64(7), 16–17. 

Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee training and development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Scope Creep

When I was given the assignment to discuss a time when a project I was working on fell to the pressures of scope creep I just stared at the screen and felt my frustrations rise. My limited exposure to this field was once again proving to make my assignments far more difficult than need be. So I offer the caveat that if you are purusing this blog to gain a wealth of knowledge about this problem I will not guarantee that this is the spot for you. But I will do my best in the following lines to offer you some real life perspective on scope creep...

Let me start by explaining that scope creep is the "natural tendency of the client, as well as project team members, to try to improve the project's output as the project progresses" (Portny, 2008).

I am at heart a minimalist. I like to keep things neat, clean, simple and yet beautiful. When I was early in my teaching career I took on the challenge of putting together a prom on a shoestring budget in the rundown gymnasium of a nonpublic special education school. 

The scope creep came from me. As I worked on the project I was flooded with more and more ideas that would make the prom even better. I was constantly thinking about the undeniable fact that this would be the pinnacle of social situations for many of the kids. With all of my changes I also adopted "an informal process of handling requests for change" (Portny, 2008). What I could have used aside from a calming dose of reality was a change control system, which is a "well controlled, formal process whereby changes can be introduces and accomplished with as little distress as possible" (Portny, 2008).

Now don't get me wrong, the prom was a huge success. The Secret Garden theme brought tears to the eyes of several parents.  But by the end of the process I was completely burnt out because I had to take on the majority of the changes on my own. By taking a few simple steps a lot of the stress and strain of those couple of months could have been far less stressful. 

Resources

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.

Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources

This week I was assigned the task of finding some sites that would offer help in Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources for an instructional design project. "Various tools and strategies can help project managers improve the accuracy of budget estimates," (Portny, 2008), and I found a few that have already started to help me.  I can honestly say that this project management thing is not (yet) my strong suit. So I was eager to find some sites that could actually help me gain a better understanding while actually becoming a resource I could have for future endeavors. 


The first site I found, Project Management Tips, was a great starting point because it gave me some real understanding. With its brief synopsis of project management and very informative links (located at the bottom) I was able to see a full picture of the processes and figure out where my project time and money would go. The site offered simple and helpful statements  like: "In order to run the project you first need to know how long things take, how much they will cost, and what kind of resources will be required. The only way you can get this data is by doing good estimates. Without good estimates you really have no way of knowing where you are at any point in the project, and you have no way of predicting how much the project will cost or how long it is going to take to do it" 


Another great site was the Life By Design blog post, Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources in Instructional Design. This blog offers links to sites that will do the math for calculating project costs. It also has some formulas for calculating additional project expenses and figuring out how much time different projects, or portions of a project, will take. Deborah, the author, gives step by step understanding of the different links on the page. The blog is a great resource for all things in project management and instructional design. She also blogs about scope creep, communication and other topics I have been exposed to in this course. 


If you can ignore the very busy ads, and other visuals on my final choice, Big Dog and Little Dog Site, you will see that this site is laced with all types of formulas and equations for finding out costs, time estimations and a plethora of other details for managing instructional design projects. The site has sections on budgeting, training costs, estimating development hours, and a host of other topics. 


I am not saying that these are the best sites out there for an instructional design professional. But as the self proclaimed novice that I am, these 3 sites offer me a deeper understanding of the profession. "Whatever the chosen method, being able to accurately estimate costs is a critical project manager responsibility" (Portny, 2008). Good luck!!!


References 
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. 

http://pmtips.net/estimating-project-effort-cost/

http://instructionaldesignvillage.wordpress.com/2010/12/02/estimating-costs-and-allocating-resources-in-instructional-design/

http://www.nwlink.com/~Donclark/hrd/costs.html 

Communicating Effectively

My textbook states that communication is "sharing the right messages with the right people in a timely manner" (Portny, 2008). So the assignment this week was to look at the same message being presented in three different way; email, voicemail and in person. Of course without even looking at the presentation I knew that face-to-face was going to be the best answer. After reading a bunch of different articles this week that talked about communication, face-to-face with a follow up email is the safest bet. But this little module really sent the message home!

The site took the same message and gave it to you in an email, voicemail and with a video of someone saying it right to you. When I first read the email it started off with a nice tone checking to see if the recipient was still in a meeting and quickly shifted gears to an aggressive manner with full disregard to the well being of the recipient. (This is why I always tell people to be careful what you text, because tone is very hard to read).
The voicemail sounded much more pleasant than the email read. But it still came across a little hard towards the end. But the major difference was that the last line of the voicemail said "I really appreciate your help." Now when I read the 9 line email I didn't even notice this last sentence, and looking back it had its own line and everything. I think I was too frustrated by reading the intense message that I didn't even read the final line, it just looked like a closing remark. It made me reflect on all the times I have written a hard to swallow message and ended with a kind remark to soften the blow, and wonder how many people actually read the last line.
I was so blown away by my new discovery with the voicemail I felt there could not possibly be that big of a difference with the in person message. Wrong again! People's mannerism speak volumes, many more volumes than their words or tone of voice. After listening to the woman speak the lines I have just read and heard mere second before, I have a completely different feeling about the message. Her stance, smile and casual eye contact made all the difference in the world.  It didn't feel aggressive at all, in fact had I really been the fictitious recipient I would have happily finished up my portion of the project.

Communication is not just words, it is also spirit and attitude, tonality and body language, timing and consideration of the personality of the recipient (Stolovitch, n.d.). The importance of these different elements of communication were definitely displayed in this exercise. This 5 minute module really brought the true value of communication to light. In a similar situation I would have quickly shot out an email to get my person back on task and not thought for a minute to communicate my needs in a different way. But I now know that a little leg work and a smile can go a much longer way.

References

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. Stolovitch, Harold. (n.d.). Communicating with Stakeholders. Retrieved on September 21, 2011 at http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5693702&Survey=1&47=7412221&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1Co

Project Post Mortem

I was asked this week to discuss a past project that I was a part of that failed or did not reach the expected outcomes. It took me a while to think of an example, and as I type these words I am silently praying for a better example than the one I am most likely about to give. But as the beginning of the school year, with so many changes, the brain can only do so much. So my example will have to be as follows.

Last year I went to a training on a website that teachers in my city were able to find their testing statistics and scores. At the actual training I learned that the site could generate worksheets, additional tests and other items based on individual scores. I was very interested in the program and could see how it could benefit our school (the lowest in the district) and teachers in raising test scores. After talking with the principal (whom I has a less than desirable relationship with) I was given one week to develop a training to present to the staff.

With this limited timeline to develop a training about a product I was excited about but had only had 2 hours of training on and limited usage, I was frantic to try and piece something together. My presentation ended up being a simple power point that I hardly used because of the uncomfortable space and slow computer that I was given for my trainings. I was also only given 25 minutes to share this information with each grade level, so that students were not left for long periods of time with a substitute. "Because employees' training time causes managers to be shorthanded during the training period, it is important that the project team focus on what employees need to know versus what would be nice to know. So the training ended up focusing on the basics of the program instead of the "bells and whistles" that set it apart from other data driven websites.

Because I was so intrigued by the massive abilities of the program I was able to convey this excitement in the trainings. Teachers were interested in using the program to push their test scores and use the offerings as supplements to their lessons. I ended up having private lessons with those teachers who were really interested in the additional aspects of the program so they could fully understand how to work the site.
I really believe that if I had been given more than a week to plan and more than 25 minutes to share the training would have been more of a success. Even with the limitations several teachers were able to use the program to help them move their students academically.

References
Murphy, C. (1994). Utilizing project management techniques in the design of instructional materials. Performance & Instruction, 33(3), 9–11.

The future of Distance Learning

As my course in Distance Learning draws to a close I am asked to reflect on the future of this technology based education option and my role in the improvement of the perception of it and the actual field itself. When I stop and think about the future of distance learning I wonder if I will have children, and their role in the future that I will be helping to create. I see a growing acceptance of the idea of online education. I think in the next 5-10 years education over the internet will finally be a common option that is not even looked at as an alternative to traditional face-to-face studies, but just a general offering that is selected or passed up like you would a professor you do or do not like. Because technology is moving and growing at such a rapid rate, the time it takes for people to become comfortable with a new creating based on these advances is shortened ever so slightly with each new product.

In 10-20 years I cannot even imagine what distance learning will look like. The world is a global playground to any new technology. Students may have a simulation option in the future where their comments are collected and transmitted to one another in a virtual classroom that is tapped into with goggles and headphones. Synchronous chats may then look like actual classroom chats with avatars or holographic images of classmates and teachers. I could let my imagination continue to run rampant, but I am simply saying that the picture of distance learning in the future will be painted with an array of colors we have yet to see or even envision.

As a distance learner all any of us will have to do to generate and maintain a positive perception of online education is to ensure that what we are creating is quality. We have to always remember that the technology is not the reason for the course we create, but merely a conduit for the information to flow through. As the cyber world grows more intricate and the contributions become more and more interesting, we must keep a level head and not let the technology be what drives our courses. People will continue to base their decisions of school selection on things like price, name, accreditation, and so on, but how the school uses technology will soon become a regular on that list. If the online options that we create produce high quality students then the public will see that and our products will be what fuels the positive perception of online learning.

AS an instructional designer I will always want more for and from the students that my course designs will touch. For this to happen I will have to stay aware of the lasts technologies, so that when developing a class I can focus on how to convey the information and not be bogged down with trying to learn a new program while in the development stages. I will also continue to take classes myself to be familiar with the latest findings in learning theories, the new minds of future generations and the advancements of my field. By keeping my knowledge base current as well as my skill set I will be a viable resource in the future of distance education.

Regardless of how individuals feel about online learning, it has thus far withstood the test of time. Even though this window of time has been shortened by the speed of the evolution of technology, it has still withstood all of its tests. So in my eyes distance education is here to stay, now it may look completely different in the next few decades, but what we commonly refer to right now as “distance learning” looks nothing like the correspondences courses of yesteryear. So with that said, I see I bright future for this educational option, which in turn offers a bright future for me as well. 

Best Practices Assignment

So this week I was supposed to create a best practices document for a trainer that decided to make his face to face class a blended class. In my mind this was a one page resource to keep him focused on the transition. I also envisioned it being used in a informational packet (with a few tweaks).  Some of the information that I was required to embed into this document is as follows:
- pre-planning strategies
- what can be enhanced by the distance learning format
- how does the trainers role change in a distance learning environment
- what steps can he take to encourage the trainees to communicate online

Attached you will find the actual document. feel free to look over it and let me know how you feel about it!!

Best Practices Document

Free Online Course Critique

My assignment this week was to look at a free online course and critique it. So, while perusing http://www.openculture.com/ which has so great links to all kinds of free things, I noticed that some of the courses that were offered were from Harvard. I quickly skimmed down to math and selected a math course that was offered at Harvard, MATH E-222 Abstract Algebra. I know what you are thinking, “she must be so smart!” You would be correct in that assumption, but just not as smart as the kid with the lowest grade in this class (at least when it comes to abstract algebra, a topic I know next to nothing about).

Now I understand this is a FREE course, so I know there was not an instructional designer slaving away turning an advanced math class into something palatable for the online student. but this is Harvard we are talking about and I guess I had foolishly high standards for the ivy league school. Let me start by saying aside from the fact that I could get videos of the lectures online, along with a laundry list of PDF files with hand scribbled notes on them and another PDF list titled problems sets that simply listed the page in the textbook to turn to and which problems to work on, were the only offerings that in any way shape or form resembled an online course.

This Harvard math class is guilty of doing one of the worst distance learning practices of “dumping” face to face course offerings onto the web (Simonson, 2009). This course was simply filmed and put on line. The film was not edited at all. When he was standing in the way of the problem or had written something illegibly there was no graphic added or a later image shot and edited into the film so the distance learner can see what the professor was actually talking about. In fact, the camera lagged behind the work, and would go back to the problem when it was in view but far after the steps had been given.  There were also no activities designed for the distance learner at all. If they didn’t have the textbook they could not even do the problem sets that were assigned to the face to face class. The design of this class would make it almost impossible to be successful while learning at a distance.

Another issue was the lack of an actual course management system (CMS) at all. A CMS is a virtual learning environment that has “become the de facto standard by which the vast majority of asynchronous distance education courses are delivered” (Simonson, 2009). Unless, you consider a webpage with links to all of the above stated elements and a very skimpy syllabus a CMS. There is no form of communications, project space or assessments for the distance learner. From the looks of things what was being offered as a free extension class was really just a compilation of the class artifacts placed on line for the face to face attendees to use as needed. In one of the lectures that I watched Professor Gross did announce that when speaking about the extension course he should look into the camera. But that appeared to be the only concession made for the distance learners.

There were some positives I would like to highlight, but I must honestly say they really do not compensate for the poor and almost nonexistent design of the online version of this class. I did really like that each lecture was offered in 3 different forms for downloading; Quicktime, Flash and as an MP3. This ensures an ease of use for the technology, and even allowed people with slow bandwidth to download MP3s so they could still participate. Professor Gross kept a very conversational tone throughout his lectures and seemed to really enjoy teaching the subject matter. He also acknowledged that he used too much jargon and asked that students stop and get clarification from him. All of the materials are available at all times, aside from the textbook which is probably due to copyright issues.  The final positive is that the course is asynchronous, so students can work at their own pace to fully grasp the intricate math problems.

All in all I would rate this course as a complete flop. Though, I highly doubt anyone at Harvard is worried about what I have to say, or what the nonpaying distance learners are not receiving from their ever so generous (please note the sarcasm) free classes. But, honestly, in this day and age everything that goes onto the internet with your name on it should be worth having the label. It would have taking an ID student less than a month to retool the class and actually make it worth taking. It is a reflection of the old school belief system that many highly esteemed schools still carry. My warning for them is that if they start looking towards future technologies their schools will be a thing of the past.