With experiece comes knowledge. It is difficult to know how long something will take if you've never done it before. The following article gives some pointers as to how to estiamte the cost or time frame of a project. There are three main parts of a plan; effort, duration, and cost. The article focuses on internal and external labor costs and duration, and non-labor costs.
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/estimate-project-costs-after-you-have-estimated-effort-and-duration/6080089
The following website has internal links explaining activity duration, activity resource estimating process, parametric estimating, cost estimating and analogous estimating:
http://project-management-knowledge.com/definitions/a/activity-duration-estimating/
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Communicating Effectively
We communicate in many different ways due to technology. Often, the interpretation of a message changes based on what you are using to deliver it. For example, when we send a message via text, it might be read differently than if it were through voice. Talking on the phone is different than face to-face. And, even in video conferencing, or Skype, you can't always get the full effect of the message like you can when you are in the same room as someone. So, since we can't always go up to someone face to-face every time we want to send a message, we must try to communicate as effectively as we can through text and/or voice.
When we use our voice, we can add tone to the message, which helps. When I critiqued the link showing three different ways to send a message, I noticed the tone was rather harsh or demanding in the email. If that was the message the woman wanted to send, then it was effective. In all three examples, she seemed to be very serious. However, the tone does change from email to voice and from voice to in person. When simply reading a message, you lose the personal touch that is natural when speaking face to face. Also, when you are face to face, there can be dialogue. You can ask a question and get an immediate answer. If I were the woman in this example, I would change the way I approached the issue for each scenario. In an email and a voicemail, you have to say everything at once and then wait for a response. In person, you can greet the person, he greets you back, you can ask a question and get an immediate response. For some people, that is easier, for others it is hard. Some people would rather have the impersonal scenario so they can get their point across without being interrupted or lose their focus in the conversation.
The form of communication was most effective in the voicemail. The email seemed harsh and the face to face "conversation" was one sided. The woman simply stated what she would have in an email. She probably wouldn't get an answer right away. She didn't even ask a question and wait for a response. The voicemail made it clear she needs the information and to please let her know. In other words, call her back or send the report right now. The voicemail also had a good tone.
Dr. Stolovitch explains how communicating with project members is best done with all members present. A face to-face meeting is probably best, but video conferencing or on the telephone can be very effective as well.
http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html
Stolovitch, H. (2012) Communicating with Stakeholders. Laureate Education, Inc.
When we use our voice, we can add tone to the message, which helps. When I critiqued the link showing three different ways to send a message, I noticed the tone was rather harsh or demanding in the email. If that was the message the woman wanted to send, then it was effective. In all three examples, she seemed to be very serious. However, the tone does change from email to voice and from voice to in person. When simply reading a message, you lose the personal touch that is natural when speaking face to face. Also, when you are face to face, there can be dialogue. You can ask a question and get an immediate answer. If I were the woman in this example, I would change the way I approached the issue for each scenario. In an email and a voicemail, you have to say everything at once and then wait for a response. In person, you can greet the person, he greets you back, you can ask a question and get an immediate response. For some people, that is easier, for others it is hard. Some people would rather have the impersonal scenario so they can get their point across without being interrupted or lose their focus in the conversation.
The form of communication was most effective in the voicemail. The email seemed harsh and the face to face "conversation" was one sided. The woman simply stated what she would have in an email. She probably wouldn't get an answer right away. She didn't even ask a question and wait for a response. The voicemail made it clear she needs the information and to please let her know. In other words, call her back or send the report right now. The voicemail also had a good tone.
Dr. Stolovitch explains how communicating with project members is best done with all members present. A face to-face meeting is probably best, but video conferencing or on the telephone can be very effective as well.
http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html
Stolovitch, H. (2012) Communicating with Stakeholders. Laureate Education, Inc.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Mural Project: Post-Mortem Analysis
When painting a mural for someone, it is usually a simple transaction with few people involved. However, in the following instance, communication was lacking and the project was not a success. I was commissioned to paint a mural on an outside wall of the Japanese restaurant. The owner, however, speaks Korean only, so I was communicating with the manager who spoke Korean and English. Not only was there a language barrier, but the cultural barrier was unpredictable since I had not worked with Korean people in a business sense. Things that are a given or assumed, or just ways of thinking are so different, that nothing was ever agreed upon. Have a middle man was not helpful either. I would consider myself the project manager with one other person working with me on the mural. However, the manager was involved in decision making as well as the owner and his wife. When it was all said and done, the wife was the real decision maker, who I never spoke to. So, no effective communication was happening. As the project manager, I needed to make ALL agreements clear on paper. Writing a statement of work would have been helpful instead of just writing up a proposal and a bill.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Converting to a Blended Learning Environment
The Scenario:
A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.
Summary of Action Plan:
Creating an online course or converting a face-to-face training to a blended course takes much pre-planning. The trainer needs to take into consideration many aspects of distance learning, such as, software. Dr. Piskurich explains the role of the online instructor as being incredibly important. In this case, the trainer is the designer of the course, and the facilitator. The trainer must be able to understand the software being used and be able to keep up with all the activities he or she is having the students do. He or she must plan and be familiar with the whole lesson plan before starting the course.
What are some of the pre-planning strategies the trainer needs to consider before converting his program?
1. Software familiarity
2. Learner characteristics
What aspects of his original training program could be enhanced in the distance learning format?
1. Discussion forums
2. Instructional activities involving technology
3. More choices for students
4. More ways to assess student learning
How will his role, as trainer, change in a distance learning environment?
1. Update all materials to an online server
2. Become an online facilitator
What steps should the trainer take to encourage the trainees to communicate online?
1. Give statistics of blended learning success
2. Prepare a presentation and orientation before starting the online portion
3. Show how easy it is to access information for the course
4. Give the option of signing in online instead of in person at times
References:
A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.
Summary of Action Plan:
Creating an online course or converting a face-to-face training to a blended course takes much pre-planning. The trainer needs to take into consideration many aspects of distance learning, such as, software. Dr. Piskurich explains the role of the online instructor as being incredibly important. In this case, the trainer is the designer of the course, and the facilitator. The trainer must be able to understand the software being used and be able to keep up with all the activities he or she is having the students do. He or she must plan and be familiar with the whole lesson plan before starting the course.
What are some of the pre-planning strategies the trainer needs to consider before converting his program?
1. Software familiarity
2. Learner characteristics
What aspects of his original training program could be enhanced in the distance learning format?
1. Discussion forums
2. Instructional activities involving technology
3. More choices for students
4. More ways to assess student learning
How will his role, as trainer, change in a distance learning environment?
1. Update all materials to an online server
2. Become an online facilitator
What steps should the trainer take to encourage the trainees to communicate online?
1. Give statistics of blended learning success
2. Prepare a presentation and orientation before starting the online portion
3. Show how easy it is to access information for the course
4. Give the option of signing in online instead of in person at times
References:
Piskurich, G. (2012) "Facilitating Online Learning" Laureate Education, Inc.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., Zvacek, S. (2012) Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education, Fifth Edition Pearson Education, Inc.
Piskurich, G. (2012) "Facilitating Online Learning" Laureate Education, Inc.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., Zvacek, S. (2012) Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education, Fifth Edition Pearson Education, Inc.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Free Online Course Analysis: Open Culture
Open Culture
http://www.openculture.com/
Open Culture is a site where you can choose out of four hundred twenty-five free online courses from top universities. They are mostly formatted as video lectures on YouTube Vimeo, or iTunes. The site also includes audio books, movies, language lessons, eBooks and cultural icons. The site is funded and supported by advertisements and suggested links.
Open Culture seems to be carefully pre-planned with easy-to-navigate web pages. It is set up successfully for a distance-learning environment by having all material accessible on the Internet. Most of the classes are simply video lectures, so they do not follow all the recommendations for online instruction from the course text. Page two hundred forty three lists everything that should be included in a syllabus: course logistics, course policies, instructional activities, assessment information, and additional information. The course text explains recommendations for courses that require credit or a grade.
The course I chose to navigate is Introduction to Visual Thinking. It does not have course activities, but simply lectures with different images, presenters, and videos within the eleven video lectures. The main presenter is speaking to a face to-face class, and is recorded for the distance learners. Since it is a free course, it seems like it is set up to help students gain more information possibly for another course, or just for fun. The course online is not set up with a syllabus, course activities, or assessment.
On page one hundred seventy three, the course text outlines Foley’s general principles of good design. In Open Culture, the target audience seems to be well known. Anyone who wants more information on visual thinking in general or someone who is looking for an idea for art making would benefit from this course. Foley also expresses the need for the content of subject matter to be delivered. This course could have more of a specific summary of its parts. It only has a title to let learners know what might be included in the course. If students are choosing the course for fun or to gain information for something else, they need more information before beginning the course.
References
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., Zvacek, S. (2012) Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education, Fifth Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses
Friday, March 16, 2012
Selecting Distance Learning Technologies
The following text explains a real world example of the need for distance education and my reasoning for selecting certain technologies to accomplish the goal of the scenario:
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.
Blackboard can be useful in the above scenario by using the onsite training solution.
Rcampus is another program that would work well in the above situation. In Rcampus, students can create a
clubs, faculty groups, private groups and study groups. So, the employees in the training can share information, screen captures, and have discussions within the website/program.
http://scobleizer.com/2010/09/29/blackboard-mobile-is-another-example-of-how-mobile-and-location-are-changing-everything/
http://www.blackboard.com/
http://www.rcampus.com/
"Sales training often involves an annual meeting where a company flies in its reps at launch time to train them together on location. Sound familiar?
Move beyond sales training of the past towards an engaging continuous and blended online learning program with the Blackboard Learn™ platform. With Blackboard Learn, you can create thorough and rigorous training that begins long before your reps arrive on-site, and doesn’t end until well after they return to the field" (http://www.blackboard.com/Markets/Corporate/Solutions/Business-Applications/Sales-Training.aspx).
The following video shows a real life example of how Blackboard can be used anywhere on a mobile device for students to access information and network with others: http://scobleizer.com/2010/09/29/blackboard-mobile-is-another-example-of-how-mobile-and-location-are-changing-everything/
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.
Blackboard can be useful in the above scenario by using the onsite training solution.
Rcampus is another program that would work well in the above situation. In Rcampus, students can create a
clubs, faculty groups, private groups and study groups. So, the employees in the training can share information, screen captures, and have discussions within the website/program.
http://scobleizer.com/2010/09/29/blackboard-mobile-is-another-example-of-how-mobile-and-location-are-changing-everything/
http://www.blackboard.com/
http://www.rcampus.com/
"Sales training often involves an annual meeting where a company flies in its reps at launch time to train them together on location. Sound familiar?
Move beyond sales training of the past towards an engaging continuous and blended online learning program with the Blackboard Learn™ platform. With Blackboard Learn, you can create thorough and rigorous training that begins long before your reps arrive on-site, and doesn’t end until well after they return to the field" (http://www.blackboard.com/Markets/Corporate/Solutions/Business-Applications/Sales-Training.aspx).
The following video shows a real life example of how Blackboard can be used anywhere on a mobile device for students to access information and network with others: http://scobleizer.com/2010/09/29/blackboard-mobile-is-another-example-of-how-mobile-and-location-are-changing-everything/
Friday, March 2, 2012
Defining Distance Education
At my current position as an online student, I am learning a great deal about the progress of distance learning and technology in education. For example, the way people learn has changed so much since I was a young student in school. The blog I’m referencing explains the differences in generational learning styles very well. The veterans learned by rote memorization, the boomers learned with books and materials, gen x learned with exploration and hands on experiences (me) and now, the young students (milennials) learn through media, networking, eLearning, etc. (http://nkilkenny.wordpress.com/2006/08/30/generational-learning-styles-and-methods/ ) So, anyone who starts taking courses online, not matter what age, will still use their old ways to study, write, and learn, but they will also start to use some of the new ways. Digital immigrants are learning from digital natives and using the new ways to learn, collaborate, and network.
Before staring the course, EDUC-6135-2 Distance Learning, I only know about distance learning in terms of what I’ve done online so far. I’ve learned distance education works very well for me and many other people. I was skeptical at first since I am used to the traditional setting. For adults, however, we don’t need the traditional setting. We don’t need the social, physical interactions in order to learn. Children, however, and possibly undergraduate students should probably have that social aspect of school.
After starting this course, I have started to redefine distance learning and have found that distance education is much more than getting a degree online.
Distance education has been around for a long time with correspondence studies, open universities in Europe, and the Internet. The definition of distance education is using technological resources to learn at a distance. The teacher and student are separated physically, using technology to connect. (Simonson, M. 2012) There are four main components of distance education: institutionally based, separation of teacher and student, interactive telecommunications, and sharing of data, voice, and video (learning experiences). (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012) Distance education is not self-study. It is institutionally based. An institution is not just a school. Businesses, companies, and corporations offer instruction at a distance.
The evolution of distance education will continue to progress and more and more students, employees, businesses, schools, and corporations will continue utilizing distance education. Even children will use distance education more, such as K12, but traditional learning and the traditional school setting will not be replaced completely with distance education.
References:
Simonson, M. (2012) Distance Education: The Next Generation Laureate Education, Inc.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S., (2012) Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education, Fifth Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
Generational Learning Styles and Methods (2006) Retrieved fromhttp://nkilkenny.wordpress.com/2006/08/30/generational-learning-styles-and-methods/ in February, 2012.
Check out my Prezi Mind Map
Before staring the course, EDUC-6135-2 Distance Learning, I only know about distance learning in terms of what I’ve done online so far. I’ve learned distance education works very well for me and many other people. I was skeptical at first since I am used to the traditional setting. For adults, however, we don’t need the traditional setting. We don’t need the social, physical interactions in order to learn. Children, however, and possibly undergraduate students should probably have that social aspect of school.
After starting this course, I have started to redefine distance learning and have found that distance education is much more than getting a degree online.
Distance education has been around for a long time with correspondence studies, open universities in Europe, and the Internet. The definition of distance education is using technological resources to learn at a distance. The teacher and student are separated physically, using technology to connect. (Simonson, M. 2012) There are four main components of distance education: institutionally based, separation of teacher and student, interactive telecommunications, and sharing of data, voice, and video (learning experiences). (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012) Distance education is not self-study. It is institutionally based. An institution is not just a school. Businesses, companies, and corporations offer instruction at a distance.
The evolution of distance education will continue to progress and more and more students, employees, businesses, schools, and corporations will continue utilizing distance education. Even children will use distance education more, such as K12, but traditional learning and the traditional school setting will not be replaced completely with distance education.
References:
Simonson, M. (2012) Distance Education: The Next Generation Laureate Education, Inc.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S., (2012) Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education, Fifth Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
Generational Learning Styles and Methods (2006) Retrieved fromhttp://nkilkenny.wordpress.com/2006/08/30/generational-learning-styles-and-methods/ in February, 2012.
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