Analyzing Scope Creep

This week’s blog assignment is to describe a project that experienced issues related to scope creep. I’m fascinated by people who make money from blogging, but since I’m not there yet, I’m pretty sure that whomever is reading this post is probably in my project management class, so you may have read a bit about the project I have chosen to share, especially if you are part of discussion group 2. The project is one that I have witnessed from the periphery – it is actually a project that my husband is currently on, but since he works from home, and has been on the project for 18 months, I have experienced it as a spectator, and most recently, as a project management student.

The project in question involves a company changing from one accounting system to another. Seems pretty cut and dry, but it has actually been anything but that – this project was originally scheduled to be completed by February 2014, but due to issues related to scope creep, the project is nowhere close to being complete (and since the beginning of this week, things have gotten even more interesting).  Scope creep is defined as “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, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer, 2008, p. 346) – “avoiding scope creep is not possible” (Portny et al., p. 347), but it is manageable.

The project began in the spring of 2013, and it was in early 2014 that the project began experiencing scope creep. At that time, it was discovered that not all of the business information was within the current system – the people who used the system utilized spreadsheets and SharePoint to store data as well; therefore, in order to convert to the new system, the project team had to look beyond the current system as their only source of data to convert into the new system. As these extra data points were discovered, the project team kept adding them as project tasks. These extra tasks started to add up, which caused the first delay in the schedule, which in turn impacted the budget (for example, my husband’s contract had to be extended). Scope creep occurred because the project did not have a change control system, something that Portny et al recommend should be included “in every project plan” (Portny et al.,  p. 347) and something that I would have insisted on from day one if I would have been the project manager.  I would also have recommended that there be a formal process to submit any change requests, and that all requests be approved in writing, something that Portny et al recommend as well (Portny et al, 2008).

This one example of scope creep in this project has created a domino effect – the project has been delayed several times, there have been four project managers, and the overall morale of the team is not good. All of this affects the ultimate goal of the project – to convert from one accounting system to another – on schedule, on budget, and within scope.

After this week, I think that I will have enough examples from this one project to take me through my entire project management class. One of the two lead business analysts on the project resigned, the other BA will be on vacation for almost three weeks starting the end of the month (just as the other BA is leaving the company), and the 4^th PM has decided not to return once their contract is up at the end of the month. It is my understanding that there is no plan in place to deal with all of this. Scope creep is almost sure to strike again!

J

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.

Communicating Effectively

Has this ever happened to you? You’re going through your emails at work when you come across one that just rubs you the wrong way – the content itself is not the issue, but it’s how it was worded. Or, you are in a meeting where someone asks you a question in such a way that you immediately tense up? This has happened to most of us at work, or even at home, and it all has to with how we communicate.

Being able to communicate effectively is a skill, and like with any skill, some are better at it than others. However, when it comes to project management, you had better be good at it, because, according to Portny et al, “the key to successful project management is effective communication – sharing the right messages with the right people in a timely manner” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer, 2008, p. 357).

In class this week, I had a very interesting assignment to illustrate the concept of effective communication.  The assignment gave specific instructions, which required me to first read an email from Jane to Mark, then jot down a few thoughts about how I interpreted the message, including what I thought about the content and the tone. Next, I was supposed to listen to a voice mail from Jane to Mark, which ended up being the same exact words as in the email, and jot down my answers to the same questions as the ones asked about the email. Lastly, I watched a video that showed Jane speaking to Mark, again using the same words as in the email and voice mail. I therefore experienced the same words being communicated via email, voice mail, and face-to-face – it all was interpreted the same, right? Not at all, and that is why effective communication is an essential skill.

The content of the message in all three modes was the same – Jane was asking Mark when he would be able to provide her with a report that had data she needed to include in a report of her own. The email came across to me as casual with a slight hint of urgency. The voice mail sounded a bit more urgent to me, based on Jane stressing the word “really” twice in the message. Remember, the email had the same content as the voice mail, but the word “really” was not underlined, or in bold, which to me would have indicated a sense of urgency. In the video, Jane is standing with her arms resting on top of Mark’s cube wall as she speaks to him – same content as the email and voice mail. To me, she appears very calm and casual, based on how she is standing and delivering the message to Mark. I do not get a sense of urgency here either. To me, the voice mail came across as the modality that best conveyed the message as Jane intended, because it had the most sense of urgency.

Even before doing this assignment, I knew that effective communication is a learned skill – the assignment just helped to reinforce this point. Some of you, who have been in class with me for a while now, have heard me mention a self-leadership course that I coordinate for our staff. In the course, we learn that we all have a dominant temperament (they are based on the elements: air, fire, earth, and water), which comes across in how we act, including in our communication, and how we are perceived. We also have a shadow temperament, which are the actions/attributes that tick us off. Learning about my dominant temperament was a complete eye-opener for me, because I was finally able to piece together why I could come across as very non-emotional to some colleagues, but not to others. However, the key was learning how to communicate with the other temperaments. For example, I am an air and tend to be very matter of fact, but waters like to be more personable. I have learned to adjust my emails to include a “good morning” before I start on the content. Before, I would dive straight into what I needed to say. Long story short, being able to communicate effectively takes effort, because you have to make sure what you are trying to communicate comes across as intended.

If you think about it, PMs are the one person in a project that will have to communicate with everyone in the project audience in some way or another. Being able to communicate effectively, according to Dr. Stolovitch, “helps everyone stay on target” (Laureate Education, n.d.), which is necessary in order to successfully complete a project.

J

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Communicating with stakeholders [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

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.

“The Art of Effective Communication” [Multimedia program]. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

Learning from a Project “Post-mortem”

I’m taking a Project management in Education and Training course this semester, and this week’s assignment is to do a project post-mortem on one of my past projects, personal or professional, that was not successful. Most of my projects at work have been successful, and while I have had one recently that has been a great disappointment to me professionally, I am not going to discuss that one, because I have been using it as my real-life example for the weekly discussion posts. I plan on sharing bits and pieces of the work example throughout the semester (it’s almost like a bad soap opera), but today, I am going to share a personal example. And, no, it is not a Pinterest fail because Pinterest was not around then, but one could point the finger at HGTV for this one.

Our master bathroom toilet started to “flush” on its own various times throughout the day. I knew that this was not normal, and needed to be fixed. I am pretty handy, but usually in these situations, I would just call in the expert and write the check, but for some reason, this time around I decided that between my husband and I, we could save some money and DIY it. We went on the internet and found out that it was an issue with the flapper, which could be easily replaced, thus starting our toilet flapper replacement project. We went to Home Depot, got the needed parts, followed the directions, and replaced the flapper. Success, right? Well, we thought so, until a couple of weeks later. My husband, daughter, and I were in the living room, which is directly below our master bathroom, when my daughter asks, “Why is the ceiling wet?” Long story short, our DIY flapper replacement project was not a success – we ended up having to pay a plumber anyway to come out and fix the issue.

So what went wrong? I think that the reason our DIY project was not a success was because we were unfamiliar with plumbing in general. Remember, this was the first time we ever tried a plumbing project (and since then, it has been the last). Yes, we went to Home Depot and got the right equipment, got advice from the salesperson, watched a YouTube video, and read and followed the instructions, but at the end of the day, we were not the right people on this project.

There was not written project plan, but, based on Michael Greer’s (2010) Project post-mortem review questions that I had to review as part of this blog assignment, and the life cycle phases of a project discussed in our course text, a red flag would have gone up during the first phase of the project plan. According to Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer (2008), the first phase of the project is known as the conceive phase, which starts with an idea. During this phase, two key questions need to be asked:

1. “Can the project be done” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer, 2008, p. 77)?
2. “Should the project be done” (Portny et al., p. 77)?

We thought the project could be done, but we did not have any prior plumbing knowledge, or quite the right tools (I forgot to mention that one – we had to improvise), nor did we fully consider or “plan for uncertainty” (Portny, et al., p. 78). Looking back, we should have realized that this project was not feasible for us, and we should have, as Portny et al suggest, canceled the project because “doing anything else guarantees wasted resources, lost opportunities and frustrated staff” (Portny et al., p. 78). We not only paid for the materials to try the fix ourselves, but ended up having to pay the plumber – plus we lost most of a Saturday afternoon.

Yes, this was a fun example of an unsuccessful project, but it still helps to illustrate the importance of applying the principles of project management to any project. If we would have really taken the time to work through the entire plumbing project by planning a project, and going through the life cycles phases, we would have saved ourselves a lot of frustration.

By the way, I am reminded of this failed project everyday – the stain on the ceiling is still there..

J

References

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

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.

Reflection

Distance learning has been around since the 1830’s, when a correspondence course on composition was offered in Sweden (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 37), and since then, as technology has advanced, so have the ways distance learning is delivered. Even though technology today allows for greater accessibility to distance learning, and Web 2.0 tools allow for greater interaction, distance learning is still perceived as not being on the same level as the education from a traditional university. A 2013 Gallup survey showed that “a majority of Americans believe online instruction is at least as good as classroom-based courses in terms of providing good value, a format most students can succeed in, and instruction tailored to each individual. But they question the rigor of testing and grading, and whether employers will view such degrees positively” (Lederman, 2013).

A reason for this gap may be how distance education is marketed. A study by Gambescia & Paolucci (2009) shows that distance learning marketing focuses on flexibility and convenience, not on curriculum and faculty (Gambescia & Paolucci, 2009). For distance learning to be viewed as being on the same level as a traditional university program, the immediate focus needs to be on a shift of how distance learning is marketed. The Gallup survey cited by Lederman was done in 2013 – 4 years after the study by Gambescia & Paolucci was published, so one can see that it may take time to change how people perceive distance learning. Along with better marketing of curriculum and faculty in distance learning, people need to be introduced to the concepts associated with Equivalency Theory, in order to get over comparing distance learning to traditional face-to-face learning environments. Equivalency Theory means that “equivalent, rather than identical, learning experiences should be provided to each learner whether local or distant, and the expectation should be that equivalent outcomes, rather than identical, should be expected of each learner” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p.52). If these two key issues are addressed, then in the next 5-10 years, we will begin to see a shift in the perception of how distance learning is perceived, then 10-20 years from now, there will not be a notable difference between what we call traditional education today, and distance learning.

As an instructional designer, I can assist in improving the public’s perception of distance learning by following the advice Dr. Piskurich – “always go back to the ADDIE” (Laureate Education, n.d.). In the systematic ADDIE approach of developing and designing courses for distance learning, everything, from the content, activities, and assessments, is based on the objectives. By sticking to ADDIE, the end result should be a sound course, where the only question that needs to be asked is if the objectives were met, not how the instruction was delivered. I also think that working with faculty, and involving them in the design and development of courses from the start, may assist in improving the perception of distance learning as well. Getting buy-in of the faculty that will be teaching the course in the design and development phase will increase their engagement in the course, which may lead to engagement as an instructor.

I have been a nurse educator for sixteen years, but I am always looking to improve myself, as an educator, on how we deliver our learning activities at work. One of the reasons I decided to pursue a masters in Instructional Design was because I wanted to both develop further as an educator, but also increase my skills and knowledge that could be utilized to improve how we design and develop learning activities for our clinical staff. That is the same approach that I am going to take with instructional design, once I complete my master’s program at the end of the year. I think that as instructional designer, I will never be done learning, because the field itself is ever-changing. As in nursing, I feel that belonging to a professional organization is valuable for knowledge sharing and for networking, and I will be looking to become part of one that focuses on instructional design.

J

References

Gambescia, S., & Paolucci, R. (2009). Academic fidelity and integrity as attributes of university online degree program offerings. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 12(1). Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring121/gambescia121.html

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Planning and designing online courses [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Lederman, D. (2013 October 15). America’s views of online courses. Inside Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/15/american-adults-see-online-courses-least-equivalent-most-ways

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Converting to a Distance Learning Format

I just finished submitting my final project for my Distance Learning course to my instructor. The project was to develop an orientation program, which would be delivered through a blended distance learning environment, for a workplace safety training program. The time and attention to detail that I had to commit to develop my project was an eye-opener, but it gave me a better understanding of all the elements that an instructional designer needs to consider in developing a blended distance learning course. For the project, I knew that I was developing a course for the blended distance learning environment, so the resources and strategies I used to develop the orientation program were developed with that specific learning environment in mind. Now, what would happen if I had to convert an existing face-to-face course to a blended learning course (online and face-to-face)? How would I go about approaching this? This is the scenario I was presented with in class this week, and the focus of today’s writing. The exact scenario is as follows:

“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” (Laureate Education, n.d.).

One of the first things I would do as the trainer, if presented with this situation, would be to consider some pre-planning strategies before moving forward with the plan to convert the course. According to Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek (2012), “the process of planning and organizing for a distance education course is multifaceted and must occur well in advance of the scheduled instruction” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 153); therefore, one of the first things I need to consider is time, namely the time I am going to allow myself to devote to converting the course.

The next consideration involves the access to the course resources. The trainer wants to put all of the training resources on a server, but that may not allow the trainer to organize and structure the content so it is easy for the learner to follow. Moving to an online environment is going to require technology, and “with any instructional activity heavily invested in technology for the delivery of content, the choice of types of tools is important” (Simonson, et.al., p. 204). To provide the structure, ease of use, and the ability to give participants 24/7 access to the resources, it would be best to use a course management system (CMS). This leads to this question: Does the company have a CMS, or would one need to be purchased?

Another consideration to take into account as part of the pre-planning strategy would be to examine the current face-to-face instructional methods used to engage the students in communication, and to determine which methods are working, and which are not. As Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek (2012) state, “technology used in distance learning should be considered a tool to deliver the instruction and not the method” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 203). Converting the course to an online environment alone is not going to fix the communication issue. Along with examining the current instructional methods, I would also need to re-examine the current course objectives because “what is of importance when considering instructional choice is that the methods selected for a distance learning setting match the outcomes defined by the objectives and the assessments to be implemented” (Simonson, et.al., p. 203).

“Learners who are engaged in learning are actively participating in their own understanding of the content” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 201), and in a distance learning environment, one strategy used to engage learners is through the use of “structured discussions” (Simonson, et.al., p. 201). Since the trainer aims to improve the communication between the participants, using discussion forums would enhance that element of the original program. However, getting the participants to communicate online through the use of the discussion forums can be a challenge. The “students may need training in communication protocols” (Simonson, et.al., p. 200), since the distance learning environment may be new to them. The trainer can also use an icebreaker activity. “Icebreakers…serve as a positive experience in developing a community of learners especially in the distance learning environment” (Simonson, et.al., p. 200), and “the opportunities for communications and collaborations are enhanced” (Simonson, et.al., p. 200). If the students are actively engaged in the online discussion forums, then they are communicating as the trainer intended, but that means that the trainer’s role needs to change as well.

According to Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek (2012), “a successful online environment moves away from the teacher to the student as the key to the learning process” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 196), therefore, the role of the trainer will change when the course is converted. The trainer’s role will move from teaching to facilitating (Simonson, et.al., 2012) the students.

Are these all of the considerations that need to be taken into account in converting the face-to-face course into an online course? No, but they are the ones that need to be considered first. There are many other details that would need to be considered; therefore, I would also like to offer the trainer a best practices guide to assist in converting this course. Click on the link below to access the guide.

J

Best Practices Guide

References

Laureate Education (n.d.). Week 7 Application Assignment. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

The Impact of Open Source

Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek (2012) describe open courseware as “the publication on the Web of course materials developed by higher education institutions and shared with others” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 141). I had heard of the concept before, but had never really looked into it, since I am quite busy right now doing course work for my master’s degree. However, as part of an assignment for class this week though, I had the opportunity to look into open courseware, and was amazed at the number of courses available.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has a site called MIT Open Course, which “makes the materials used in the teaching of almost all of MIT’s subjects available on the Web, free of charge.”  (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015). The content on the site is rather impressive, with courses ranging from real estate economics to neutron science and reactor physics.

After browsing the different courses available, I decided to look into Communicating with Mobile Technology, an undergraduate course. The prerequisites for this course are Introduction to Computer and Engineering Problem Solving (Civil and Environmental Engineering), and Elements of Software Construction (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). Knowledge of JAVA is also recommended. According to the course introduction page, the content for this course is dated from the spring semester of 2011.

The main course page has a course description, plus links to the syllabus, course readings, lecture notes, assignments, and a calendar highlighting the topics and activities for the course.  All of these are elements that indicate the course was pre-planned. The sequencing of the course topics takes into consideration learning-related sequencing, for example, which “suggests ways of sequencing the content based on learner characteristics identified in the learner analysis” (Morrison, Ross, Kalman, & Kemp, 2013, p. 146). The syllabus also indicates that there are class activities related to the topic, which allows the learners to apply the knowledge from the lecture.

I would think that an MIT course would be pre-planned, but was it pre-planned and designed for the distance learning environment? The answer is no. For example, there are no active learning activities for the distance learner, and the course does not feature a variety of media. According to Simonson, et. al., “videos, visual presentations with accompanying audio, and other graphical representations of important topics are important to the well-designed course” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 182). So what was MIT thinking of putting a course like this online? You have to remember that MIT’s purpose was not to develop the course for distance learning. The course is made available because “with more than 2,200 courses available, OCW is delivering on the promise of open sharing of knowledge” (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015).

In the getting started section of the MIT Open Courseware site, I did find a section that gives learners information on how they may connect with other learners through a site called openstudy.com, so the possibility to interact with other learners is there, but it is not part of or specific to any of their courses.

I know several people who love to learn, and the opportunities available to them due to the availability of open courseware appears to be growing. However, the one thing that I have to make sure they understand is that just because it is a course, and it is online, does not mean that it is a course that was designed and developed for the distance learning environment.

J

References

Edward Barrett, and Frank Bentley. 21W.789 Communicating with Mobile Technology, spring 2011. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare),http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed 1 Apr, 2015). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2015). About MIT Open Courseware. Retrieved from http://ocw.mit.edu/about/

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M., Kalman, H. K., & Kemp, J. E. (2013). Designing effective instruction (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Applying distance learning technologies to real-world examples

The number of distance learning technologies available to instructional designers, beyond the content management system (CMS), appears to grow on a daily basis, but how do you choose which ones to use, and when? As part of this week’s class assignment, I was presented with a real-world example to problem-solve that very question. The example is as follows:

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.

Based on the information in the example above, I need to consider the following in choosing the technology to meet the requirements of this type of training environment:

• Since the learners are located in different places, and cannot at the same time, the technology must be able to support an asynchronous environment. The asynchronous environment is one where “learners choose when and where to learn” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 10).
• The learners need to be able to share documents.
• The learners need to have access to a screen capture tool.
• The learners need to be able to collaborate.

According to Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek (2012), “the web offers powerful opportunities for resource utilization, collaboration, and communication” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 136) and that “the power of the Web can be employed through the use of Web 2.0 applications. These tools are all about student engagement and higher-order learning” (Simonson, et. al., p. 136).

There are three Web 2.0 distance learning technologies I would propose for this situation: Facebook, Dropbox, and Jing.

Facebook

Since the participants need to be able to collaborate in an asynchronous environment, the instructional designer can set up a secret Facebook group as the main site for the training workshop. Facebook secret pages required an invitation, and are not publicly searchable (Facebook Help Center, retrieved 03/2015), which means that the instructor can invite and track participants. Training workshop content, such as videos and documents, can be posted to the secret Facebook group, where learners are instructed to use the comments section as a discussion forum related to the video or to the training documents. According to a study by Sanchez, Cortijo, and Javed (2014), “although Facebook was not originally designed for educational purposes, it has a great potential to enhance the learning experience. As several authors state, Facebook can promote collaborative models of learning, connect students and instructors, increase learners’ motivational level, and create a more comfortable classroom climate” (Sanchez, Cortijo, and Javed, 2014, p. 146).

Dropbox

Dropbox is a file storage site that allows you to share your files securely (Dropbox Homepage, 2015). The instructional designer can set up a Dropbox folder for the training workshop, and share the folder with the learners.  All of the documents, videos, and resources associated with the workshop are stored in one place, and can be shared with the Facebook group (Dropbox Help Center). Molinari (2013) highlights Dropbox as a place for students to collaborate.

Jing

“Jing is a computer service that let you capture basic video, animation, and still images, and share them on the web” (About Jing, 2015). This tool gives the workshop instructor and participants the screen capture functionality identified as a requirement in the real-world scenario. Koepke and Kopp (n.d.),  and Purdue University’s Instructional Development Center Blog both discuss that Jing can be used for providing video feedback.

In 2006, Yoany Beldarrain, in the article Distance Education Trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration, stated “the 21st-century learner requires educational opportunities not bound by time or place, yet allow interaction with the instructor and peers “(Beldarrain, 2006, p. 150).  The number of technologies available to instructional designers has grown tremendously since Beldarrain’s article 9 years ago, yet, as the real-world example I was presented with in class this week shows, Beldarrain’s statement remains true to this day.

Jennifer

References

About Jing. Retrieved from http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html

Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance Education Trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2), 139-153. doi:10.1080/01587910600789498

Dropbox. Retrieved from https://www.dropbox.com/.

Dropbox Help Center. Retrieved from https://www.dropbox.com/en/help/383

Koepke, K., and Kopp, B. (n.d.). Using Jing in your teaching. Retrieved from http://www.uwlax.edu/catl/instructionaldesign/Jing_Handout.pdf

Molinari, A. (2013). Creating a sense of community for distance dearners: Examples from the field. Texas Adult & Family Literacy Quarterly. (17)3. Retrieved from http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/newsletr/summer13/summer13l.htm

Purdue University Instructional Development Center (2010 February 20). Jing Video feedback [web log]. Retrieved from https://www.purdue.edu/learning/blog/?p=1217

Sánchez, R. A., Cortijo, V., & Javed, U. (2014). Students’ perceptions of Facebook for academic purposes. Computers & Education, 70, 138-149.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Defining Distance Learning

What is the definition of distance learning? If you would have asked me this question before Monday, I would have probably said it was as simple as taking a class online. The only requirements for my definition are a learner, a computer, and an internet connection.  This definition of distance learning is based on my experience with taking a couple of professional development courses through the University of Georgia’s Center for Continuing Education, where I wanted to learn about project management and Adobe Acrobat, and where I found someplace where I could take classes online. Both classes had weekly lessons, where I had to post my responses to the discussion topic of the week, assignments that I needed to submit, and I received feedback from the instructor.

On Monday, I started my next class in my master’s program, and after just one week, I can see that once again, I am going to have to admit that I did not know what I did not know. My new class is called Distance Learning, and the focus of this week’s resources was on defining and giving a history of distance learning. As you can tell by my admission, there is a lot more to it then how I had previously defined it. The authors of our course text state that there are four components to the definition of distance learning, and “if one or more are missing, then the event is something different, if only slightly, than distance education” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 34). The four components are: institutionally based, separation of teacher and student, interactive telecommunications, and sharing of data, voice, and video (Simonson, et. al., 2012, Figure 2-1, p. 33). As you can see from my pre-class definition, I did not give any thought to the institutionally based component, even though it was part of my experience (the courses were through UGA), and you could say I was pretty close in defining distance education, but again, I only scratched the surface.

In reading the details of each component, I found that distance learning has been around since the 1830’s, when a correspondence course on composition was offered in Sweden (Simonson, et. al., p. 37), and that the term telecommunications is “not limited to only electronic media” (Simonson, et. al., p. 34), but it can include “the postal system, as in correspondence study, and other nonelectronic methods for communication” (Simonson, et. al., p. 34).   Here I thought that in completing my master’s program online, I was part of something innovative. However, the only really innovative part may be that we are using Web 2.0 resources and the latest telecommunication technology.

After a week of class, did my definition of distance learning change? Absolutely. I especially like how Dr. Simonson, in the video Distance Education: The next generation, defined distance learning. He stated that “distance education can be defined as formal education in which the learning group (teacher, students, resources) are separated by geography and, sometimes, time” (Laureate Education, n.d.), and “where technologies, instructional media, communication technologies are used to link the resources, the teacher, and the learner” (Laureate Education, n.d.).

As I was writing this blog post on Friday morning, I had the opportunity to apply Dr. Simonson’s definition of distance learning. Due to weather conditions, we had to cancel orientation sessions for our new employees a couple of weeks ago, but rescheduled them for Friday. One of my colleagues was scheduled to present on the topic of patient and family education in our healthcare system, but called in sick. I am usually her backup, but it was my day off. The facilitator for the orientation session is still fairly new to our department, so I offered to present, but because of a scheduling conflict, I would need to present from home. I was able to utilize our WebEx account to deliver the content to the students, who were in a classroom about 35 miles away from me. We did have a couple of minor technical issues, but overall, the feedback from the participants was positive.

I am looking forward to fully understanding distance learning during the next 8 weeks. So far, I have come to understand that it’s not about the technology, as I first had thought. Technology is just one of the telecommunication methods. Yes, technology does provide new ways for the teachers and students to share resources, as Dr. Simonson explained (Laureate Education, n.d.), and I think that we will continue to pursue advances in technology as the main telecommunications method, as well as to find ways to utilize platforms already available. For example, adding an instant messaging application such as Lync or Jabber to Blackboard would allow students to see which one of their colleagues are currently online, and provide the ability to ask a question, get clarification, or simply just chat. I also see the possibility of having a blended program, where the student can choose to attend class in person in a classroom (synchronous), be part of the classroom group, but also attend via WebEx (synchronous), or complete the course using an asynchronous method.

Click on the image to enlarge

Distance Learning Mindmap

JB

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Distance education: The next generation [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Next up – Research

The two week break from school for the holidays was much appreciated, but it’s time to get back to class. My next course is on research – a topic that I’m not very comfortable with. I think this is because I do not have fond memories from the research class I had to take in nursing school – even after 20 + years, I can tell you that it was from 6 – 8 pm on Wednesday nights, and the name of the instructor, but I cannot recall a single thing I learned in the class. The instructor for my class now says that this class is nothing like the one I took as an undergrad, and I hope that she is right. Research is one area professionally that I need to develop. I do research all of the time, both for work and for personal reasons, but I need to learn how to really understand the field of research. This is going to be a challenge for me, but I need it.
J

Using MS Word 2013 Blog Template

I usually draft my blog posts in MS Word, then cut and paste to my blog, which most of the time causes me formatting headaches. While doing some research for my current class, I came across a great way to post directly from word to my blog without the cut and paste headaches. MS Word 2013 has a blog template that, after a quick set up, allows me to draft my post in word, then publish directly to my blog. In fact, this is how I posted this blog today. If you are interested in learning more, check out my website for the screen cast I made on how to use the blog template. Cheers!