EDU627 Final Blog and Reflection

October 12, 2014 by meloj23

Where does the time go? I’m impress with the knowledge, I’ve gain during these past few weeks.

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques that is use to execute project with efficiently. “Project management in the modern sense began in the early 1950s, although it has its roots further back in the latter years of the 19th century.” (Haughey 2011). When managing a project ones focus should be what objectives and goals that are needed to be accomplish. Project management falls into many groups from initiating, planning and closing. Project management must be within certain time fame and must stay within cost.

Project manager but understand the audience and the responsibly they have in creating the project. The project manager has a big responsibility to see the project start to end and work closely with a team. “Projects usually follow major phases or stages including feasibility, definition, project planning, implementation, evaluation and support/maintenance” (Duckett 2010). To succeed in the job, project managers must become skillful at a number of tasks as well as earn certifications that qualify them for this challenging career. They must also demonstrate analytical skills and the ability to speak to people. A project manager must also establish a budget and ensure that it includes enough to cover unexpected expenses.

The execution of the plan is carrying out the work that was outlined in your project plan; the project manager will want to make sure each of the following steps are addressed during this phase (Cox, 2009): Executing a plan includes the following criteria: Acquiring and Developing the Team Project, Distributing Information, Procurement, and Monitoring the Project System.

Communication is a very important factor when designing a project; everyone should be on the same page. Ensuring that all parties are aware of the day and time of the training is important. Change management proposes to “ensure that all changes to the project are reviewed and approved in advance” (Cox, 2009. P. 176). Communication and Change management go together, because communicating to the stakeholders is a vital part of the project managers’ job. Sending out emails and reminders so each party can keep everyone one abreast of the situation.

Change Management and Quality Management are two important aspects of instructional design projects. Change management is in place to “ensure that all changes to the project are reviewed and approved in advance” (Cox, 2009. P. 176). For instructional design it is very important for them to develop consistency during the design process. A good Change Management Plan will keep everyone well informed and also improve communication between stakeholders.

Quality Management is managing the entire project to ensure that the product meets the expectations that were established by the project managers and the stakeholders. However, quality management can also identify inefficient processes that could prevent project success (Cox, 2009).Quality management ensures that the project manager is always making sure that the project is well communicated to the stakeholders. When changes are made during the project, the project manager must ensure that the stakeholders are knowledge and they are aware of these changes. With everyone on the same page, project managers and stakeholders can be in agreement and the quality of the project will continually meet the needs of the organization.

As I sit back and reflect, it’s very hard to believe that we are at the end of this course. My understanding for project management and the connection with instructional design has change during this course. The role of project manager is not an easier task and one must be successful in many areas. Communication plays an important role for a project manager and keeping all stakeholders inform. Overall, I will take away from this class a wealth of knowledge that can be useful in my work environment.

References:

Cox, Dorcas. M. T. (2009). Project Management Skills for Instructional Designers A Practical Guide. New York, NY: iUniverse.

Duckette, Alicia (2010). All about project management. Retrieved from: http://managementhelp.org/projectmanagement/

Haughey, D. (2011). An introduction to project management. Project Smart. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/introduction-to-project-management.php

EDU627 Blog

September 28, 2014 by meloj23

For my project communication is vital and should be clear at all times. In Unit 5 we were able to develop understanding and the importance to developing an effective communication plan and trying to identify communication barriers. According to Cox (2009 p.154), By identifying potential communication barriers there is opportunity to be proactive in solving any conflicts or issues that may develop as the project unfolds in development and implementation. Good communication is very important part of any project. Project mangers should have excellent communication skills, so that everyone can be on the same page. There should be an open line of communication between Stakeholders and the project manger. The communication plans ensure that everyone have the right information in a timely manner. Recognizing any communication barriers can help solve future conflicts and issues that can develop during the development of a project. According to Cox (2009, p. 154-155) communication barriers include; perception, beliefs, attitudes, values and noise.

Perception is a person’s ability to make sense of the information

Beliefs is a person conviction of what is true or false

Attitudes are how an individual responds to positive or negative around them.

Values is what an individual thing is good or bad according to there beliefs

Noise is any kind of disruption of communication that comes form internal or external.

With this begin said, Effective communication plan includes the following:

Audience—the project team must know who the audience is

Information Needs – information should be delivered to specific person

Media – use electric communication that can be fast and effective so everyone can be on the same page

Timing – Set time schedule for each project and have communication reminders

Responsibilities – Project team take full responsibilities of all the communication within the project.

Reflection:

This course is relevant to my everyday work environment; As one of the schools administrator it is essential to have good communication between the staff. This course has taught me how to use a variety of management skills when designing a project. I hope to take this information that I’ve learn and share it with other school administration. The communications plan should be accompanied by an implementation plan. This should be a very clear road map that lays out specific timelines, deadlines, activities, who is responsible.

Refernence:

Cox, D.M.T. (2009). Project management skills for instructional designers: A practical guide. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse

Task Analysis

September 13, 2014 by meloj23

Week 3, we were asked to find and article that relates to the subject areas.: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/isd/cognitive-task-analysis.html, describe the process of Task analysis. The process of breaking down a complex task into its smaller steps or components. Tasks with many steps or components may be divided into phases for teaching purposes. (Alberto & Troutman, 2003). Instructional designers will perform a task analysis to determine goals and objectives. Task analysis can be use to take a much larger group of skills and then break them down into different phases. Sequencing is ordering of content to help learners achieve objectives. One major benefit to sequencing is providing structure to the designer and learner. After your task analysis is completed with objective, this is when you are ready to design the instruction of the training

“Different instructional goal and contents require different approaches to designing instruction, including task analysis. First, you need to decide what kind of analysis to perform (Job analysis, learning analysis, cognitive, activity, or subject matter analysis)” (Jonassen, Tessmer & Hannum, 1999, p.5). Task analysis and sequencing are important to Project Management and Instructional design because they provide method that would be use to determine the training task, which is base on the needs of the training. Project management is very detailed during the needs analysis and task analysis phases.