Scope Creep: Project Obstacle or Opportunity?

According to Lynch & Roecker (2007) less than 30% of software development projects succeed.  Success is determined by the triple constraints of time, scope, and resources with very few projects being completed on time, under budget, and within project specifications.   Like IT projects, Instructional Design projects often fall into the unsuccessful category, and most experts attribute these failures to scope creep (Stolovich, n.d.; Portny et al., 2008; Greer, 2010).    Scope creep refers to the expansion of a project’s initial scope based on changing needs, technologies, or supporter requests.   There’s a natural tendency for project team members to want to improve the project as more information becomes available (Portny et al., 2008).   Every change in the number or quality of project outputs affects the amount of time, money, and resources needed to complete the project.   Scope creep is normal for most projects and can be a good thing, but it needs to be managed.  In fact, most modifications are the result of changes in vision, budget, or needs.  Some degree of scope creep can be expected as it ensures the project deliverables are still relevant upon completion (Portny et al., 2008).    I can recall several projects that experienced tremendous scope creep while I was working on them, but I will focus on one for now.

I had the pleasure of working in a start-up high school a few years ago and was charged with creating an online magazine that was completely student-run.  Let me give you some background before diving into scope creep for this project.   The high school was designed on an early college model with curriculum directly aligned to those of historically black colleges and universities.  It offered college credits through these partner universities.   Because the school was designed as a full-day program on an 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. schedule, students were scheduled to finish their high school diploma by the end of the junior year, leaving the senior year for earning college credits.   Classroom training happened in the morning and project work took place in the afternoon.  The school was also set up on a quarterly basis rather than a semester program so that students could focus on one subject at a time.  For instance, some of my students had Foundations of Writing and World Literature in one quarter.   Following classroom instruction in the morning, they would work on projects including the online magazine, personal business plan development, and the operation of a mall store.   Our student body was comprised of inner-city youth – many of whom did not have the prerequisite skills to succeed in a pre-college environment.  Instruction involved a lot of differentiation in the classroom, competing agendas, and distractions.   While the work was rewarding, the environment presented several challenges for school projects.  

With the online magazine, the initial scope involved topics germane to student entrepreneurship, the sponsor university, and business events.    As we began investigating and writing stories, faculty from other areas of the school suggested that we include stories on science fairs, sporting events, and community affairs.   All of these requests came before the site was active, and we needed to have it live by the end of the first quarter.  Moreover, we experienced lack of availability concerning some technical requirement, so the project was converted to a newsletter posted on the school website vs. being independent website.   The change in scope from an online magazine to a newsletter was easier to manage, so it saved some time, but the other changes involved more time and effort.   We did not oblige them all, but enthusiasm from the school’s founder moved us toward a broader, more inclusive scope.  I would say this was a change in vision.  We also experienced problems with changing priorities as a result of environmental factors and the addition of tighter time constraints with competing projects.   

Having greater insight on project management skills, I might have done the following to better control scope creep on the magazine project:

·         Requested that story ideas be submitted in writing

·         Acquired approval for major scope changes from the project sponsor (school founder & principal)

·         Updated the project planning documents (schedule, budget, and resource allocation) to establish a new baseline for measuring project success

·         Monitored student progress against the planning documents

·         Tracked risks factors like the environmental concerns described above

Armed with this kind of detail, I might have been able to negotiate for more resources and time.  

In all, several editions of the school magazine were produced and the project provided hands-on experience for students to practice investigative and writing skills.   The expansion of topics made the newsletter more appealing to the entire student body, and it was well received.  

References

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

Lynch, M. M., & Roecker, J. (2007). Project managing e-learning: A handbook for successful design, delivery, and management. London: Routledge

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. 

Stolovich, H. (n.d.), Monitoring Projects [Video]. Laureate Education. Available from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com.

Estimating Training Dollars & Cents

Instructional designers often function as project managers for teams of designers, graphic artist, subject matter experts, facilitators, and other stakeholders.  In leading the band, budgeting can be a high stakes activity; It's is a matter of walking through the project tasks and determining what resources are needed, when they are needed, and for what duration.   This process may sound easy, but oversights can be costly.  Armed with good information, project managers can translate hours, services, and materials into hard costs.  Following are a few internet resources to help with cost estimates:  

Don Clark’s website, Big Dog & Little Dog’s Performance Juxtaposition has a wealth of information on estimating training costs including development time.   The site also provides guidelines for instructor preparation time and a very useful cost spreadsheet that allows adjustments for the expertise level of the project’s instructional designer(s) and the complexity of the project’s multimedia components (Clark, 2010).  

Defelice & Kapp (2009) provides average development time statistics for various types of instruction.   Karl Kapp, one of the authors, is a well known expert in the instructional design field, but most interesting thing about this article is that it’s based on the collective experience of 47 practicing instructional designers.   The survey was done in 2003, and then again in 2009 to get a feel for the impact of new authoring software on development time.  Surprisingly, some of the more complex training designs take longer to produce with new software.  You can read the article for an explanation on why this is so, but the development time table included in the article is very helpful.  I can see using it as a reference on an ongoing basis.   

Chapman Alliance is a learning consulting company (Chapman, 2010).  They’ve compiled data collected from 249 organizations, representing 3,947 learning professionals in industries from manufacturing and telecommunications to insurance and higher education.  The research is presented in a PowerPoint presentation.  I found slide number 14 especially useful because it lists common tasks for instructional design projects including average percentages of total project time spent on each task.  For novice project managers in instructional design, this information can be helpful as a guideline.  It’s important to talk to your own team members, but it would be interesting to compare feedback against the Chapman survey results because it reflects feedback from a broad spectrum of learning specialists.  

Resources

Clark, D.R. (2010). Estimating Costs and Time in Instructional Design [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html

Chapman, B. (2010). How Long Does it Take to Create Learning? [Research Study]. Published by Chapman Alliance LLC. http://www.chapmanalliance.com/

Defelice, R. & Kapp, K. (2009) Time to Develop One Hour of Training. ASTD. Retrieved from http://www.astd.org/LC/2009/0809_kapp.htm

Communicating Effectively for Project Management

With project management, communication is about people skills, building relationships, getting commitments and managing them.   Communication is more than just words; it has to do with spirit, attitude, and often timing (Stolovich, n.d.).  When building relationships, it’s important to know your stakeholders as well as their preferences for communication (Allen & Hardin, 2008; Portny et al. 2008).  While it may not be feasible to cater to every stakeholder individually, it helps to know how the most important drivers and contributors respond to information delivered in various forms.   In the effort to get things done, it’s usually necessary to communicate both informally and formally.   Commitments that evolve from informal communication should always be put in writing (Portny et al, 2008; Stolovich, n.d.). 

The Laureate interactive learning media, “The Art of Effective Communication,” was an experiment in communication through various modalities.   I experienced the exact same message in the form of an e-mail, a voice mail, and video message, and I came away with some very different ideas about the urgency of the message.   In the real world, I think the face-to-face message would have been most effective because there would have been opportunity for both parties to check their understanding.   Communication is about sending and receiving information with the goal of understanding.  Unfortunately, understanding can be elusive in the midst of noise.  Messages are often lost or distorted as a result of the medium chosen to deliver them.  

The content of the message had to do with a co-worker requesting that a colleague give her an ETA on the completion of a report.  She explained through all three modalities that she needed the information in order to make her deadline, and used the exact same wording.      

E-mail

The e-mail request seemed to convey more urgency because it was in writing, and was sent to the colleague while s/he is possibly “in an all-day meeting.”  If I were in the position of the receiver and checking my e-mail on a break from the meeting, I would interpret the sender to be in a frantic state where she needs an update from me before the end of the day, or while I’m in the meeting.  In response, I might e-mail her back letting her know what the status of the report is.   If it were ready, I would send it to her.   

Voice Mail

The voice mail message with the same wording as the e-mailed conveyed less urgency.  Now that I could hear the sender’s voice, the issue seemed less important.  Her tone was relaxed and friendly. She spoke slowly, so I clearly understood that she needed and ETA on the report, but would prefer if I could send the report to her via e-mail.  If I had picked up this voice mail while on break from an all-day meeting, I would make sure I touched bases with the sender before the end of the day. 

Face-to-Face

With the face-to-face scenario, the sender came across as extremely casual.  I could now see her facial expressions and I could hear her tone.  While her words express a very important message, the fact that she was delivering it over a cubicle wall seemed to indicate a casual tone.   Moreover, she smiles while thanking her colleague for getting up to speed on the missing report.   How nice?  If I were on the receiving end of this communication, I would probably give my co-worker an update right away, and inquire with her about her deadline.  Depending on my work load, I would either try to get the report completed expeditiously, or I would negotiate for more time.

References

Allen, S., & Hardin, P. C. (2008). Developing instructional technology products using effective project management practices. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 19(2), 72–97.  

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

Laureate Education (n.d.). The art of effective communication [Multimedia learning object]. Available from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/

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. 

Stolovich (n.d.), Communicating with Stakeholders [Video]. Laureate Education. Available from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/

My Party Project Post Mortem

One of the best ways to learn and grow is by reflecting on past experiences.   Projects are no different in this regard, so I’ll reflect a bit on a personal project that was gratifying, but could have been pulled off with just a tad fewer glitches.   Some years ago, my daughter and son had graduations in the same year.  My daughter was completing high school while my son was finishing junior high.  Both had expressed an interest in having a party, but had also mentioned that they’d like some other types of recognition as well.   At the time, my son’s favorite line was,   “Of course, it doesn’t hurt if it’s green!”  

In deliberating over whether to give gifts alone or throw a huge party, I began to count the costs for invitations, food, decorations, new patio furniture, a tent, etc.  I began to visualize what the whole set-up would look like, where the food table would go in the backyard, who we might invite, who would handle the music, so on and so forth.  What I failed to do is commit to the project.  While shopping for new patio furniture and a tent with the idea of having guests eventually, I could not confirm whether we were having a party or not.   And believe me, the kids asked over and over again about our plans.   As the executive team member, sponsor, and driver for this project, I was unable to plan effectively.   I had not allocated resources in time or money, nor had I assembled a project team to work a plan.    I let my team know that we were indeed having a party about two weeks before graduation weekend, at which point they were very excited and began to pitch in wherever they could find a need.  The result was a huge shindig with over fifty guests.  We had great food, fun, and nice weather, but the event exhausted every ounce of energy I had.    Other complications included having to call for additional financial support from my ex-husband.  He was glad to help, but could have forked over the cash earlier if he had known about our plans.   I had also planned to coordinate games for the event, but I ran out of time.  

If I had approached this shindig from project manager’s perspective, I would have known that project management is about planning, organizing, and controlling (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer, 2008).   As cited in Lin (2006), Baumgartner (1963) defines project management as the actions involved in producing project deliverable items on time, within cost, with required reliability and performance.  A major part of project kick-off is understanding why the project is being undertaken, determining project outcomes and products, estimating resource requirement, and identifying stakeholders.  Stakeholders include anyone who is affected or interested in your project as a supporter or detractor.   Greer (2010) advises that all stakeholders need to be involved in a project early.  If they are not engaged early, the oversight can cause “re-work.”  As an example, I could have gone to the grocery store once instead of 3 times if I had known that my ex, a supporting stakeholder, could contribute resources.   A budget would have helped as well.  

Concerning planning, a project manager needs to have a good handle on all of the variables that affect a project’s success.  A five finger checklist of these variables includes time, resources, expertise, quality, and scope (Budrovich, n.d.).  Once a project is scoped, changes in either one of these areas necessitate modification in other areas.  If I had scoped the party project, I could have used something similar to a statement of work which is a written confirmation of what a project will produce and the terms and conditions under which the project team will perform the work (Portny et al., 2008).  In a professional organization, it’s generally used to gain project approval.  In this case, I could have used the agreement to let my children know what needed to be accomplished.  The formal agreement would have collectively moved us into a planning phase where our efforts would have been more focused.  Our project team could have allotted more time, resources (human, monetary, and otherwise) to make the event happen, and we could have mapped our plan with a schedule and responsibility matrix, and a communication plan.  In the end, I would have been much less exhausted, and the workload would have been more evenly distributed.    

References

Budrovich, V. (n.d.). Practitioner Voices: Barriers to Project Success [Video].                  Laureate Education. Available from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/

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

Lin, H. (2006). Instructional project management: An emerging professional practice for design and training programs. Workforce Education Forum, 33(2). Retrieved from http://voc.ed.psu.edu/projects/publications/books/Fall2006/WEF_fall2006.1.html

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.

Hello All,

For the next eight weeks I'll be studying Project Management with a focus on Instructional Design.  I'll be posting some assignments to this blog site.   I enjoy healthy debate, so please feel free to comment at any time.  

The Future of Distance Education

From its roots in correspondence study to its growth and development in the open universities of Europe, distance education has evolved and is impacting American organizations in the most fundamental ways (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, 2009).  Naysayers denigrate it as disruptive and inefficient, but repeatedly studies have shown that there is no significant difference in outcomes between distance education programs and those conducted on-the- ground (Siemens, 2010; Russell, 1999).   Still others incite fear by labeling online programs as diploma mills (Noble, 2002).  Of course, accreditation should be a factor in the decision to attend any program, whether traditional or online.   Moreover, when investigating, it’s important to note that regional accreditation is the most stringent (Siemens et al., 2009).   Look for university programs that have both regional and national accreditation.   

For universities,  distance education programs serve as a means to expand the student population so that it includes non-traditional students.  For corporations and government, it serves as a bridge for dispersed employee populations to learn collectively and with consistency across physical boundaries.   More importantly, corporations  are motivated by return on investment.  Distance learning is often less expensive to produce, record, and store for future use (Simonson et al., 2009).    

Between the years 2000 and 2008, the number of undergraduate students enrolled in distance education rose from  8% to 20% of the total student population.  In all 4.3 million students were enrolled in at least one online course (U.S. Department of Education, 2011).   This number does not include graduate students enrolled in online degree programs.  A national study of all degree granting universities found that as  of the 2006-2007 academic year,  the total number of students enrolled in distance education courses was 12.2 million(Basmat & Lewis, 2009).  As referenced earlier, the proliferation of distance education extends beyond academia to business and government.    Instructor-led classroom training is still the primary delivery method for corporate training, but virtual classrooms and computer-based methods account for roughly  40%  of training in businesses (Training Magazine, 2010).   

George Siemens (2010) attributes the growing acceptance of distance education to several factors:

·         An increase in online communication

·         Practical experience with new tools

·         Growing comfort with online discourse

·         The ability to communicate with diverse and global groups

·         Lack of geographic constraints

Further, Siemens projects that distance education is tending toward a  “triple helix” model of education where government, businesses, and educational institutions interact to provide support and equip students working in online environments (Siemens, 2010).   

There is no doubt that distance education is more widely accepted and pursued now than in the past.  Based on previous patterns – 12% growth in distance education enrollment at the undergraduate level in this decade alone – it’s safe to expect the same kind of growth going forward.   At this rate, one third of all college students would be enrolled in online courses by the year 2016.  I’m not suggesting that distance learning will replace traditional environments, but universities agree that their facilities cannot accommodate growing demand as the number of high school graduates seeking secondary education increases.  Further, there is a need for more continuing education in the adult population (Howell, Williams, & Lindsy, 2003).    As we become more familiar with online communication in our personal and work lives, learning on line will become less austere and more of a given in our pursuits to increase our knowledge base.

Negative perceptions of distance education are largely due to unfamiliarity with the learning format. Those who might consider a distance education program wonder how they will communicate with their peers and with the professors.   How does feedback happen?  Does face-to-face communication ever happen, and how would that be coordinated?  What about testing?  How does the institution know that the student is not cheating?  Rest assured, today’s course management systems provide for robust communication in both asynchronous (threaded) and synchronous (real-time) formats.   Discussions, small group projects, presentations, and reviews from both instructors and classmates are all possible with the appropriate use of technology.  Some of this technology includes discussion board forums, chat rooms, document sharing, mind mapping, wikis, blogs, etc.  Additionally, browser lock down programs and question databases support secured testing environments. 

As practitioners of education, it’s incumbent upon us to remain grounded in proven practice.  Whether online or face-to-face,  people attend to, process, store, and transfer information the same way they always have.   In short, technology cannot drive instructional design simply because it is available.  Equivalency theorists posit  that the use of electronic communication creates a virtual classroom that is similar to the traditional one, and that distance learning outcomes should be equivalent, not identical to its local counterparts (Simonson et al., 2009).   Recognizing the unique features of distance learning environment – separation of instructor, student, and peers in space and time – educators should seek to diminish the negative effects of distance while maintaining integrity in the course design.   For instance, instructional designers should always start with learning objectives.  Assessments and strategies derived from these objectives should be rooted in proven practice. As an example, Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy ( Churches, 2008)is an excellent guide for drafting learning objectives.  Technology supports instructional strategies and should be used to delivered content in a manner that actively engages the student (Simonson et al., 2009; Durrington et al., 2006; Dede, 2005).   Active engagement is especially important because passive learning is not an option in online or other distant learning environments.  In fact, activity is the heart of any good instructional design (Piskurich, n.d.).

 

The distance education initiative is advanced with a commitment to foster greater understanding of methods and means with the general public.  In daily conversation, this means correcting misconceptions as well as proactively sharing the benefits of distance learning.  Best practices evolve with greater experience, so what we consider optimal today may be obsolete tomorrow.  As such, we have an imperative to continuous improvement and ongoing contribution to a broader community of practice.  Hands-on applications in this regard might be as simple as participating in an online forum for distance education professionals.  More formal participation might involve undertaking and publishing research.  Whatever the contribution, we all have a responsibility to practice and proclaim with the goal of improving learning for all students involved in distance education. 

References

Basmat, P. & Lewis, L. (2009)   Distance Education at Degree-Granting Postsecondary

Institutions: 2006–07. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009044.pdf

Churches, A. (2008). Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. Retrieved October 7, 2011 from: http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/techtraining/homepage/BloomDigitalTaxonomy2001.pdf

Dede, C. (2005). Planning for neomillennial learning styles. Educause Quarterly, 28(2), 7–12.

Durrington, V., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190–193. Retrieved from http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/433631/strategies_for_enhancing_student_interactivity_in_an_online_environment/

Howell, S., Williams, P., & Lindsy, N. (2003). Thirty-two trends affecting distance education: An informed foundation for strategic planning. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 6 (3) Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall63/howell63.html

Noble, D. (2002). Digital diploma mills: The automation of higher education. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press

Piskurich, G. (n.d.). Planning and designing online courses. Retrieved October 5, 2011 from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5693697&Survey=1&47=7555398&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Russell (1999). No significant difference phenomenon. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University.

Siemens, G. (2010). The future of distance education. Lecture presented for Laureate Education Inc. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5693697&Survey=1&47=7098459&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Training Magazine (2010).  Training Industry Report.  Retrieved from http://www.cedma-europe.org/newsletter%20articles/Training%20Magazine/2010%20Training%20Industry%20Report%20(Nov%2010).pdf2

U.S. Department of Education,National Center for Education Statistics. (2011).The Condition of Education 2011(NCES 2011-033), Indicator 43. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=80

Best Practices: Converting to a Distance Learning Format

For the most seasoned trainers, making the move from a face-to-face learning environment to an online format can be a daunting.   More frequently, these days, corporate trainers, secondary, and K-12 educators are faced with a need to incorporate web-based instruction into their courses.  In many cases, the demand is for conversion of existing courses to complete and effective online solutions.  Fortunately, the body of information from both practitioners and researchers is growing.  With a little guidance, the transition doesn’t have to be disruptive.   Click here for a summary of the best advice from e-learning experts.  

The Open Course Option

     Continuing education doesn’t have to break the bank if you don’t need a degree!  In 2002, MIT offered its first open courses free of charge, but not for credit.  Since then several universities have joined the initiative to extend the community of learners on a not-for-credit, not-for-profit basis.   The benefit for the institution is increased visibility as a community servant and the provision of a gateway to higher enrollments in paid courses.  For those of us who really like to learn, the benefits of open courseware are immeasurable. While the courses may be free, they should still reflect the quality expected in paid distance learning programs, especially when it comes to pre-planning and design. 

     Planning for successful learning requires a significant investment of time in any environment.  Whether the arrangement is face-to-face or distant, an instructor needs to plan the events of an instructional period.  In traditional situations, the instructor has the benefit of being able to adapt and respond based on non-verbal cues from the learning group.   With many forms of asynchronous distance learning, this immediate feedback is not possible, so planning becomes even more critical.  Further, considerations like technology and materials distribution need to be addressed well in advance of the course start date.  Among others, Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2009) offer the following recommendations for designing and planning distance learning:

·         Avoid “dumping” a face-to-face course onto the web

·         Think about course outcomes, and create course activities that activate higher   order thinking skills

·         Organize the course and make the requirements clear by repeating them throughout.  

·         Detailed assignment instructions (rubrics) are imperative. 

·         Give examples of acceptable and unacceptable work

·         Define due dates, point values, grade weighting

·         Provide instructions for submitting assignments

·         Keep students informed.  Constant feedback is essential

·         Assess students at the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels

·         Use questions pools and randomization with objective tests to minimize cheating

·         Apply adult learning principles: relevance, options for customization, building on personal and professional experience, etc.

·         Make sure materials arrive on time.

·         Always have a back-up plan for technology failures

     I explored several open course ware classes this week and found one of particular interest that clearly exemplifies distance instructional design principles:       

CAPP 30523 - Applied Multimedia Technology (Clark, 2008)

http://ocw.nd.edu/computer-applications/applied-multimedia-technology

     The Applied Multimedia course is available in the Notre Dame Open Course Ware Collection.   The course is set-up for students to complete the class in 75 minute sessions twice weekly.   It has 6 projects including a blog, a website review, image portfolio,  movie screensaver, podcast, and exploration in a virtual world.   The blog runs concurrently with the other projects and is used to showcase work as it is completed.   Students have the option to work on projects in whichever order they deem necessary, but the instructor suggests an order.  One of the principles of adult learning is to allow for student choice and participation in planning (Conlan, Grabowski, & Smith, 2003).  The choice to select the order of project completion demonstrates respect for student’s prior learning, interest, and need for relevant information in a timely manner.   It’s also an example of hypercontent- designed instruction.  With this type of design, the instructional designer provides units, modules, and topics, but the student determines sequencing (Simonson et al., 2009) 

Undoubtedly, the instructional designer for the Multimedia course has avoided the tendency to “dump” information from a face-to-face course. 

     The most compelling evidence that the course is designed for self-paced online learners is the course calendar.   As opposed to due dates, the calendar gives an alignment for activities and the number of hours that should be spent on each one.   To absorb the content and complete the application projects, the  student would expect to spend roughly 26 hours.   On another link from the navigation bar, the course content is organized into sessions which equate to roughly one hour a piece.  Content outlined here includes readings and assignments.   For convenience, readings are listed on a separate tab by session.  This is an excellent example of good organization and clearly stated expectations with redundancy.  Additionally, the course syllabus concisely outlines learning goals, assignments, exams, and grading policies.   A reasonably priced textbook is identified, and projects are listed in a table including an overview, learning objectives, and rubrics for each one.   

     Finally, purposeful planning for online instruction is evident in the listing of minimum technology requirements in the syllabus.   George Piskurich, an instructional design guru, cautions that access to technology is something not to be taken for granted (Piskurich, n.d).   In this case, minimum technology requirements are specified including hardware, software, and online accounts.    

     Online instruction should employ interaction to compel the learner to active participation.   Moreover,  learners have to engage in active procession of information in order for it to become meaningful (Mayer, 2007).   Simonson et al. (2009) concur with their recommendation to think about course outcomes, and create course activities that activate higher order thinking skills.  Notre Dame’s  Multimedia course has an obvious emphasis on applying knowledge beyond simple comprehension and understanding.  The content throughout the course focuses on the application of the four dimensions of multimedia:

·         Functionality

·         Aesthetics

·         Content

·         Usability

     The course has a page dedicated to each dimension and includes online articles for each topic.   Tests include essays which usually require some level of evaluation and synthesis. 

     I’ve already taken a multimedia course at Walden University and found it to have more depth than the Notre Dame free course; however, projects provide opportunities to expand your skills or keep them fresh.   If I had more time, I would take the Notre Dame course.   The class offers an opportunity to join a study group, but does not offer access to the professor.  For the purpose of gaining multimedia skills in Adobe Flash, Photoshop, movie making, and Second Life, the course is a viable option.  Aside from having very minimal feedback from the instructor, the only drawback would be the fact that time and energy would be invested without receiving college credit.  

References

Clark, G.C. (2008). Applied Multimedia Technology. University of Notre Dame Open Courseware. Retrieved from http://ocw.nd.edu/computer-applications/applied-multimedia-technology

Conlan, J., Grabowski, S., Smith, K. (2003). Adult learning. In M. Ored (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.  Retrieved from  http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Adult_Learning#Andragogy

Mayer, R. E. (2007). Five features of effective multimedia messages: An evidence-based

             approach. In Fiore, S. M., & Salas, E. (Eds.), Toward a science of distributed learning. 171- 184

Piskurich, G. (n.d.). Planning and designing online courses. Retrieved October 5, 2011 from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5693697&Survey=1&47=7555398&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.