Reflections on a Past Project

EDIT 6100-Instructional Design required the creation and delivery of a course. Using the ADDIE Model and tools learned, a course entitled, Introduction to PowerPoint for the Mac was developed and presented to two fifth grade classes, one fourth grade class, and one second grade class; four classes in all. The instructor led course consisted of a course manual, syllabus, activities, final project, student evaluation form, and teacher evaluation form (grading rubric with anecdotal notes). This course, which took two class periods, preceded two others, an intermediate and advanced course scheduled to follow immediately after.

Students and classroom teachers who took part in the project graded the course as "Excellent". Newly learned skills were immediately transferred and incorporated into other subject areas like language arts, science, and social studies. Hallway displays quickly became the envy of other teachers and students. Parents and visitors were impressed by student accomplishments. At 90% completion, the Introductory Course was stopped by the school principal. So what could have possibly gone wrong? I will begin with these words of wisdom. "Caution: If you don’t involve all stakeholders in an active and engaged fashion from the beginning, you are likely to suffer the consequences of rework* when they finally figure out what you and your project team are up to…. and they then take action to leave their mark on it (Greer pp 10)"!

Here is the condensed version of what happened. $100,000 worth of new computers were purchased and used by 84 students (those in the classes referenced above) and one classroom teacher. This could be viewed as problematic since there is a total of 540 children in the building and 45 teachers. Mathematically this equates to spending $100,0000 on 16% of your student population and roughly 2% of your staff. The administrative branch of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) reportedly questioned their children and children's teachers about the issuance of new computers and whether their child was learning PowerPoint. None of their children's classes were issued new computers and therefore none of their children were learning PowerPoint.

Representatives of the PTA (reportedly) complained to the Principal and Board of Education. The result was a complete shutdown of this learning initiative. No kidding. I was told by the principal that I could no longer teach the students on their new computers and that all students had to be treated the same. This resulted in students with the new computers coming into the lab (like all other students) and learning on eMacs originally placed into service in 1995. The PTA appears to have used their position as vocal stakeholders to stop an important learning initiative because their children did not directly benefit from it!

When examining project risks initially, concerns focused on a lack of Internet Service and equipment failure. This project failed because I did not anticipate the actions of the PTA. As stakeholders, the PTA, especially vocal PTA groups are demanding. Additionally, the more involved a parent is in "doing" for the school, the more vocal and demanding they are. Below is a list of things I would have done different.

1. Examine the culture of the school. The culture embodies what is desirable and undesirable-how things should and should not be-it dictates the kinds of activities that are legitimate and not legitimate (Beach 30). In hindsight a review of school culture would have sounded an alert that none of the executive board's children would be involved in this initiative. Alternate plans for inclusion could have been developed and discussed with the principal before or during the initial implementation phase. Lunchtime, afterschool, or Saturday classes were all viable options.

2) Communicate the plan in writing and get written approval. Although school policy requires lesson plan approval, time should have be put aside to write a plan and get written approval. Written documentation would have made it easier for me to for continuation with perhaps a change of scope to include other children a stated in 1), above.

3) Communicate with all stakeholders, especially the PTA. Beach's six rules for effectively communicating the vision and the plan and of building consensus about them could have been utilized (Beach pp78). A review of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs could have provided guidance on what types of issues stakeholders might have and how best to meet their needs (Laureate pp 230). I missed an opportunity to enlist the PTA as change agents and supporters, to help get newer computers into the lab for all student use.

Resources:

Beach, L. R. (2006). Leadership and the Art of Change: A Practical Guide to Organizational Transformation. Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage Publications, Inc.

Greer, M. (2010). The Project Management Minimalist: Just Enough PM To Rock Your Projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

Intulogy (2004). The ADDIE Model. Retrieved from http://www.intulogy.com/addie/implementation.html

Laureate (2009). Learning Theories and Instruction (Custom Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Lockitt, B. (2000). Practical Project Management For Education And Training. London: Further Education Development Agency.

Stennes, B. The Six Rules of Effective Communication Retrieved from