CEdO599 Week 2 - Goals and Timeline

This week I finalized the goals and timeline for my project.  Basically I laid out the steps necessary to select and install a social networking platform, create the initial documentation, and have users record their first thoughts and lessons.  My goals for the project can each be tied to one of the key milestones or deliverables that I will have to create through the process.  The first is a list of the requirements based on interviews with key stakeholders.  This will include talking to some of the key people who will need to be on board for the change to happen.  The second deliverable will be an evaluation of at least three social networking platforms against these requirements, with a selection of the final winner.  The third will be the documentation for the initial users of the platform.  And the last will be the custom recording that end users can create and share with their tips for the social networking platform.

By creating these deliverables, I should be able to select install the right social network software, but more importantly I will be able to demonstrate that end users can create useful documentation for their co-workers.

CEdO599 - Final project

We are finally nearing the end of this journey.  It is time to take everything we learned and apply it to a real world problem.  I have had several ideas over the course of this program, and by combining them I think I have come up with a great idea for a project. In CEdO525 we talked about using real world problems to engage the class.  Have them create the stories and lessons that will explain the core concepts.  This will help them remember by making the lessons applicable, and it will tap into the creativity of a group so the teacher does not need to come up with all of the examples.  Secondly, in CEdO535, we talked about methods of facilitating online learning, and we also touched on the topic of social networking.  By combining these two ideas I have come up with an idea for a project.

As I have mentioned before, my company is preparing to rollout a new software system that will be used by almost all employees.  This rollout will require re-training a majority of the company.  To help this I am planning on using both of these ideas.  I would start finding a group of early adopters for the software.  These should be people who are excited about the change, because as we learned in CEdO565, it is best to begin with people who are eager for change, and have them help convince others.  I would then give these early adopters the software necessary for them to create short tutorial videos that demonstrate the most common uses of the new software.  This will allow them to show how the software is used to do the things that their departments do most often.  Instead of sitting in class learning about a list of features, the end users can see the software doing the things that they care about most.  Once the early adopters have created these videos, we would have them publish it to a social networking site.  Other people in their department can subscribe to the these lists, and will be able to see the videos as they are created.  Then they can search for older videos or comment on the videos that they find most useful.  It would be the best way to have people create and use the content that matters to them the most.

The biggest issue I see with this is that my company is still months away from beginning the rollout of the software.  I will not have access to the program itself for several months, so it will be a while before we can  begin the process of creating the videos.  For my project I would like to use this same methodology, but use another more common software package, like Google Docs for instance.  The first part of the  project will be having some people create videos that demonstrate the basic uses of Google Docs.  Then I will find a social networking program and have the users post their videos, as well as view and comment on the videos of others.    Finally I will have the users comment on their experience and suggest ways to improve the project.  I can then incorporate those ideas as we get ready for the full rollout.

I am very excited to get started on this project, and will post updates about how it is going.

CEdO565 Week 6 - Leadership Wrap Up

This class has served to reinforce many of the ideas about leadership that I have acquired in previous positions, and given me a few more.  I was already familiar with many of the concepts from the change exercise, including the different categories people fall into when dealing with change (pioneers, leaders, early adopters, late adopters, resistors).  In fact I talked about these in my first blog entry, before  knew we would cover them later.  I was also familiar with the idea of building a change network, and using that to drive changes within your work environment (in my case not a school).

I am currently a leader in my job, and I think I already use many of these ideas in my day to day job.  However it never hurts to rethink your position. or to refresh your knowledge of these basic concepts.  Anyone can be a leader in their job.  For teachers and developers of people, this usually means rethinking how best to connect with your students, then use you knowledge of change principles to start sharing those ideas within your organization.  I hope I will get many more opportunities to improve the  training and development of people within my organization.  I will do this by bring new ideas to the table, and conencting with the right people to try and turn those ideas into actions.