CEP812: PART A: The Wicked Problem - A Need or an Opportunity

I would like to support our school’s mission to help employers and individual learners improve job performance and results through services including training, assessment, best practice information, career development, and learner support.  This proposed project is a “just-in-time” solution as we continually evaluate, update, and improve our programs and services that we offer. 

The educational need and opportunity.  Computer instructors receive phone calls or visits from former students during computer lab hours.  These former students ask job-related or project-based questions which oftentimes require quite a bit of attention and time.  This takes away the focus that instructors should be spending with the current students.  Although, this could also be an opportunity to provide a dedicated service to individuals who need training solutions to their work-related projects and questions.  In addition to retaining our former students as customers, this new service might attract a new set of students like small business owners and self-payers who have similar training needs and requirements and who need help with  work projects.

The plan. We have been hearing budget cut plans in the news which may affect funding or grants to institutions including our school.  Therefore, it is time to be proactive and start reinventing and retooling our services by widening our scope of audience like self-payers and small business owners.   Regardless of who we serve, these new sets of students are also affected by our current economic situation and are also in process of recovering too.  I would like to propose learning options that would focus on teaching project-based solutions and business resolutions.  With this proposed project, students can save gas by not coming to our building to receive individualized or customized learning.  

1. An online form will be available for a potential student to fill out.  This form will be posted on our website and it contains questions that will help us find out and evaluate the specific problem, training needs, and the best time to contact the student. 
2. A learning management system (LMS) with a web conference tool will be used for this project.  To be more specific, I will use Moodle to teach the course and use  Adobe Connect or WizIq to conduct virtual sessions so I can answer specific questions and needs.  Moodle will contain the resources, presentations, and concepts of the course.  The virtual classroom will have scheduled sessions with the teacher and the student to focus on interaction, real-time demonstration, and screen sharing.  
3. As a backup plan, a student-access-only page on our school website can be used with a web conference tool for virtual classrooms. 

I have been using Moodle for my other classes and I currently manage our school website, therefore, we both have the LMS and website resources.  It is really essential to have a virtual classroom for this project in order to address the specific learning goals that should be accomplished during the training. Last week, this plan was mentioned to our Adult Training Manager and she said that I can write up an email to her regarding this proposal so she can forward the plan to our Director for approval.

The logistics. This project will be the training solution for students who need immediate answers to specific questions regarding their projects that they are working on.  A potential customer could be a former student, a small business owner, or a self payer.  An instructor will be teaching the course based on the subject matter and the computer skill level the student will be needing in order to accomplish the project-based training.  Implementation takes place once it has been approved by the upper management which will be brought up by our Director during their conferences.

The research and resources. I have been researching for a web conferencing tool that can be incorporated in a learning management system specifically Moodle, or if not, in a website as a second option.  This tool should be able to have a feature that can record the sessions and allows both student and teacher screen sharing.  Its cost effectiveness is a must.  The lab exercise on web conference, and the virtual sessions that we are having in our CEP 812 class have been very helpful.  These give me ideas on how to use it and what are the criteria and features to search for.  Currently, I see either Adobe Connect or WizIq as a good tool I can use as a tool to incorporate in Moodle. 

The sources/researches that I am currently using for the proposal are the following:

• The New Generation of E-Learning, an Adobe Connect virtual session on how the generation of e-learning fits into today's high-impact learning environment. Presenter: David Mallon, Principle Analyst, Bersin & Associates, March 2010.
• Where Is The Learning In E-Learning?: A Critical Analysis Of The E-Learning Industry, a whitepaper on what makes eLearning successful or fail;  and why eLearning could be an effective teaching strategy for adult learners. Author: Gary Woodwill, Ed. D., Chief Learning Officer, Operitel Corporation, 2004.
• Motivational Factors Affecting the Integration of a Learning Management System by Faculty, a journal on the benefits of integrating a learning management system (LMS) into teaching practices;  and educators’ motivational factors that affect the decision in adopting an LMS in the classroom. Author: Cynthia Gautreau, California State University Fullerton, The Journal of Educators Online, Volume 8, Number 1, January 2011.
• Using Versatile Web Conferencing Technology, an article about the benefits of web conferencing in education. Author: Christian Lehmbeck, Director, Darden Media at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. January 2009.
• Web Conferencing for Teaching and Learning, an article from videoconference.edublogs.org, a great resource that covers the basics and the effective way to use web conferencing in education. Author: Carol Skyring (Formerly Carol Daunt), Emerging Technologies Specialist, Broadreach Services, May 2009.

The plan for the portion to be implemented.  During the trial period which is the next four weeks of this project, I will be using MS Excel as the pilot course.   I will be using both Moodle and a web conferencing tool.  Moodle will contain announcements of scheduled virtual sessions, resources, presentations, and videos in MS Excel.  I will be making arrangements with students who have signed up for or completed any of our programs, and are willing to go through scheduled free virtual sessions with me.  I can communicate with our existing students through email and in person during my computer lab hours.  I can reach our former students through social media (LinkedIn and Facebook) and through email.  In preparation for the beginning of the course,  I will make sure that when I communicate with the students who volunteered I will provide them  complete instructions on how to log into Moodle, how to join a scheduled virtual session, and what are the technical/computer requirements needed to be able to join a web conference.  During the virtual sessions, I will be covering topics which include practical examples on where and how we can apply MS Excel to get projects done in a workplace.

At the end of the trial period, this course will hopefully be implemented as a functional course once it is approved by the upper management.  It is a training solution that utilizes our existing technology and database resources like:

• Moodle
• the school website where I can embed or insert a link to the survey to find out and evaluate the specific computer skills a potential student needs to be trained in to accomplish a work-related project
• social media (LinkedIn and Facebook) to contact our students
• email addresses of existing and previous students to be used as an alternative method to contact students
• survey tool called Survey.Net to create forms and feedback survey

After I have completed the CEP 812 course, I will propose to teach online additional technology tools that I believe any professionals who are always on the go should know about (e.g. mobile learning, cloud computing, web 2.0).  I believe that teaching online by combining real-time collaboration tools to connect with students virtually and course contents that allow students to learn at their own pace is an effective teaching strategy.  It has been working well with me as a student and would like to be the teacher who would try this teaching approach.  I also would like to partner with our school in getting prepared to this pedagogical strategy. 

The indicators of success.  I have categorized the indicators of success into the following two terms based on how soon can I find out whether the proposed project is on track in meeting my goal as well as my students’ goal to making teaching and learning more meaningful and functional. 

[Long-term] I will know that this project is successful if it meets the two conditions: First, if I was able to solicit positive feedback from our students who signed up for the program.  An online evaluation survey will be given out to the student to take after completing the course. It is a project-based training, therefore, the feedback will be a great indicator if the skills have been acquired during the training to accomplish the project. Second, if other instructors will start adopting the web conferencing technology. Some instructors are currently using Moodle.  They are willing to have scheduled appointments to meet personally with potential students for customized training but might not be ready to have virtual sessions yet.  If instructors see me conduct and record virtual sessions, they may witness and realize the technology’s potential benefits then they will be more open-minded about it. 

[Short-term] For the trial period, which is the next four weeks, I will know that this project is successful if I receive positive testimonials from our students who signed up for the project.  In exchange for the free virtual sessions that I have conducted and the support that I have provided during the trial period, the students who volunteered will be giving me written testimonials.  The testimonial will cover comments and feedback on:

• their learning experience using the LMS and web conference technology, specifically, how the teaching strategy using online learning with real-time virtual sessions benefited them during the course.
• whether the course content has been presented effectively and if the topics covered targeted the practical situations where MS Excel can be used to complete work project.
• whether they would recommend this method of teaching for future courses that we will be offering and how it will  contribute to answering the customized training needs of future students.