Fall Semester Wrap Up

Some Final Thoughts ...

So today is the last day of the Fall Semester. As this semester draws to a close, here are some final thoughts ...

Advanced Instructional Design - Honestly, I didn't think I would enjoy this class very much. I am not a theory person. But I will have to say I was pleasantly surprised when everything came together for my final project. After a bit of a false start (Blackboard proved to be a bit inflexible for a Cognitive Flexibility Hypertext), I am relatively please with the end result.

Performance Centered Design - At first, I could barely follow what the instructor was talking about in this class (Question posed by instructor in the first class - In 60 seconds, tell me how many seconds are in a year? Response - Well, there are 12 - January second, February second, etc ... ). So, needless to say, I didn't think I would catch on. But, after working with my class partner, I think I had the most fun working on the final project in this class. Okay, our first iteration of the Public Speaking Support Blog needs a little work, but it is a pretty decent first stab from a couple of folks who only recently got into this whole Instructional Design field.

Immersion - I will have to say that I am not quite sure how I feel about my Immersion experience at this point. Last night, we gave our semester end presentation on the analysis phase of the project with the prospect of presenting virtually to our client, who at the last minute decided he couldn't participate. I think that about sums up the Immersion experience this semester for me. While we presented a "realistic" scenario for the team to work on during the design phase, who knows if it is going to fly with the client, or if it will even be realistic enough to work for the audience. On a positive note, we did have an SME attend the presentation last night and she gave us a glowing thumbs up. I just hope that we can deliver.

I am very proud of our team -- we brought the project together and delivered last night. I really felt like we were a cohesive unit, with lots to show for all our hard work. I am extremely happy to be involved with such a talented group of designers. It has made the semester that much easier when the road got bumpy. Great job, guys!

Immersion -- Week 8

I love fuchsia -- can we get more fuchsia in this?

So the Immersion team recently spent some time talking to the "tools" experts within T/TAC - these are the folks that use some of the collaborative tolls I spoke of in a previous post. They use Adobe Connect, Polycom, and sometimes very sophisticated video conferencing equipment to communicate across the state. We also met with the client again to discuss his high level vision of the virtual collaboration/conferencing center. And while this ambitious goal is very attractive to those (like me) who want to explore the capabilities of such technologies, when pressed to determine who else we could talk to (a.k.a. the audience), the client told us to follow up with T/TAC staff in the client's region - when this virtual collaboration center is supposed to be designed with all T/TAC staff in mind - that is T/TAC staff across the entire state of Virginia. Anecdotal evidence indicate that audience members in other T/TAC regions do not have access to these nifty communication tools as do the folks in Region 4, nor do they have the support to operate these tools.

So what are we doing here? The client likes the color fuchsia, so we are going to give him more fuchsia? There is this nagging thought that our focus did not truly match the needs of our audience. As we struggled with determining the scope of our audience, we met with another stakeholder outside of Region 4. While this stakeholder probably would have preferred that we tackle another priority from our Performance Analysis, she warmed to the idea of developing and piloting the virtual collaboration center. Why? She reminded us that the initial concept of T/TAC Online was only embraced by a few people - and it has taken six years to become established as the main resource for public school staff on issues related to students with special needs. She believes that using a key group of opinion leaders to diffuse the idea of the virtual collaboration center to other T/TAC staff would work. We discussed asking one of the T/TAC Priority Project teams that embraces technology to be our "guinea pigs" during the design process. And besides - let's get real here - we only have until mid-May to work on this project. This is where we need to make a realistic decision and move forward knowing that we thoroughly considered all of our options.

Immersion -- Week 4

I am Jealous!



So, in my EDIT 730 class (Analysis and Design of Multimedia/Hypermedia Environments), we are working in teams on an Instructional Technology (IT) issue, focusing specifically on Web 2.0. Of course the Immersion team is working with T/TAC Online. Another team in the class is working with Croquet. No, it is not the game that is played in your backyard. Croquet is a "software development environment for creating and deploying deeply collaborative multi-user online applications on multiple operating systems and devices". While like Second Life in that it provides a 3D digital world, that is where the similarities end. It is open source. It has a peer-based network architecture. Users can develop applications collaboratively and easily, without the need to know how the applications work. You don't need a hi-tech video card or a super fast processor. Just a decent computer and a decent Internet connection. So the class Croquet team got to speak with some of the key people involved in the development of Croquet and the Croquet Consortium. While Croquet is still in its infancy, being involved at the beginning phases of a project that has the potential for a big impact is a unique opportunity. GMU's IT Program is exploring long term partnerships with the Croquet Consortium beyond the project in EDIT 730.

So can I say again that I am jealous? The Immersion Team met with our SMEs last week and they were all over the map with what they believe should be the next step for T/TAC Online. We spent most of last week spinning our wheels as a result. We needed to come up with project goals - when we still don't even know what the real IT issues are! Luckily, we met with more T/TAC professionals yesterday. Their insights on the day-to-day challenges of service delivery and promoting awareness of resources gave us a clearer picture as to what issues need to be addressed. But - don't get me wrong - I am still excited about the T/TAC project, I just want to be involved in the Croquet project too! Maybe that is something that can be addressed in the PhD program? Hmmm ....