There is a tremendous amount of information to sort through about project management and instructional design. I found a couple of sites that will be helpful to me and I hope to you as well.
The first is from a project manager. Michael Greer is a PM who has a great website, http://michaelgreer.biz/pm-ID.htm, to give you help with a few different types of project work but the I.D is showcased separately. He has a worksheet showing the 51 atttributes which are grouped together based on their functions such as at the beginning of a project, Phase I, Phase II and so on. There are listed according to the 10-Step ID Project Management model from his text ID Project Management: Tools & Techniques for Instructional Designers and Developers.
He goes over estimating I.D time, cost benefit analysis, and success criteria. I find all of this information very helpful.
Another webiste that has some great tools to use is the http://pm4id.org/ site. This is the Project Management for Instructional Design site with some great videos to watch and the information is taken from a group of students that were in a PM class at BYU. They were able to do a "remix of a pre-existing, openly licensed project management textbook" that was donated. This site has some good examples of different project cost estimating methods and compares Analogous and Parametric estimates for projects. For example, Analogous means that if a similar project had a certain cost, it may be possible to assume that another project of similar scope and size would cost about the same.
I hope you enjoy these websites and find them useful.
Michael Greer’s site is a wonderful resource. It is very similar to our textbook, except it very specifically delineates everything into phases. This is mentioned in our book in several places, but we seem to focus on the documents associated with the planning. This clearly demonstrates which documents are necessary in which phase and serves as a reminder of other things that are necessary in each phase. The second site was fantastic. Not only are there podcasts and text explaining project management, but there are even videos of project managers explaining their projects. I have already bookmarked this site for later use. Also, I wanted to thank you for reminding us that this degree does not qualify us as project managers. There are two paths to project management delineated at this site. This information will allow me to accurately decide if project management is a viable path at the end of this degree program. Thank you,
ReplyDeleteMarla
Michael Greer's site did have lots of useful information to help. I found the article "Too Many Projects? Prioritize Them!" to especially have information I can use as I am generally juggling multiple projects. Currently I am juggling 3 very different instructional design projects and a Moodle upgrade project. Trying to prioritize which project should take precedence when you are not sure of the current power brokers in the organization as top management has recently changed.
ReplyDeleteI also think it would serve you well to look at whether project management is a viable career path,unfortunately I have found that you may not have a choice. As many (or even most) organizations have very different ideas of what an ID does or is responsible for. At least if you suddenly find yourself, the PM on a project, even though you may not want to take on the role and corresponding additional responsibilities.
Thanks again for the resources.
Kathy, what a wonderful resource and the birthday party was a wonderful example.
ReplyDeleteLisa