Processes
Created by Kristina on 09 Sep 2007 | Tagged as:
Course
ED 795A: Instructional Design Seminar
Project Name
HHSA WBT Template Design & LMS User Manual
Files
LMS Manual
HHSA Template Presentation
Project Description
For this project, I worked with the County of San Diego: Health and Human Services training department. I began the project by meeting with my client to discuss the background of the Health and Human Services department and how the actual training department would change in the next year. During this meeting, we discussed how their current web-based training templates lacked the interactivity necessary for their employees to retain the content. In addition, only one employee understood how to use these templates and publish them to their Learning Management System. In the end, we decided that I would focus on creating a user manual for the LMS, so all employees could use the system. Also, I would create templates that could be applied to the content for their web-based training modules.
I began the LMS User Manual project by meeting with the LMS expert and performing a task analysis on how to use the present templates and upload them to the system. In addition, I looked through all of the current training materials that the vendor had provided. Because the templates required the user to insert content into the actual HTML, I also explored the templates themselves and began writing the steps on how to use each type of template. After determining all of the steps for each process, I developed a method for presenting that information using a table format. For the procedures involving the actual templates, I wrote the directions on the left side of the table and the actual HTML on the right side of the table. I also indicated the portion of template that changed by highlighting it in the HTML. For steps involved in uploading the content to the LMS, I took screen shots of the various steps and placed those into a table format with the written steps.
For the WBT templates part of the project, I began by conducting a content analysis of the current web-based training. This analysis gave me an idea for the type of content HHSA needed to present to their employees. In addition, it allowed me to see the current web-based training and how it could be improved. I then did a literature review on types and theories of web-based training and I determined how I could apply them to this content. Next, I created various templates for use with different kinds of content. Finally, I put all of these templates together in PowerPoint to make an interactive prototype of how these different templates could work together, with voiceover and written instructions of their use. With both projects, I also completed a review process through which I received feedback on what I had produced up to that point and made edits or changes based on that feedback.
EDTEC Standard
With this project, I walked through the complete process of designing training materials. I began with the analysis, and then moved into the design and development phases, while continually receiving feedback on my progress. The whole project gave me new knowledge on how the design process actually works and the importance of each step. If I had not completed an analysis of the current content or the tasks necessary to produce those WBTs, I would not have understood what the end result needed to look like. Also, if I had not understood the tasks needed to complete the LMS procedures, I would have produced a user guide that did not make sense and that no employees could actually use. In the same vain, if I had not received feedback from my client, I could not have tailored the product to fit their needs appropriately. Each step in a process is important and if one step is skipped, the end product will not be what the client wants or needs.
Problems and Opportunities
The largest problem I faced while working on this project was the fact that my contact at HHSA left the organization before the completion of my project. Since my project did not stop because she left, I now had to deal with new contacts that I had worked with very little prior to that point. This change presented a whole new set of challenges, but it helped me to grow and become a better designer. It took more effort on my part to finish the project and it took a more aggressive approach to receive any feedback on my work. However, in the end, I stepped up to the plate and created a product that I believed could really help the organization, despite the lack of support from the client for the second half of the project.
My Capabilities
This project really showed my true ability to be flexible when presented with unforeseen circumstances. I had no warning on my contact person leaving the company and because of that, I was put into a position that I was not expecting. I did not have a choice but to finish the project based on the contract I had signed, so I took it upon myself to gather a lot of information on my own and find new contacts to talk to about issues I faced. I really had to change how I thought about the project also. I always knew the project was for HHSA as a whole, but when dealing with only one contact, it becomes more for that person. This changed my perspective on clients and how the client is actually the whole organization, not just the person I meet with and talk to on the phone. This project could really affect the organization at large and therefore, I must continue my best work through the end.
Lessons Learned
This situation really taught me a life lesson about how change can happen at anytime and though a project plan is necessary, there should always be room for unexpected events. I really learned the importance of contingency plans and having more than one contact person at a company for which I work. Though I needed to build a rapport with my contact, it was just as important for me to meet other people in the organization. If I had asked for that, the transition would have been significantly easier when my contact left. In the end, I feel that I developed a great product, but I definitely could have avoided some speed bumps along the way if I had planned ahead.