tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72781448596900372622024-03-17T23:03:31.672-04:00Reflections on Learning SuccessThoughts on instructional design, learning, and success.Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.comBlogger258125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-7929083511817690622021-04-28T16:15:00.005-04:002021-04-28T16:16:15.100-04:00How Your High Schooler can Earn College Credit Now!<p> Just finished this podcast with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/homeschoolingforcollegecredit/" target="_blank">Jennifer Cook-DeRosa</a>, author of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HomeschoolingforCollegeCredit" target="_blank">Homeschooling for College Credit</a>. </p><p>Definitely worth a listen - some great ideas and simple ways for kids to earn significant college credit before finishing high school!</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="252" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BLQTZmbjolg" title="YouTube video player" width="448"></iframe></div>Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-65605772428278353322021-03-02T10:07:00.002-05:002021-03-02T10:07:41.337-05:00My Home Work Space<p> Just thought I would share my at-home office setup. I built this desk and am pretty proud of how great it looks and functions!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDGK1iOfqsH2BpbwDLw1BUsqf0YmbjQdDO2YI5JWzWdleLfIjFjcjV-IpRT1WDIc36ftjWKW0M31ndwg4o2DGRjd_EVGlN_Zze1fC40B1boK5FK0p-ll0GJa8LuxySZ0-Bh82WGGCroXS/s2048/desk+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDGK1iOfqsH2BpbwDLw1BUsqf0YmbjQdDO2YI5JWzWdleLfIjFjcjV-IpRT1WDIc36ftjWKW0M31ndwg4o2DGRjd_EVGlN_Zze1fC40B1boK5FK0p-ll0GJa8LuxySZ0-Bh82WGGCroXS/w400-h225/desk+photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-90034238863352403062021-03-01T11:52:00.000-05:002021-03-01T11:52:07.067-05:00Joel Gardner Mission and Values StatementTo be successful in life, one must be clear about what success is. I have reflected and written about my own personal purpose and values over the years and have crystalized these into the visual below. It is certainly a work in progress, and this feels like the closest I have gotten to the feelings, passion, and beliefs at my core. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQJjopFUvQ-oW1Dr6vJPjoRNsGZluY5ZW6Fkw4YOb2bZrdj91dwBwWbad6BiX3rk6dDJEbIT7qpbiPAC9AMGf7zvmqbmoHRrJ82G2HKkzVH1Q6DmkXMFuFEHYiXf7-nyU7Mzk9CU9MIdg/s2048/Mission+and+Values+Poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQJjopFUvQ-oW1Dr6vJPjoRNsGZluY5ZW6Fkw4YOb2bZrdj91dwBwWbad6BiX3rk6dDJEbIT7qpbiPAC9AMGf7zvmqbmoHRrJ82G2HKkzVH1Q6DmkXMFuFEHYiXf7-nyU7Mzk9CU9MIdg/w480-h640/Mission+and+Values+Poster.png" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-16796495138489483992021-02-01T11:33:00.005-05:002021-02-06T13:10:50.713-05:00An experiment: 4 minutes to spark creativity and innovation<div style="text-align: left;">Do you ever find yourself feeling stuck on a creative project? I have, and I have been experimenting with ways to energize my creativity and innovation. I decided to put together a video with the intent to inspire creativity. My thought was that having a video with (a) inspiring music, (b) beautiful, stimulating scenery, and (c) motivating words and quotes might help a person change their emotional and intellectual state and enjoy improvements in creativity and innovation. Take a look at the video below - what do you think? </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="252" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4Uu9PXhEXHU" width="448"></iframe></div>Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-32974134327915113422019-11-10T20:40:00.000-05:002019-11-10T20:40:03.584-05:00Kauai Writers Conference - Day 3Below are my notes from day 3 of the <b><a href="https://kauaiwritersconference.com/" target="_blank">Kauai Writers Conference</a></b>. It's been great advice and a wonderful experience at this conference, and I am appreciative of the kindness and expertise of everyone at this conference.<br />
<br />
<b>Full disclosure</b>: My mind is overwhelmed by the volume of outstanding advice and insights from this conference. As a result, my notes below lack synthesis and editing. I will potentially return and revise, but I at least wanted to get the notes down and published for future review.<br />
<h2>
How Agents Evaluate Your Work</h2>
<i>Stephanie Cabot and Susan Golomb</i><br />
<h3>
Making Contact With The Agent</h3>
<ul>
<li>Excellently written introduction letters are critical. If you write a really good inquiry letter, that will entice us to look further. </li>
<li>It is okay to send a query to multiple agents. If you do, let them know you are working with several agents and that you promise to let the agent know you will let them know. However, don't send an inquiry to more than one agent at the same organization.</li>
<li>Follow the process for sending an inquiry.</li>
<li>Inquiry letters should be sent via email. Snail mail doesn't really make you stand out much more.</li>
<li>If it is a fiction novel, send a completed manual. If it is nonfiction, not necessary to have it fully completed.</li>
<li>A nonfiction book should usually include a chapter with it.</li>
<li>Nonfiction should also include an outline of each chapter. Perhaps 2-3 paragraphs per chapter.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
When Agent Reviews Your Work</h3>
<ul>
<li>It is hard for the agent to read the manuscript - they have a ton going on. </li>
<li>I don't mind a squeaky wheel checking in on where I am with reviews, etc.</li>
<li>Respect the fact that your agent is working all the time. Be patient. If you get another offer, then give other agents the opportunity to respond. It is in your best interest to search and find the best agent. </li>
<li>Your social media. </li>
</ul>
<h3>
Working With an Agent</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Pick someone you can go on a journey with. </li>
<li>Sometimes I take a person on to see if we can work together on something together. </li>
<li>I love changing lives. I love getting people a huge 6-figure advance. (Sounds nice to me!) I love when a lot of my clients end up becoming great friends. I love when something has potential and they come back and have done what I have said - it feels like magic. It is a real journey, and I am lucky to have really wonderful, nice clients.</li>
<li>I get joy from seeing what is inside peoples' brains and seeing the incredible creativity that come out. As an agent, you have to love the challenge of the sale and doing something significant. It is satisfying to do your end of the work and see something powerful happen. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>
After the Book is Accepted</h3>
<div>
You start working with a publisher, and everyone wants to mass with your baby.</div>
<h3>
On creating a platform for your work</h3>
<ul>
<li>How important is a "platform" for fiction? It is not. </li>
<li>How important is a platform for nonfiction? Very.</li>
</ul>
<h2>
Surviving and Thriving in Today's New Publishing Landscape</h2>
<div>
<i>Andy Ross, Lisa Sharkey, Carrie Feron, Alia Habib, Regina Brooks, Michelle Tessler</i></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>I want to be surprised. I want something new that has narrative pride. Emphasize what is original in terms of view and voice.</li>
<li>We represent every type of book for which there is a reader.</li>
<li>Narrative non-fiction - nonfiction that is driven by story. </li>
<li>Audio books are going to continue to grow.</li>
<li>"Multicultural trends" are important. Write about people from many backgrounds.</li>
<li>For nonfiction, audio books and carbon books are where the sales are at.</li>
<li>What kind of podcasts can best promote book. </li>
<li>It is hard to self-publish because it is hard to find a readership. But if you have an online community and an email list, you have an opportunity to be successful. </li>
<li>One trend that is happening and that might really take off is audio-books before print books.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>
How have things changed in "the age of distraction?"</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Anyone who has spent time pitching a book hears the question "how many words is it?" You have to snag them quickly. Think about the first 20 pages. Then think about how you can get the reader to page 120.</li>
<li>You have to have time and resources to promote your book. Most of the things the publisher wants you to do cost money.</li>
<li>If I was on NPR, how would I distill the content of this book? Hone your pitch! Boil it down! Do not bury the lead! </li>
<li>You will need to discuss and share about your book regularly.</li>
<li>Make time to meet your readers! Tours are difficult because they are expensive and it doesn't always pay off. However, authors who will do book tours "at their own expense" is a very nice selling point. And, it lets you meet your fans, which is important. You can interact with your fans and followers online much more easily, too. Sharing your book on your YouTube account is important, as well. </li>
<li>The rise of the independent book publisher - the heart of book publishing. </li>
<li>Think of ways to connect with other authors and readers</li>
<ul>
<li>A bookstore is like a little church for books! Make connections and </li>
<li>Mini-conferences are a powerful way to meet readers and writers</li>
<li>Book festivals can be meaningful, too</li>
<li>Consider work-shopping their writing at the local bookstore. Have lots of people read your book and give you feedback. Your family won't tell you the truth! Have published authors read your books, too. Writers groups can be a powerful way to get feedback, as well. This is a great way to test-market your book. Have lots of people read it and give you true, sound feedback on its readability. (Do a survey, or something). </li>
</ul>
<li>When I evaluate a novel or memoir, I am the advocate for the reader. You need to hear when it is boring, when dialogue is clunky, etc. </li>
<li>Work backwards from your reader. Create a fictional reader in your mind. What is their age? What do they like? Are you delivering something that they would like? (Use Design Thinking, essentially, to really understand their needs).</li>
<li>If you are writing about another culture, it might be worth having "sensitivity readers" take a look at your books and give you feedback for authenticity.</li>
</ul>
<h2>
The Author/Agent Dynamic</h2>
<div>
<i>Stephanie Cabot (agent), Priya Parmar (writer), Whitney Scharer (writer)</i></div>
<h3>
Why is it so hard to get an agent? How can I get an agent?</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>When I was writing my query letter, I found a lot of good information on the internet, and that really helped. Nathan Bradsford did a great job dissecting a query letter and showing why it worked.</li>
<li>Website tell you what to do. Write it, don't look at it, rework it. Take the time to make the query letter really simple. I spent a month on my query letter before I started sending it.</li>
<li>A lot of people were reaching out to agents who were not really right for their works. You have got to do your research. Find those who are agent for similar books. Find out who is accepting queries. Look around and really look - try to make the slog a little less painful.</li>
<li>First, be sure you ask the right questions before you connect with an agent. Do they work through the whole process? Do they manage authors throughout their careers? What kind of publishing houses have they worked with? Want to work with? Do they seem like someone you would like to work with regularly? Can they coach you as you continue to write and help you manage your career?</li>
<li>You have to decide what kind of agent and agency you want to work with before you sign the agency contract. Do your due diligence. If the agent doesn't give you any feedback or says things look perfect, it gives pause for thought.</li>
<li>Look for an agent that has strength and leverage and power to help support you. </li>
<li>Red flags: she read my book and saw something completely different than what I had in my head. Different cover, different life, wanted me to bring it way down. It needs to an open, honest, straight dialogue with someone who will listen to you and help you be successful. </li>
<li>An agent might have a small list (35) or a large list (125). </li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
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Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-39275851864447069542019-11-10T02:41:00.002-05:002019-11-10T02:51:05.157-05:00Kauai Writers Conference - Day 2<h2>
<b>Notes from Day 2</b></h2>
<div>
As mentioned previously, I am blogging my notes from the<b> <a href="https://kauaiwritersconference.com/" target="_blank">Kauai Writers Conference</a>. </b>It has been a meaningful experience, and I appreciate my employer Franklin University for supporting my development as a professional. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Below are my notes from today. You will note that some of this is pretty wordy - feel free to skim or skip sections. </div>
<h2>
<b>The Four Paths to Getting Published</b></h2>
<i>David Henry Sterry and Arielle Eckstut</i><br />
<h3>
<b>1 The Big Five</b></h3>
These are larger corporations. There to make money. You most likely need an agent to get published by these ones. They are generalists - looking for a broad audience. They have Ellen on speed dial and can take out ads in the New York Times.<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Pros for going with the big 5</i>: Getting some of the best people with great experience. Incredible resources and distribution. Lots of good things can happen, and you could get major tour where you go all around the country to talk about the book. You get money up front to write your book. It is typically over $10,000 and could be over $1 million. </li>
<li><i>Cons for going with the big 5</i>: You need an agent. You don't usually get much response. It can take months, years, or can actually never happen. The agent might want some changes in the book, and you might not hear from them for months or ever. The book submission process can take months, and your book might never work out. It is often 1-2 years to get your book out there and published. Your book is "new" for 3 months, and they will promote it for that time period. If you work hard to make it a success, then you will have some level of success. </li>
</ul>
<h3>
<b>2 Independent publishers</b></h3>
Some are large corporations but not necessarily in the "Big 5." All university publishers. WW Norton. There are also "micro-publishers" who are tiny operations. Some of these are a form of fan fiction. E.L. James had many followers of her Twilight fan fiction. If you go with the smaller publishers, you can be a big fish in a little pond instead of a little fish in a big pond.<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li><i>Pros for going with independent publishers</i>: specialize in a certain kind of book. They know how to market a book like yours. These publishers can be much more effective at finding your audience. (Examples: publishers who publish reference style books like what to expect when you are expecting. publishers who want to represent underrepresented voices). Sometimes it can be faster, but sometimes it can be slower.</li>
<li><i>Cons for going with independent publishers</i>: They do not have Ellen on speed-dial. They do not have the ability to print lots of copies. They might have fewer resources, and the smaller the publisher the poorer the distribution. However, 50% of books are sold via Amazon, so there are some pluses to that. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>
<b>3 Hybrid Publishing</b></h3>
At is best is a professional publisher that partners with you to publish your book. You make a financial commitment to the publisher as does the publisher to publish the book together. It is a specific kind of book. You have to pass their editorial guidelines to make sure it fits their list. It is professionally edited, copy-edited, cover is made, distribution into the world, but you are contributing financially to the model. <a href="https://shewritespress.com/" target="_blank"><b>Shewrites Press</b></a> is an example of this hybrid publishing model. You have more say in how your book gets out into the world. It is much more collaborative than when working with a bigger publisher. Be careful - many places claim to be hybrid publishers but do not actually offer any helpful services. They do not offer the services and they sometimes steal their copyright. The best strategy is to google the company's name and the word scam. <a href="https://www.ibpa-online.org/" target="_blank"><b>International Book Publishers Association</b></a> (IBPA) has a list of companies that are good to work with.<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li><i>Pros for going with hybrid publishers</i>: you can get a book out in just a few months, sometimes. You are getting professionals to help with the process (at good hybrid publishers). The book is yours - you have much more control over each step. </li>
<li><i>Cons for going with hybrid publishing</i>: It costs money up-front. You have to pay a minimum amount - they mentioned $7,500 as an initial amount. Distribution is all over the map with hybrid - some are great and some have no distribution. If no, then you have to be the person to really get out there and sell a lot of books.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>
<b>4 Self-publishing</b></h3>
<div>
Author as entrepreneur. You are writer, editor, copy-editor, proofreader, sales marketing, cover design, etc. This is much more overwhelming. You end up having to do it all or have to hire people to do it. Book Baby is a good group to hire to help you with this work. Authors House is there to rip you off! It is difficult to really sell books when you self-publish. The big hits actually have people who have quit their jobs and work full-time forever.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><i>Pros for self publishing</i>: You get your voice out there. It can be picked up by a bigger publisher, if it is excellent. </li>
<li><i>Cons for self publishing</i>: It takes so much work to do it right. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>
Other Notes</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>DO YOUR RESEARCH</b> - Make sure the publishers and agents you are approaching do your kind of book. For publishers, go and look at the books they have on their website and see if they look good and are the kinds of books you want to do your work. Contact the authors who have published with them and see what their experience was like. Speak to the person in charge and ask lots of questions. Research to find an editor or illustrator that is excellent and can help you move forward.</li>
<li><b>Audiobooks</b> are the fastest growing element of the publishing world. </li>
<li><b>Support</b> - The speakers indicated they are happy to help us navigate all of these things. I appreciate their expertise and generous offer to be available to new authors.</li>
<li><b>On Stolen Ideas</b> - Many people are afraid their book idea will be stolen. But, this rarely happens. However, you can register your idea with the WGA West.</li>
<li><b>Know Your Audience</b> - being well-known is helpful. But, who is your audience? If you don't know where they are and what their habits are, then you will never be able to sell books to them. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2>
The Writer's Path</h2>
<div>
<i>Whitney Scharer, Paula McClain, Priya Parmar, Amanda Eyre Ward</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">"All roads lead to the mountain top"</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>Whitney Scharer</b> - She calls herself the only debut novelist on the stage. I've always been a writer. As a kid, I sat and wrote poetry. I chose my college because of the creative writing faculty. Worked for over a decade at creative writing center, wrote short stories and published them. The whole time I never called myself a writer - it felt like a "side-thing" that I was going. I was scared to own the identity of "writer" because people would be less likely to judge my work more harshly. It took 2 years of research and 5 years of writing for the first book. I was cramming writing into my life, so then I really started focusing all of my efforts on my writing. </li>
<ul>
<li><i>On publishing</i>: I took 7 years to write the novel. My milestones were to just finish it and polish it up and get feedback from my writing group. My biggest goal was to write something that the writing group would read. There was a point with my draft where it had it's own energy and it was going down a track where I realized it was going to become a good book. I revised it a bunch of times and the writing group told me they thought it was done. I had a dream agent in my mind - Paula McClain was the person who represented authors I loved, and I sent her my query. She read it quickly on a plane to Japan. She loved it and emailed me and was excited to represent me! The first publication experience was wonderful. She had an auction between many publishing houses. It was a surreal, crazy experience. She got to pick the editor she would work with. </li>
</ul>
<li><b>Amanda Eyre Ward</b> - I never really wrote. Never had a journal. I was a reader - I read all the time and escaped through reading. I took a fiction writing class in college and Jim Shepherd said put your short story in my mailbox and I will let you know if you can take the class. I wrote a story about a long-distance trucker on amphetamines who hit a wall. I called him up and he said I could come. From then on, I just wanted to write. In graduate school I tried to write a novel but put it in a box and let it go. My first novel features a woman on death row and a librarian whose husband was killed by that woman.</li>
<ul>
<li><i>On publishing</i>: a few agents wanted to represent me. One agent told me the book was done, and so I went with her. :) Michelle was the agent and took on Sleep Toward Heaven. One great thing about her is that I can trust her. She didn't give up on the book, so she found a tiny publisher named McAdam Cage. I took a deal that seemed like a bad deal. Sleep Toward Heaven was a big splash in my local bookstore. Sandra Bullock's sister read the book and wanted to option the book! At that point, the paperback hadn't come out, and we felt vindicated and it went to Harper Collins. </li>
</ul>
<li><b>Priya Parmar </b>- I wasn't really a writer at all or a reader until I was about 9. I learned to memorize instead of reading when I was young. I didn't know what I wanted to do, so I took lots and lots of degrees, including a PhD and realized I didn't want to teach at the university level. I got a heart condition and realized I didn't want to be in an office anymore. I shifted to creative writing, and the first page I wrote was the first page of my first knowledge. She learned to write using critical analysis, and the shift to creative writing was a HUGE joy and relief.</li>
<ul>
<li><i>On publishing</i>: i got an agent very quickly, but part of that was because I didn't know how to get the right agent. There was a very sweet agent, but she didn't have the muscle to protect me. I had 4 different editors because they kept getting fired. I realized I needed to break up with my agent, and it was an awful experience. At that point, everything went wrong because the agent didn't work too well for me. The agent really needs to help you get through your career, and this time the agent broke up with me. Then a team of fairy godmothers stepped in and helped me find the right agent. But it was very painful before then. </li>
</ul>
<li><b>Paula McLain</b> - I love when we get surprised about how our lives are going. I wanted to be a secretary with a Honda Civic, and I did it! Then, in my 7th year of undergraduate studies, I stumbled into a creative writing class - a poetry class. If you want to write poetry, maybe you should start by reading poetry. So, that is what happened and my mind was totally transformed. I learned about an MFA program possibility and got into Michigan and took out lots of student loans to study poetry as a divorced parent of a 2-year old. I just wanted to be a writer, and what did I have to lose, anyway? The fiction writers are more ambitious - they were passing around a list of New York literary agents. I ended up writing 1 chapter of my memoir. On a Friday, I cold-called the first name on the list of the agents and she called back and I realized I needed to write the book! So, I wrote the book, and if I had the grit to write it, she would actually read it! The magical thing that happened was that I didn't know I needed to throw myself over a cliff. All of those difficult things I dealt with made me an underdog. I got so much traction by believing that I could do it, despite the thought that people didn't believe in me. </li>
<ul>
<li><i>On publishing</i>: I finished my memoir, and it was sent out and the rejections piled up. the book finally sold and it got one offer. My first book tour was a driving tour of the mid-west. The book didn't sell, it didn't perform, and I lost my agent and publisher. And that is usually how it happens, actually. At some point, I decided to write a novel. It took 5 years to write the first novel and I only had about 1 hour a day to write (lots and lots of stuff going on). My agent said, "This is beautiful writing, but in a novel, something has to happen!" She did readings and signings and there were just a few people that showed up. It is tough, and you have to have the audacity to pick up and write again! I read a Hemingway memoir. She read a biography and realized she needed to biography - she said she is going to write a novel on this person's experiences in France. I told the agent and she told me to write it as fast as I can! It ended up being her famous book "The Paris Wife." She wrote it in 7 months at a Starbucks in Cleveland. People actually read it! (Millions of people, actually... :)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>
Tips:</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The people you meet here need to be your connection! If they get what you are doing, then get your tribe together! Find the people who you want to be.</li>
<li>Advice on finding an agent: </li>
<ul>
<li>Do they ask all the right questions? </li>
<li>Does she say things that feel new and right at the same time? </li>
<li>She proposed how to structure it and it felt right for me.</li>
<li>There is a feeling or rightness.</li>
<li>It is a relationship - you can be who you are and they think it is okay.</li>
<li>Being brave enough to say this doesn't feel right to me. Trust your instincts and insights. </li>
<li>Have a plan. Talk to lots of agents! Talk to people who have agents and get their insights.</li>
<li>It is not necessarily the biggest name or agency - find the person who has the same ambitions you have.</li>
<li>Be careful. The first response is "yay!" The second might be "is this a scam?" </li>
<li>A hungry person can help you move a book forward. What is my style of person? I am willing to pay the price to promote my book.</li>
<li>Sometimes you have to make hard decisions. Continue to believe in yourself. Walk away from someone if you need to. Keep writing. Keep searching. Keep moving toward your goals!</li>
</ul>
<li>Don't give up! Just keep writing! Just keep searching for the right agent!</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2>
9 Tools for Getting Your Butt in Chair</h2>
<div>
<div>
<i>Katie Davis</i></div>
</div>
<div>
<b><a href="https://www.instituteforwriters.com/_resources/common/userfiles/file/Kauai%20Handouts/Hawaii%20Handout-BIC.pdf" target="_blank">Here is her handout</a></b></div>
<h3>
Procrastination is the Enemy</h3>
<div>
<b>Katie did a huge survey:</b> What is the biggest obstacle to writing? What is the top reason for not starting or finishing your book? The answer: <b>Procrastination!!! </b>People who want to write books go through routines of procrastination. It can become a serious habit and can become a huge mind game. If you don't finish it, nobody will give you a bad review! It is a protective measure, sometimes.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Possible causes of procrastination:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>perfectionism</li>
<li>letting things marinate too long</li>
<li>you are bored</li>
<li>it is hard</li>
<li>You want to avoid being critiqued</li>
<li>You get distracted by the details or edit yourself when it is just time to write</li>
<li>You are overwhelmed with life</li>
</ul>
<div>
How do you overcome it? Take a 2-step approach. Identify the cause, and resolve it. Figure out what is getting in the way and resolve it specifically. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Procrastination is a habit. Get rid of the shame of the procrastination and find a motivator that can help you be excited and create a new habit.</div>
<h3>
The 9 Tools</h3>
<div>
<h4>
1 Know Why</h4>
</div>
<div>
Have a clear reason for why you want to write the book. This really will get you motivated - you are doing it for a purpose! Describe that purpose clearly.</div>
<h4>
2 Know Your Passion</h4>
<div>
What is the impact you want to have? What are the topics or the audience that you really want to benefit.</div>
<h4>
3 Reminders</h4>
<div>
Create a reminder system that helps remind you to take some action on your writing. For me, I think a phone alarm would work. Scheduling time in the calendar would be helpful, too. Also, just scheduling 15 minutes a day to write. I think I could write 1 page a day (at least a crappy draft) in 15 minutes. Figure out how to write 1 page at a time and get it done! Let the naysayers be your reminder and your motivation. Have an accountability group or a critique group to help keep you accountable and excited to move forward.</div>
<h4>
4 Create a To-Do List</h4>
<div>
Create a list of what you need to work on. Follow the list! Create a list with the word "write" on the top of it. Make it a priority. Make it easiest for your body to be able to focus and write by choosing the right time of day. Take away the time wasters and focus on the writing. Make the sacrifice!</div>
<h4>
5 Treats!</h4>
<div>
Give yourself little rewards as you go. Celebrate when you finish an outline, complete chapter 5, finish an outline, or contact 5 potential agents. Whatever the hard thing is, reward yourself!</div>
<h4>
6 Calm Your Brain</h4>
<div>
Maintain a clean office. Close all the tabs on your computer screen. Make it easy to focus! Remove energy-draining relationships from your life or at least keep people under control. </div>
<h4>
7 Unplug</h4>
<div>
There are apps that will turn off other apps, programs, or websites. Apparently there is an app that will delete everything you wrote if you stop writing... Sounds evil but highly motivating!</div>
<h4>
8 Evaluate</h4>
<div>
Every night when you get in bed, ask yourself "Did I get what I wanted to get from the last 24 hours?" Every day you aren't writing the thing you say you want to write is a scary thing.</div>
<h4>
9 Visualize</h4>
<div>
Think: "I am 97 years old, and I am looking back on my life. And I remember the time when I was going through difficult things, and I am so glad that I worked through those difficult times." Visualize you in 30 years looking back and feeling so grateful for your hard work, perseverance, and success.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You can't wait for the muse to hit you. There is hard work is it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"Just type something if you have a deadline. Just write! It doesn't even matter if it's bad. Just get it down!" - Katie Davis<br />
<br />
<h2>
What Harper Collins looks for in fiction and nonfiction</h2>
</div>
<div>
<i>Carrie Feron and Lisa Sharkey</i></div>
<div>
These ladies work for William Morrow and <b><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/" target="_blank">Harper Collins Publishers</a></b>. </div>
<h3>
How They Came to Work In Publishing</h3>
<div>
<i>Lisa Sharkey</i> - I came to publishing after years as a news producer. I asked myself, what made my heart thump as a child? It wasn't produce TV news, it was reading books. She works with adult and children books. She and Carrie are working on a project together. :)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Carrie Feron</i> - I did the boring way of going into publishing right after college. If you want to see who will be an editor look for the quiet nerdy kid reading in math class. I love books and reading and authors. I really admire people that finish manuscripts. Most of my authors can write a book a year. I've worked at Crown, Bantam, Avon, Berkley Putnam. She has worked in lots of places. Avon was bought by Harper Collins and she has been there for 25 years. She's had some of the authors she has worked with for the whole time.</div>
<h3>
Finding and growing an author</h3>
<div>
<i>Carrie</i> - I often look to buy a book from an author who is a "small plant that could become a forest." Look at the best selling list. I find the books that sell and see how that author was writing in the very beginning. What is their voice? I try to look for that plant in the submissions I receive.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I am very careful about the people I take on because I don't want to let go of any of my other authors. I've worked with some for a long time. She only takes on 2-3 new authors per year. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Lisa</i> - What I want to do is find people who I think could be amazing authors for non-fiction publishing. Example: "The Other Side of the Coin." This is the lady who has worked for the queen for many years - endorsed by the queen. Example: "Russ" - he is a rapper. Nonfiction publishing is all about trends. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you are writing non-fiction, think of your self as a brand entrepreneur. Be a student of the universe of non-fiction. Really get into your genre of books. Talk to book sellers. Spend time in the bookstores. It is great to work backward from the consumer, backward from the reader. Really get into peoples' minds. Find that nugget, that thing that people are looking for. Get outside your family and circle, though - find the group that you want to learn from.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Answer the basic questions:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>who is my audience?</li>
<li>what is my 2 sentence keynote about my book?</li>
<li>what metadata must I include in my book's description?</li>
<li>what like-minded people should I engage with?</li>
</ol>
<div>
The biggest thing is trust. Just realize that everyone wants your book to be a success, and we ant to make it a success. I just want it to be the best book for them as possible. </div>
</div>
<h3>
Advice</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Know your craft! Write excellently. Don't let the agent or publisher get stuck on something as simple as a misused word. Be true to your own voice. </li>
<li>Target sharply the kind of publisher that will really like your kind of book. Find where people you want to be like publish. Who are your favorite authors? Where do they publish? Learn and reach out to them. Where do you spend your dollars? That might be where to go. Go to the bookstore and look at the acknowledgements in the book to find out who their agents and publishers are. "Publishers Marketplace" is a publication that helps guide these matters.</li>
<li>Make it as easy as possible for the publisher to say yes. "This is the genre. Be sure that you know exactly who you audience This is the audience. Here is how I see myself. Here is the territory I see myself publishing in." The easiest way is to find what you love to write within the parameters of what people are looking for. And then figure out how to continue to satisfy that group again with something in those parameters. </li>
<li>I haven't seen a lot of query letters that are well-done and targeted to attract the right audience. You don't want lots of options, you want the BEST option. You have to surprise me. What is the story I haven't read before? What is the plot line that is slightly twisted and is going to intrigue me? It needs to be unique. I am hard to satisfy, but I am your advocate when you do </li>
<li>If an agent writes me a really interesting letter, then I will consider it. If the story is unique, I will consider it strongly. </li>
<li>Key pieces to include in a nonfiction proposal. </li>
<ul>
<li>extremely selling cover letter</li>
<li>book outline</li>
<li>first 3 chapters</li>
<li>description of remaining chapters</li>
<li>what are you (the author) going to do to promote the book (website, YouTube, blog, university affiliations, quotes of support from people, etc.). Put a strong headline about yourself - who you are and how you will support selling it. </li>
</ul>
<li>Do the work! Get out there and get peoples' feedback. Have notes of praise from people. </li>
<li>Just because you have self-published a book doesn't mean you cannot publish the book later on.</li>
</ul>
</div>
Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-30314559421072874612019-11-09T02:54:00.002-05:002019-11-09T03:00:03.957-05:00Kauai Writers Conference - Day 1<div>
As I noted in a <b><a href="https://joelleegardner.blogspot.com/2019/11/kauai-writers-conference-mastering-art.html" target="_blank">previous post</a></b>, I am attending the <a href="https://kauaiwritersconference.com/" target="_blank"><b>Kauai Writers Conference</b></a> in Lihue, Hawaii. It has been a great experience, and I have been working to take notes on what I learn there. Below are my notes from the first day. These are practical, meaningful insights, and I am excited to be here among great minds and successful writers.<br />
<br />
This isn't my typical approach to blogging, but I wanted to capture and share what I am learning. Hope you enjoy!<br />
<h2>
<b>Panel - Sources of inspiration</b></h2>
</div>
<div>
Greg Iles, Meg Wolitzer, Christina Baker Kline.</div>
<div>
<u>Some sources of Inspiration:</u></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><div>
<b>What are you thinking about already anyway? This is what you should write about. What are you marinating in? What are you obsessing about? Find stories that are within the things that already burn within you. What are you preoccupied about? What are you thinking about anyway? Write about that!</b></div>
</li>
<li>Reading. Read about what you care about.</li>
<li>There is a "tingle" you get when an idea feels right. </li>
<li>There is no simple or complete answer to where you receive your inspiration.</li>
<li>Writers live the way others live but they retain their experience differently.</li>
<li>Writers write about themselves. Whether you realize it or not, you can only write your own experience. Or it is at least embedded in what you do.</li>
<li>One panelist said (paraphrasing here) "I realized I had to be more ambitious. Take something on that scares you. Take on writing that will have the impact that you want to have. Take on writing that is most important to you."</li>
<li><div>
"<i>Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working." - Picasso</i></div>
</li>
</ul>
<u>A few other notes:</u><br />
<ul>
<li><i>"I think revising is the greatest weapon in your arsenal." </i></li>
<li>If you are going to do this, it is going to be hours and hours and hours.</li>
<li><i>"You will pay a price. The people who love you are going to pay a price. You are a miniature pain dispenser. It is not easy to be married to a writer." - Greg Iles</i></li>
<li>You can do it. You can figure out how to be a writer and have a family. You just have to figure out how to make </li>
<li>"Can writing be taught? Or is it innate?" One panelist indicated that you can't make someone a writer, but you can make someone a better writer. Perhaps the point is to maximize the capabilities of the individual. Not everyone can play at the NFL level.</li>
<li>Teaching writing is essentially nurturing talent. Writers need support, feedback, mentoring. </li>
<li>When you want to write for a living, think there are 1.1 Million doctors, but there only thousands of writers. There are a thousand reasons for the no, but only 1 yes. But, the system is always looking for someone who can be the next big hit. Swing for the fence.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<u>Visual Storyboarding</u></div>
<div>
The lady in front of me showed me her storyboard approach for her stories. She just finds pictures on Pinterest that inspire her story or match it and then she turns them into a storyboard. She doesn't make them linear - just puts everything together on one page. I tend to think in a linear fashion, but it probably doesn't need to be linear - just keep it as a way to capture visuals for idea generation.</div>
<div>
<h2>
<b>What makes good writing good</b></h2>
</div>
<div>
Joshua Mohr and Nicholas Delbanco</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Nicholas started out by reading a scene from his house in France. So beautiful - brings clear images to my mind. Simple language but I could see the story.</li>
<li>"The chief enemy of creativity is good taste." -Picasso</li>
<li>It is powerful to read the story out loud. Josh reads his out loud up to 20 times to clean things up and make them pop and engaging and enthralling. "If I am getting bored on this page, I need to cut the whole page."</li>
<li>You have to be in love with the language.</li>
<li>Listen to what your inner ear tells you.</li>
<li>Honor your own life experiences. Tell your story, you are unique, you are special, tell YOUR story. </li>
<li>"Your book doesn't care about your outline."</li>
<li>"How do I know what I think until I see what I say?" (Quoting someone)</li>
<li>There are some formulaic writers, but that is a version of painting by numbers rather than painting. </li>
<li>When you introduce a character, you need to make the reader not want to leave the person. Make them compelling and beautiful.</li>
<li>It is possible to overdo it on your writing, but this is rarely the case. You should be willing to pour everything into the writing, craft it to PERFECTION. It is rarely overdone.</li>
<li>Write endlessly until it seems like it is "a moment's thought." Help the writing be so easily digested and learned and internalized by the reader.</li>
<li>Be careful - it is possible to continue to polish without making your writing better.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2>
<b>Plot</b></h2>
<i>Greg Iles</i><br />
Plot is the most elemental thing that there is. You can write and succeed with the basics of plot. But if you want to write something that moves people, it must be bound up with character. At the end of the book, they must feel surprised along with a sense of "of course that happened!"<br />
<br />
<i>Tools for assessing and enhancing plot</i><br />
<b>12 Stages</b> - Look at the <u>12 stages of the hero's journey</u>. (Read A Writer's Journey, or at least the 30 page version tat is shorter. The Writer's Memo is the sort version. Universal storytelling patterns. The ordinary world - spend plenty of time on the ordinary world so that everyone knows what it is and make it meaningful.<br />
<ol>
<li>The call to adventure - Obi Wan inviting Luke to come with him to the rebellion to learn the force</li>
<li>The reluctant hero (refusal of the call) - shows fear and has internal drama. Luke feels obligated to keep farming.</li>
<li>The wise old man or woman mentor - Obi Wan.</li>
<li>Into the special world - They go into space.</li>
<li>Tests, allies and enemies - The fellowship of the ring. </li>
<li>The inmost cave - Death Star.</li>
<li>The supreme ordeal - Blowing up the death star.</li>
<li>Seizing the sword - Using the force to blow up the death star.</li>
<li>The road back - Willow returning to his village.</li>
<li>The resurrection - ? Not sure...</li>
<li>Returning with the elixir - Willow returning and knowing magic.</li>
<li>(I must have missed something, here... there should be 12 :))</li>
</ol>
You don't have to use these principles in this order only - you can mix them up 1,000 different ways. You need to eventually internalize these into who you are and how you write so that they are always integrated and ever-present.<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<b>Archetypes</b> - all of these character archetypes can be used in your writing as an impetus for change in your story. You decide - you control the fates. You have control! Be grateful that you are the sole authority of your work!<br />
<ol><ol>
<li><b>The Hero</b> - the essence of heroism - not bravery, courage, being a bad-ass, being super-smart. It is <u>sacrifice</u>. That is the element of the hero - going out there and carrying 5 people and saving lives and putting in the work. Momma is the ultimate hero. </li>
<ol>
<li>The hero must have an inner and an outer problem that they are facing. This is critical - they need to overcome or make peace with both for the story to work. </li>
</ol>
<li><b>The Antihero</b> (protagonist) - just as important as the hero. Is this the buddy? The sidekick?</li>
<li><b>The Mentor</b> - Merlin is the classic mentor. Dumbledore, Obi Wan Kanobi, etc. (Note that there is a terrible shortage of women mentors in literature). </li>
<li><b>Shape-Shifter</b> (the character of ambiguous loyalty). This character type can be used to provide jolts and emotional problems. This person is always changing from the hero's point of view - it is hard to know where their loyalties lie. Boramire in Lord of the Rings.</li>
<li><b>The Shadow</b> - Jung: "evil isn't separate from human nature. The task of the human is to recognize the shadow and make friends with and integrate into your own personality. Then you are a whole person. Embodies the full antagonistic principle." So, how can a person integrate their "dark" side in some form of resolution? </li>
<li><b>Threshold Guardian</b> - the drill sergeant, etc. It is a person who is making it difficult for you to go forward with your plan. Someone who might stymie you but that you can overcome.</li>
<li><b>The Trickster</b> - Bugs Bunny, Briar Rabbit, etc. Stirs things up for the sake of stirring things up. </li>
<ol>
</ol>
<li><b>The Herald</b> - This is the character that tends to announce the call to adventure - I think it is the wizard dwarf in Willow (Billy Barty). </li>
</ol>
</ol>
<b>The Negation of the Negation</b> (from Robert McKey, a well-known sort of Hollywood guru).<br />
Most dramatic works do not fulfill their full potential because they do not negate the negation.<br />
<br />
Here is how it works. Most stories have a <b>contradictory value</b>, or opposite value to the primary value. (e.g. selfishness, hate, despair, depression). These values contradict the <b>primary value</b> - justice, love, etc. Begin by identifying the primary value at stake. (this is the <i>negation</i> - e.g. justice, love, sacrifice, hope). <i>The negation of the negation is that the desired negation doesn't really happen</i>. Or, if it does happen it is a warped version of the negation. It seems like The Twilight Zone is probably does this regularly - you think it will resolve, but it ends up being a warped version of a resolution.<br />
<br />
<div>
<b>Final tips from Greg Iles</b></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Search and destroy all passive voice.</li>
<li>Remove all unnecessary words.</li>
<li>Your words need to go over the person's mind like water going over a rock.</li>
<li>(Referring to Stephen King's Concept) The writer's mind is like a house, and the subconscious ins like your basement. Don't go down into the basement and start to organize those boxes. There is already a crew down there working on the boxes. Stay out of the way and then begin working on the book.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<h2>
<b>Writing for Young Adults</b></h2>
<i>Meg Wolitzer and Katie Davis</i><br />
<br />
I arrived late to this session, but here is what I heard:<br />
<ul>
<li>Fiction for young people should feel very immediate and emotionally powerful. When writing for young people, there must be a sense for having it happen. Try to create a need that you are trying to satisfy.</li>
<li>Take fewer side-notes in the books you write for younger adults. The emotions are still the same and strong, but don't take as many tangents. </li>
<li>Every word should be in service of the story. </li>
<li>Say, "it's going to be okay, because I can always change it."</li>
<li>Write about the thing that you are scared to write about. What is it that you don't want people to know about you? This is the thing that you should write about. It is something that is deep inside you and needs to come out.</li>
<li>"There's room for any good book... Write what moves you and compels you."</li>
</ul>
If you are writing for children, it might make sense to enjoy the author's podcast "<b><a href="https://writingforchildren.com/" target="_blank">Writing for Children Podcast</a>.</b>"</div>
Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-40251257513657256902019-11-08T03:49:00.000-05:002019-11-08T14:38:53.879-05:00Kauai Writers Conference - "Mastering the Art of Nonfiction" workshop<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
I have been attending the <a href="https://kauaiwritersconference.com/" target="_blank">Kauai Writers Workshop</a> here in Lihue, Hawaii. This has been an AMAZING experience, and I am so grateful for the great support that Franklin University provides in professional development.<br>
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I started out attending a four-day workshop by <a href="http://www.markkurlansky.com/" target="_blank">Mark Kurlansky</a> on “The Art of Nonfiction.” It’s amazing to chat with and learn from such a well-known, successful author. He is a very interesting and impressive. </div>
<div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<h2>
Mark Kurlansky Workshop Quotes</h2>
</div>
Here are some quotes on Writing from Mark Kurlansky from the workshop:</div>
<div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;">
<ul>
<li>“You don’t have to follow any rules. What you have to do is make it work.”</li>
<li>“I’m still wondering what writer’s block is supposed to be.”</li>
<li>On fiction and nonfiction: “Either way it has to ring true.”</li>
<li>“Writing doesn’t just come to you. You have to work at it every day.”</li>
<li>“Get all the crap down… To me, fixing it is what’s fun.”</li>
<li>“You write the way you do because of your background.”</li>
<li>“The question is, when someone picks up a book and starts to read, do they want to continue reading?”</li>
<li>“When you are writing a book, never worry about the length. Go on and on and you can cut it later.”</li>
<li>“There’s got to be more there than the facts.”</li>
<li>“You’re always better off showing something than explaining it.”</li>
<li>“Storytelling is the most fun in writing.”</li>
<li>“If you read a book and you stop reading, ask yourself why.”</li>
<li>“You can always go off wherever you are, as long as you can find your way back.”</li>
<li>“Stories should be as long as they need to be good stories.”</li>
<li>“In any art, you rise and fall on the choices that you make.”</li>
<li>“Do I want to spend three years talking to Neo-Nazis?”</li>
<li>“Agents are about selling a book, but don’t let them write the book.”</li>
<li>“I’m just trying to do what I believe in, and it’s really great if people get into it.”</li>
<li>“As a 70 year old writer, you ask yourself ‘have I done the things I want to do?' And you don’t want the answer to be no.”</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;">
<h2>
On Writing Process</h2>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;">
Here is how Mark describes his writing process. </div>
<div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;">
<ul>
<li><b>Research</b> - Mark does all of his research before he writes anything. This includes books, articles, videos, interviews, etc. He uses plastic arrow tabs to note key parts of a book or article so he knows where to come back to it. He figures he uses around 60% of the things that he reads in the final book.</li>
<li><b>Outline</b> - Mark writes an outline of around 60 pages. This outline captures everything he wants to include in the book. </li>
<li><b>Write</b> - He writes the book. This includes: Writing out the content in the outline.Add in the “anecdotes” and stories to add life to the content. </li>
<li><b>Edit</b> - Mark edits, revises, and improves the writing. This includes cutting, trimming, and tightening everything. Mark has used the same editor for 17 of his 34 books. You have to have a good relationship with the editor, and you don’t have to do everything the editor suggests.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;">
<h2>
Nuggets of Knowledge from Mark</h2>
</div>
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<li>Assessing criticism is a critical skill. You don’t have to agree with everything you receive criticism on.</li>
<li>When considering your book, ask yourself: what is the story I am telling with this book?</li>
<li>How can you help the reader feel? What do you want the reader to feel? To know? To do?</li>
<li>Write a lead (the opening to the book) that compels the reader. The first few paragraphs need to GRAB the reader’s interest and make people feel and wonder what you are going to do.</li>
<li>Your opening must be a real attention-getter. This should introduce the topic, convey the compelling nature of the book, and cause the reader to ask questions or to want to know what happens next. </li>
<li>After the opening, you can go ahead and start to teach the content of the book - get into the meat of the book! Set the stage so the reader knows what is coming (or at least knows that the answer to their question is coming). </li>
<li>Small moments are illuminating. Details are gold, but they must be telling details - they must help tell the overall story. You don’t want people to die in a graveyard of facts. Bring the story to life.</li>
<li>Mark says you must have an agent. It needs to be the person who has already published about the topic you are writing about. Though, an energetic younger agent might be great, too. It is a good idea to select an agent who has published successful books in the area or topic that you want to go for.</li>
<li>When you are considering what book to write next, ask yourself: Do I want to spend 3 years thinking about this topic?</li>
<li>The size of a financial advance shows the level of commitment of the publisher. You have to decide if the advance they are offering is worthwhile. It is a calculation of what you are going to earn in royalties, basically.</li>
<li>On going international with your book: your agent negotiates lots of things, including foreign rights. If you give the publisher foreign rights, you get a bigger advance.</li>
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What I Want to Do In My Writing</h2>
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<li>Grab and maintain interest and attention of the reader at the beginning of the book and each section.</li>
<li>Teach and impart knowledge that is meaningful. Potentially use repetition of key principles and phrases that teach the main principles.</li>
<li>Tell stories that teach the key principles.</li>
<li>Have a cliff-hanger at the end of each section or at least each chapter to keep people interested and excited about.</li>
<li>Use my academic skills at structure and organizing to create a smooth, meaningful flow of content and knowledge.</li>
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Reflections</h2>
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<b>Casual versus Formal Self</b> - At one point, we talked about the difference between the casual self and the formal self in writing. I have been immersed in “academic” or “work” writing for so long (over 10 years) that I have a very hard time breaking free from it. This sense of restriction is not only mental but I actually feel it. I can easily hammer out an academic article, but when I try to write something that is actually interesting, I freeze up and revert to the formal. </div>
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<b>Is writing an art? </b>- The name of the workshop is “The Art of Nonfiction.” But, is writing actually an art? Art can be defined as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination.” Is nonfiction an art? Or just fiction? </div>
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<b>On Stories</b> - When I speak, teach, or give a workshop, I often tell three brief stories that illustrate the principle I am going to teach. I don’t necessarily tell everything, but I use it as a way to capture attention. When I do my writing, I think I am going to try a similar approach. Though, I think I will need to do it somewhat differently. However, the stories must have depth to them so that they are compelling, interesting, and convey the overarching story.</div>
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<b>Channeling Douglas Adams</b> - I’ve found that I tend to want to write like Douglas Adams. I honestly feel like I am connecting to a different me - a me that is around 17 or 18 years old. I love Adams’ really surprising, humorous, light-hearted approach to his stories.</div>
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<b>Believing in What is Possible</b> - I appreciate being here among other writers, and especially with Mark. He is expanding my mind and beliefs about what is possible, and I really appreciate the vision of what is possible. I love being with someone who has done many of the things that I want to do.</div>
Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-40852635457249343102019-10-22T13:36:00.001-04:002019-10-22T13:36:30.485-04:00How to Do an Instructional Analysis - Intellectual SkillsHow do you know what to teach, train, or design into your elearning? In this video, I share one strategy for breaking down and clarifying what to teach. Enjoy!<br />
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<br />Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-29827113197437451282019-10-10T13:40:00.000-04:002019-10-22T07:55:01.294-04:00My Learning Design YouTube ChannelThis post is for the 11 people who actually read blogs, still. :)<br />
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I am resurrecting one of my old YouTube channels - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz9w-sllDpT-z762oNRYBNw" target="_blank"><b>Learning Design</b></a>. I created it about 7 years ago and made a few videos for an old, now non-existent master's degree program, and some of the videos were fairly popular. I've just recently gotten interested in doing more video creation, and I plan to post my videos to there. I'll probably share them with you 11 people here, if I remember to...<br />
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Here is one of the videos that I snaked from my other channel and posted to Learning Design. Hope you enjoy it!<br />
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Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-24057374769753615392019-09-18T08:29:00.000-04:002019-09-18T08:29:09.334-04:00Episode 06: Learning Professionals in the Workplace<div style="text-align: left;">
Sometimes learning professionals get put into the "training box" and aren't able to truly partner effectively with others in their organization. In this episode of the <b><a href="http://learningloungepodcast.com/" target="_blank">Learning Lounge Podcast</a></b>, <b><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/soverstreet/" target="_blank">Sonya Overstreet</a></b> shares her strategies for creating relationships that produce results for the organization. There are some GREAT insights from Sonya - definitely worth listening! A full description of the podcast is below. Enjoy!</div>
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<b>Podcast Description</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instructional design and training are fast-growing fields, especially within workplace settings, but the role of a learning professional is so much more than just designing and delivering necessary employee training. In this episode, we talk with Sonya Overstreet about creative strategies for taking workplace learning outside the box.</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sonya Overstreet is a Learning and Development Manager and Certified Performance Technologist with over 20 years of experience in engineering, performance improvement, and workplace learning. She holds a Master of Science in Instructional Design and Performance Technology from our program here at Franklin University.</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Through her career, Sonya managed the development of technical training within a variety of industries. She has been responsible for executing learning and development strategies to ensure the building of employee capabilities, cultivating organizational knowledge management and promoting organizational performance. Sonya has presented papers at the American Society for Engineering Education, Industry and Education Collaboration and International Society for Performance Improvement conferences. Sonya holds a Master of Science in Instructional Design and Performance Technology. Her awards include Technology Rising Star 2017 from the Women of Color STEM Conference and the Excellence in Practices Operation 2016 from her organization.</span></span></div>
Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-60474163678937005382019-09-11T08:39:00.000-04:002019-09-11T08:39:07.210-04:00Episode 05: Collaborating with Instructional Design Clients<div style="text-align: left;">
Working with clients as an instructional designer can be tricky, but there are great strategies for building positive consulting relationships. In this episode of the <b><a href="http://learningloungepodcast.com/" target="_blank">Learning Lounge Podcast</a></b>, <b><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/niccole-hyatt-03a1bbb/" target="_blank">Niccole Hyatt</a></b> shares her experiences and advice for effectively working with instructional design clients. Enjoy!</div>
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<b><br /></b>Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-60766723064284814862019-09-03T22:15:00.001-04:002019-10-22T07:54:38.712-04:00My Professional MissionMy professional purpose and mission is to discover and share knowledge that inspires, empowers, and equips others to succeed in their careers and lives.<br />
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As an <strong>educator</strong>, I am passionate about my students, and they are my highest priority. I focus my efforts to guide my students forward in their studies, their careers, and their lives.<br />
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As a practitioner <strong>scholar</strong>, my research area is the field of instructional design, particularly the effective use of instructional strategies and educational technologies. I have expertise in instructional design management, project management, and in human performance improvement.<br />
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As a <strong>professional</strong>, I conscientiously apply myself to improve the people and organizations I work with. I believe in human potential and dedicate myself to helping others grow and succeed.Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-57517660119075670732019-08-19T08:08:00.004-04:002019-08-19T08:09:09.481-04:00The Behavior Engineering Model<div style="text-align: left;">
I recently created this video the help explain Gilbert's Behavior Engineering Model. This is a very useful tool for managers, leaders, instructional designers, trainers, and performance technologists to understand the root cause of performance issues. I hope the video is helpful!</div>
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Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-5404295252710459162019-04-08T10:52:00.000-04:002019-04-08T10:52:02.592-04:00Episode 04: Criminal Justice Teaching Strategies<span style="font-family: inherit;">As mentioned in a previous post, s<span style="background-color: white;">ome of my coworkers and I recently started the</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> </span><a href="https://learningloungepodcast.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #4d469c;" target="_blank"><b>Learning Lounge Podcast</b></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Our goal is to share expertise about learning, training, and instructional design issues, strategies, and best practices.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Our fourth episode hosts Dr. Chenelle Jones, program chair at </span><a href="https://www.franklin.edu/" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;" target="_blank"><b>Franklin</b></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">. In this podcast, Chenelle shares </span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; font-family: inherit;">the TEACH model, which she developed to keep her criminal justice students engaged. She also shares her experiences working with the TAPS Academy mentorship program, which connects youth and police officers with the aim of reducing social distance.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; font-family: inherit;">Listen to or watch this episode below.</span><br />
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Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-49005094105209075862019-04-05T08:38:00.000-04:002019-04-05T08:38:12.528-04:00New Article: Investigating Instructional Design Management and Leadership Competencies - a Delphi Study<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This article was first published in the </span><a href="https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring211/gardner_chongwony_washington211.html" style="font-size: small;" target="_blank"><b>Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration</b></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Posted here with permission.</span></div>
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Investigating Instructional Design Management and Leadership Competencies - a Delphi Study</h1>
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<strong>Joel Gardner</strong></div>
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<em>Franklin University</em></div>
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<em><a href="mailto:Joel.l.gardner@gmail.com">Joel.l.gardner@gmail.com </a></em></div>
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<strong><strong>Lewis Chongwony</strong></strong></div>
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<em>Franklin University</em></div>
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<a href="mailto:Lewis.chongwony@franklin.edu"><em></em></a><em><a href="mailto:Lewis.chongwony@franklin.edu">Lewis.chongwony@franklin.edu</a></em></div>
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<strong>Tawana Washington</strong></div>
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<em>The Ohio State University</em></div>
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<a href="mailto:Washington.181@osu.edu"></a><a href="mailto:Washington.181@osu.edu">Washington.181@osu.edu</a></div>
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<strong>Abstract</strong><br />
Research in instructional design and educational technology journals typically focuses on the theories, technologies, and processes related to practice of instructional design. There is little research emphasis, however, on leadership and management of instructional design in higher education. Investigating the competencies associated with effective leadership and management of instructional design is critical as it would provide the field with guidance on how to more effectively prepare and train instructional design leaders and managers in higher education. In this study, we explored the competencies required for an instructional design manager to be effective in higher education settings. We used a Delphi study surveying managers and leaders of instructional design through an anonymous consensus-building process consisting of two rounds of surveys. Results identified eight major categories with 64 competencies as relevant for leading and managing instructional design in higher education. Managers and leaders surveyed identified communication, project management, and visioning and strategic alignment as integral competencies to be successful in leading and managing instructional design. We discuss the implications of this research and provide recommendations for research, practice, and education of future instructional design professionals.<br />
<strong>Introduction</strong><br /><br />Instructional designers are playing an increasingly important role in improving teaching quality in higher education (Rubley, 2016). There are now roughly 13,000 instructional designers working in higher education (Intentional Futures, 2016). Some scholars assert that instructional designers are particularly well equipped to lead in higher education, noting that quality online instruction will be a key feature of the future of higher education (Ashbaugh & Piña, 2014; Brigance, 2011; Shaw, 2012). In higher education, as in most environments, a director or manager typically leads instructional designers. Many university-trained instructional designers will likely become managers who lead and direct the work of instructional design (Ashbaugh & Piña, 2014; Merrill, 2007), and might therefore benefit from management and leadership courses within instructional design university curricula.<br /><br />Numerous research studies show the impact--both positive and negative--that a manager’s or leader’s behavior and competency have on an employee’s engagement at work (e.g. Madlock & Kennedy-Lightsey, 2010; Wang & Hsieh, 2013; Xu & Cooper Thomas, 2011). This impact likely applies to employees serving in an instructional design role. However, the research on instructional design leadership and management is sparse. Da Silva, Diana, and Catapan (2015) conducted a search for recent articles related to instructional design and management and found few articles that discussed both topics, though project management--a component of management--was identified as a common theme in the instructional design literature. Recognizing a need to investigate instructional designer leadership competencies, Ashbaugh (2011) and Ashbaugh and Piña (2014) gathered the expertise of instructional design practitioners in a Delphi study. This study resulted in the 7 Ps of leadership for instructional design (7PL4ID), which includes the following characteristics: (1) <em>Prescience</em> – envision and promote a vision of the future; (2) <em>Preventive or proactive thinking</em> – strategize to anticipate future problems and opportunities; (3) <em>Provision for unexpected and unknown</em> – have backup plans and resources in reserve; (4) <em>Personality</em> – collaborate, communicate effectively, and show care for others; (5) <em>Productivity</em> – work hard and expect excellence from others; (6) <em>Psychological/emotional toughness</em> – make difficult decisions based on sound reasoning; and (7) <em>Personal convictions—exhibit </em> consistent, moral behavior. However, this study appears to be focused on leadership by instructional design professionals broadly, and not specifically on positional leaders and managers of instructional designers in higher education. Researchers note a need to clarify and validate the specific competencies associated with effective leadership and management of instructional design (Ashbaugh & Piña, 2014).<br /><br />In the related field of distance education, it is clear that leadership and management have not been adequately researched. A Delphi study involving international distance education experts identified research on management and change as important to moving the field forward (Zawacki-Richter, 2009). Beaudoin (2003) noted “it seems we have not yet paid adequate attention to new roles required of leaders” (p.1) in distance education. While some authors identify leadership theories that might apply to higher education (e.g., Dashtahi, Ekrami, Navehebrahim, and Sarmad, 2016; Nworie, 2012), the majority of the literature focused on management and organization in distance education have been interpretive rather than empirical in nature (Dashtahi et al., 2016), suggesting a need for more empirical research in this area.<br /><br />Given that a manager likely impacts the success and engagement of instructional designers and that research on effective management and leadership of instructional designers is lacking, we conducted an exploratory study on what these competencies are. In this study, we used a Delphi study surveying managers and leaders.<strong> </strong>The research questions for this study include the following:<br />
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<li>What competencies do managers of instructional designers believe are necessary for effectively leading and managing instructional design in higher education?</li>
<li>Which of these competencies do managers of instructional designers believe are most important for effectively leading and managing instructional design in higher education?</li>
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<br /><strong>Method</strong><br />
We used a Delphi methodology for this study (Brill, Bishop, and Walker, 2006; Hasson, Keeney, & McKenna, 2000). The Delphi method is an approach to building a consensus of experts’ opinions through multiple rounds of surveys (Hasson et al., 2000). A Delphi study typically includes (a) an initial survey that collects qualitative comments, (b) a second questionnaire that seeks to quantify and statistically analyze participants’ responses, and (c) sometimes a third or even a fourth survey that seeks to further quantify and analyze those responses until consensus is obtained (Hasson et al., 2000). Brill et al. (2006) have noted that a Delphi study “is a particularly good research method for deriving consensus among a group of individuals having expertise on a particular topic when information sought is subjective and where participants are separated by physical distance” ( p. 8).<br />
<em>Participant recruitment</em><br />
To gather participants for our study, we went to the Department of Education’s Database for Post-secondary accredited institutions and programs (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). We used a recent list of accredited organizations within the last quarter, which included 2,591 total instances of organizations seeking institutional accreditation during that period. We then cleaned the data to focus on four-year institutions, remove repetitions, and remove those with no website listed in the spreadsheet.<br />
We then conducted a random sampling procedure to select 800 of these schools, assuming that only a percentage of the universities employ instructional designers. We collected the names and email addresses of potential participants by reviewing the institutional website to find whether instructional designers and their leaders existed. To focus the population, we included any school that was a bachelor-level or higher degree granting institution and that had an instructional design manager on staff. This process yielded 148 potential participants. We recruited these participants through an email soliciting their participation in the survey. As an incentive, we offered participants the opportunity to be entered into a drawing to receive one of two $25 gift cards.<br /><br /><br /><em>Instruments</em><br />
We employed two instruments in this study. Our first survey (Round 1) gathered the expertise of the participants regarding their perception of the key competencies for leading and managing instructional designers based on questions posed. We designed the second survey (Round 2) to quantify and further analyze the importance of the identified competencies that emerged from qualitative analysis of round 1 survey.<br />
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<em>Round 1</em><br />
The purpose of the round 1 survey in a Delphi study is to gather the expertise of the participating experts (Brill et al., 2006; Hasson et al., 2000). Our goal was to identify the competencies that managers of instructional designers believe are necessary for effectively leading and managing instructional design in higher education. We designed the round 1 survey to collect qualitative comments in response to the questions posed. <br /><br />When conducting a Delphi study, it is important to direct participants’ responses toward the stated goal of the study, which in this case was the research topics identified for the study. We did not want to focus the attention of the participants too specifically, so we attempted to use definitions of leadership and management that were somewhat general in nature and that reflected the definitions commonly seen in management and leadership literature. We used the following definitions. <em>Leadership</em> is influencing others to accomplish mutually agreed upon purposes for the organization. It entails possessing the ability to: (a) rally others to accomplish a common purpose, (b) forge a path for self and others to follow, and (c) inspire others to productive action. <em>Management</em> is the act/process of coordinating people and/or resources efficiently to achieve or to reach organizational goals. It involves five basic functions of planning, organizing, directing, staffing, and controlling. We made the definitions as open-ended as possible to enable the participants to share their expertise.<br /><br />We solicited candidates by email using the email address identified in the candidate selection process. The email summarized the study and solicited the candidate’s participation in the study. The linked round 1 survey included the informed consent form and the survey items. After participants completed the informed consent form, we provided the definitions to give general guidance to participants on what the researchers meant by leadership and management in the context of this study and then posed the following questions:<br />
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<li>What <strong>management knowledge</strong> do you believe a manager of instructional designers in higher education must possess in order to be successful?</li>
<li>What <strong>management skills</strong> do you believe a manager of instructional designers in higher education must possess in order to be successful?</li>
<li>What <strong>leadership knowledge</strong> do you believe a manager of instructional designers in higher education must possess in order to be successful?</li>
<li>What <strong>leadership skills</strong> do you believe a manager of instructional designers in higher education must possess in order to be successful?</li>
<li>What <strong>additional knowledge and skills</strong> must an instructional design leader know and possess in order to be successful?<br /></li>
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We kept the round 1 survey open for a two-week period, emailing participants after a week to remind them of our request for participation.<br />
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<em>Round 2</em><br />
Our goal for the round 2 survey was to identify which competencies managers of instructional designers believe are most important for effectively leading and managing instructional design in higher education. We developed the round 2 survey to validate the importance of the themes identified in the round 1survey. We included the informed consent form on the initial page and created several items to gather more detailed demographic information about each of the participants. The round 2 survey then asked participants to rate the importance of each of the 64 individual competencies identified using the following scale: not important, somewhat important, moderately important, very important, and extremely important.<br /><br />To solicit participation for the round 2 survey, we again emailed the 148 potential participants and opened the survey for a total of two weeks with an initial email inviting their participation and a follow-up email after one week.<br /><br />The round 2 survey began with several demographic items. The other categories as determined by the first survey were teaching, learning, design, and technology expertise competencies (10 items); project management competencies (13 items); communication competencies (7 items); interpersonal and people skills competencies (6 items); inspiring, motivating, and empowering others (8 items); environmental and organizational awareness (5 items); visioning and strategic alignment (7 items) and organizational politics and relationships (8 items). In total, there were 70 items on the questionnaire.<br /><br />Reliability and internal consistency of the scale used in our questionnaire representing various categories of competencies was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha (Cronbach, 1971). The items in the categories had high internal consistency as follows: teaching, learning, design, and technology expertise consisted of 10 items (α = .748). Project management consisted of 13 items (α = .840), while communication consisted of 7 items (α = .888). Interpersonal and people skills consisted of 6 items (α = .611); inspiring, motivating, and empowering others consisted of 8 items (α = .861); environmental and organizational awareness consisted of 5 items (α = .730); visioning and strategic alignment consisted of 7 items (α = .768) and organizational politics and relationships consisted of 8 items (α = .885). The overall internal consistency and reliability among all 64 items was (α = .942), greater than the recommended 0.70 (Nunually, 1978).<br />
<br /><strong>Results</strong><br /><br /><em>Round 1 results</em><br />
Round 1 survey had a total of 22 participants out of 148, for a response rate of 15%. Eighteen percent of these participants reported 0-2 years of managing and leading instructional design, 32% had 3-5 years, 23% had 6-8 years, 9% had 9-11 years, and another 18% had more than 12 years.<br /><br />We conducted a thematic analysis of the round 1 survey results using constant comparative analysis to create the themes by iteratively (a) reviewing the gathered data, (b) identifying themes within the data, (c) developing categories based on these themes, and (d) coding and sorting the data to categorize specific comments into those themes. Following the advice of Brill et al. (2006), all three research team members completed individual analyses and then met as a research team to compare our findings and consolidate those themes into a comprehensive set, being careful to review the raw data to remain true to the comments of our experts.<br /><br />For example, as we reviewed the data, we found that respondents included comments such as these relating to project management: “Project management cycle,” “backwards planning ability to manage timing of projects,” and “Knowing how to manage large projects, assigning tasks as necessary to meet deadlines & goals; knowing how to coordinate and combine multiple small parts in order to make a cohesive whole.” As a research team, we grouped these comments into a project management theme and category. We then placed all responses relevant to that theme within that category. See <em>Appendix A</em> for a larger sample of the raw data and emerging categories.<br /><br />This thematic analysis resulted in eight themes or categories: (1) teaching, learning, design, and technology expertise; (2) project management; (3) communication; (4) interpersonal and people skills; (5) inspiring, motivating, and empowering others; (6) environmental and organizational awareness; (7) visioning and strategic alignment; and (8) organizational politics and relationships. Within these categories, we identified 64 statements of competence drawn from the comments of the survey participants. <em>Appendix B</em> includes the resulting categories and the competencies associated with each category.<br />
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<em>Round 2 results</em><br />
Twenty-three participants responded to the round 2 survey, a response rate of 16%. Of this, 52% of respondents had 0-5 years of experience leading or managing instructional designers, and 17% had 6 - 8 years. Additionally, 31% reported over 9 years of experience leading instructional designers. Further, 61% of participants reported that they lead between 1 - 3 designers, another 17% lead 4 - 6 designers, and furthermore 22% of participants lead 7 - 9 designers. In terms of type of institution, 61 % work in public institutions and 39% work in private non-profit institution. Also, 44% of our respondents were female, 56% male. Regarding the highest level of education attained, 35% of respondents had doctorates, 52% had masters, 4% had bachelors, and another 9% reported other as their highest level of education.<br />
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<em>Importance of competencies</em><br />
We used descriptive statistics to determine the relative importance of each of the 64 competencies identified in the first survey. The results ranged from the highest mean (M = 4.81) to lowest mean (M = 2.95) out of five possible points. Table 2 summarizes the top ranked competencies, with communicate effectively in writing and in speaking across all levels of management; and accept change and help to implement it at the institution rated highest at M=4.81.<br /><br />Table 2. The 15 top ranked leadership and management competencies.<br />
<img alt="" height="619" src="https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring211/gardner_pics/gardner1.png" width="482" /><br /><br /><br />
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The lowest rated competency was solve technical problems (M = 2.95). This was followed by understand personality styles; and create a budget with M = 3.43 and 3.52 respectively. Draw on experience teaching in higher education; and know classroom design principles followed with M = 3.57 and 3.62 respectively. <em>Table 3</em> summarizes the lowest ranked competencies in this study.<br /><br />Table 3. The 5 lowest ranked leadership and management competencies.<br /><img alt="" height="196" src="https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring211/gardner_pics/gardner2.png" width="397" /><br />
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The competencies in the communication category rated highest with M = 4.68. This was followed by project management, visioning and strategic alignment competencies at M = 4.33 and 4.29 respectively. Organizational politics and relationships; environmental and organizational awareness; and inspiring, motivating, and empowering others followed. See <em>Table 4</em> below. <em>Appendix B</em>includes all competencies rated in this study and their relative ranking by survey participants.<br />
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Table 4. Overall Rating of Competency Categories<br />
<img alt="" height="508" src="https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring211/gardner_pics/gardner3.png" width="385" /><br />
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<strong>Interpretation and discussion</strong><br />
Our first goal was to determine which competencies managers of instructional designers believe are necessary for effectively leading and managing instructional design in higher education. While our results are preliminary, they have identified eight categories of competency and several individual competencies.<br /><br />When comparing the instructional designer competencies espoused by the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (Koszalka, Russ-Eft, & Reiser, 2012) with the competencies in this study, there are some clear similarities. For example, there are clear similarities in the categories of Professional Foundations, Design and Development, Evaluation and Implementation, and Management competencies. However, the way in which these competencies are applied is likely different due to the clearly different context in which the skills are applied. Two categories identified in this study – (1) environmental and organizational awareness, and (2) visioning and strategic alignment – are not reflected in the IBSTPI competencies. If many of the graduates of instructional design programs become leaders and managers, then educators might consider including these competencies in their associated graduate program goals. <em>Appendix C</em> provides a comparison of IBSTPI instructional designer competencies and those identified in this study.<br /><br />Our second goal was to identify the competencies that managers of instructional designers believe are most important for effectively leading and managing instructional design in higher education. We identified Communication, Project Management, and Visioning and Strategic Alignment as the top three competency categories for the study. We were surprised by the relatively low ranking of the Teaching, Learning, Design, and Technology Expertise categories, as compared to the ranking of the other competencies. Still, participants gave it an overall ranking of 3.9, just below the threshold for very important, indicating that these lower-ranking competencies are still important in instructional design leadership and management.<br /><br />In reflecting on the results of this study, we believe it is important to compare what we have found with what has been written previously regarding instructional design leadership, specifically comparing these results with the 7PL4ID model (Ashbaugh & Piña, 2014). <em>Table 5</em> provides a comparison of the 7PL4ID model (Ashbaugh & Piña, 2014) and the results of this study. The term Prescience has similar meaning to the Visioning and Strategic Alignment category, and Preventive or Proactive Thinking in the 7PL4ID is related to our Environmental and Organizational Awareness category. Personality, as described by Ashbaugh and Piña (2014) aligns with the Communication, Interpersonal Skills and People Skills, and Politics and Relationships categories. Also, 7PL4ID’s Productivity appears to relate to Inspiring, Motivating, and Empowering Others, as well as Project Management. There did not immediately appear to be a relationship with the Provision for Unexpected and Unknown, Psychological/Emotional Toughness, or Personal Convictions categories described in 7PL4ID. The category of Teaching, Learning, Design, and Technology Expertise, our lowest-ranked category, did not immediately appear to align with 7PL4IDs. <br /><br />Table 5. Comparing the 7PL4ID and the results of this study.<br /><br /><img alt="" height="591" src="https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring211/gardner_pics/gardner4.png" width="523" /><br />
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<em>Implications for practice</em><br />
Universities and employers of instructional designers may benefit from considering these competencies when hiring and developing instructional design leaders and managers. Although the instructional design-specific competencies were rated lower than other competencies by those surveyed in this study, the competencies were still rated as very important by the participants. This implies that design, technology, and learning-specific competencies should be considered when hiring managers and leaders of instructional design.<br />
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<em>Implications for educators of instructional designers</em><br />
In instructional design programs, the focus of educators is typically to prepare graduates to design instructional interventions (Koszalka, Russ-Eft, & Reiser, 2012). However, instructional designers often assume a director or manager role in higher education and might benefit from formal leadership and management training in their studies. If we do not concern ourselves with the development of leadership and management capacities, we acquiesce leadership to others who may have less expertise in learning, instruction, processes, and systems for supporting and improving learning. We as a field should assume a greater role in leadership and decision-making in higher education.<br />
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<em>Limitations</em><br />
This study includes several limitations. We only studied the perspective of managers of instructional designers and not the views of others, including their managers or the people they lead. Another limitation is the low response rate of the first survey. The sample size of participants also limited our ability to draw conclusions with certainty based on the results. This survey only provides a snapshot of the overall competencies deemed important to effectively lead and manage design by instructional design leaders and managers. How they are applied may change from person to person and potentially change over time. These results are limited to instructional design leadership in higher education settings, and the results may not be generalizable to other environments such as business or government. Further research would clarify the importance and impact of these competencies in other settings.<br />
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<em>Future work</em><br />
Our goal was to identify the competencies that instructional design leaders and managers believe are important for leading and managing instructional designers in higher education. More research is needed to further clarify these competencies, including the situations, contexts, and strategies in which these competencies are employed. Analyzing the job descriptions of leaders of instructional designers would yield greater understanding of these competencies. It would be meaningful to investigate the competencies identified by those who manage and are managed by leaders of instructional designers. In addition, further research related to the importance of design, teaching, and learning competencies in leading instructional designers is warranted. Research of this kind would help clarify this and other studies on leadership and provide more evidence related to training in instructional design leadership and management competencies instructional design programs.<br />
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<strong>Conclusion</strong><br />
Leading and managing instructional design in higher education requires different skills than traditional instructional design skills. In this study, we have investigated these leadership and management skills. More research on the competencies associated with leading and managing instructional designers is warranted. In instructional design and distance education in higher education, we must be aware of these competences so that we can effectively prepare our students and employees to lead.<br />
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<strong>References</strong><br />
Ashbaugh, M. L. (2011). <em>Online pedagogical quality questioned: Probing instructional designers’ perceptions of leadership competencies critical to practice </em>(Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest (UMI No. 3460621)<br /><br />Ashbaugh, M. L. & Piña, A. (2014). Improving instructional design processes through leadership-thinking and modeling. In B. Hokanson & A. Gibbons (Eds.), <em>Design in educational technology: Design thinking, design process and the design studio</em> (pp. 223-248). New York, NY: Springer.<br /><br />Beaudoin, M. F. (2003). Distance education leadership for the new century. <em>Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 6</em>(2), 2003.<br /><br />Brigance, S. K. (2011). Leadership in online learning in higher education: Why instructional designers for online learning should lead the way. <em>Performance Improvement, 50</em>(10), 43-48.<br /><br />Brill, J. M., Bishop, M. J., & Walker, A. E. (2006). The competencies and characteristics required of an effective project manager: A web-based Delphi study. <em>Educational Technology Research and Development, 54</em>(2), 115-140.<br /><br />Cronbach, L. J. (1971). Test validation. American Council on Education, Washington, DC, pp. 443-507.<br /><br />Dashtahi, A. K., Ekrami, M., Navehebrahim, A., & Sarmad, M. R. (2016). Application of leadership theories in higher distance education leadership. <em>International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies, 1</em>(1), 1087-1097.<br /><br />da Silva, A. R. L., Diana, J. B., & Catapan, A. H. (2015). Management and instructional design: Building intersections. <em>US-China Education Review, 5</em>(2), 133-138.<br /><br />Intentional Futures. (2016). <em>Instructional design in higher education: A report on the role, workflow, and experience of instructional designers</em>. Retrieved from <a href="https://intentionalfutures.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Instructional-Design-in-Higher-Education-Report.pdf">https://intentionalfutures.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Instructional-Design-in-Higher-Education-Report.pdf</a><br /><br />Hasson, F., Keeney, S., & McKenna, H. (2000). Research guidelines for the Delphi survey technique. <em>Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32</em>(4), 1008-1015.<br /><br />Koszalka, T. A., Russ-Eft, D. F., Reiser, R. (2013). <em>Instructional design competencies: The standards</em> (4th ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.<br /><br />Madlock, P. E., & Kennedy-Lightsey, C. (2010). The effects of supervisors’ verbal aggressiveness and mentoring on their subordinates. <em>Journal of Business Communication, 47</em>(1), 42-62. doi:10.1177/0021943609353511<br /><br />Merrill, M. (2007). The proper study of instructional design. In J. V. Dempsey & R. Reiser (Eds.), <em>Trends and issues in instructional design and technology</em> (2nd ed., pp. 336-341). Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice Hall.<br /><br />Nworie, J. (2012). Applying leadership theories to distance education leadership. <em>Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 15</em>(4), n4.<br /><br />Rubley, J. N. (2016). Instructional designers in higher ed: Changing the course of next-generation learning. Washington, D.C.: Chronicle of Higher Education.<br /><br />Rivard, S. & Huff, S. L. (1988). Factors of success for end-user computing. <em>Communications of the ACM, 31</em>(5), 552-561.<br /><br />Shaw, K. (2012). Leadership through instructional design in higher education. <em>Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 15</em>(3), n3.<br /><br />U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education. (n.d.) <em>The database of accredited postsecondary institutions and programs</em>. Retrieved from <a href="https://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/">https://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/</a><br /><br />Xu, J., & Cooper Thomas, H. (2011). How can leaders achieve high employee engagement?. <em>Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 32</em>(4), 399-416.<br /><br />Wang, D. S., & Hsieh, C. C. (2013). The effect of authentic leadership on employee trust and employee engagement. <em>Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 41</em>(4), 613-624.<br /><br />West, R. E. & Borup, J. (2014). An analysis of a decade of research in 10 instructional design and technology journals. <em>British Journal of Educational Technology, 45</em>(4), 545-556.<br />
Zawacki-Richter, O. (2009). Research areas in distance education: A Delphi study. <em>International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10</em>(3), 1.<br />
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<strong>Appendix A: Raw Data Coding Sheet – Delphi Study</strong>Survey 1 with Coding (Questions 1 and 3).<br /><br /><strong>Question 1: What management knowledge do you believe a manager of instructional designers in higher education must possess in order to be successful?</strong><br /><br />Project management cycle<br /><br />How to budget, how to set priorities, how to create workflow processes, how to track workflow processes<br /><br />people skills; operational knowledge; understand how academic technology can be used to educate someone<br /><br />I don't believe that the management knowledge required is distinct to IDs in higher education. Managing people requires the manager to be proficient with institutional structures, policies, culture, mission/vision, and the vertical in which they operate (higher ed here). It also requires the manager to know the direct reports they are managing: what their goals are, how they fit within the model, where they want to grow and develop, how they function with the team, and what their strengths are. A manager should understand motivational techniques, basics of human resource management, and a variety of performance improvement strategies.<br /><br />backwards planning ability to manage timing of projects<br /><br />Deep knowledge of ID practice (design skills and theory), project management strategies,<br /><br />Understanding the principles of sound pedagogy<br /><br />skills needed by staff, workflow solution for instructional design process, monitor progress, understanding of workload<br /><br />collaborative leadership styles; servant leadership styles; knowledge of how resources are located at the central and sub-unity levels<br /><br /> (So much depends on the definition of "instructional design" you're employing. In higher education, there are different ways of understanding this work. The term is not used synonymously in all contexts.) In addition to the usual things all managers need? How to motivate people to orient themselves to instructional design work in ways that align with the mission of my center; how to identify the right instructional designer for the task at hand; how to identify appropriate professional development opportunities for instructional designers (not always a simple matter)<br /><br />how to organize work teams, how to match skills with needs<br /><br />Knowing how to manage large projects, assigning tasks as necessary to meet deadlines & goals; knowing how to coordinate and combine multiple small parts in order to make a cohesive whole.<br /><br />The manager must know how to manage technical employees, who tend to be more independent workers than in some other fields. The manager should have an equal or superior knowledge of instructional design to also be an educator.<br /><br /><strong>Question 3: What leadership knowledge do you believe a manager of instructional designers in higher education must possess in order to be successful?</strong><br /><br />Strategic thinking, visioning, leading others, leading change and goal/objective attainment<br /><br />motivational theory, leadership styles, personality styles<br /><br />Visionary; delegation; persuasion; strategy; communicator; change agent<br /><br />To be successful leaders, managers must have knowledge of ID theory and practice, knowledge of scholarship in teaching and learning, awareness of industry trends and technologies, knowledge of where instructional deficits lay in the industry, and knowledge of their own biases in decision making.<br /><br />motivational techniques<br /><br />Importance of short- vs long-term planning, not much you can teach here: intuitive observation of good leaders and awareness of strategies that work or not<br /><br />Knowing team's strengths and weaknesses<br /><br />how to get buy in, what motivates people,<br /><br />collaborative leadership; servant leadership; motivation;<br /><br />theories of motivation and how they align with instructional development work<br /><br />organizational awareness<br /><br />Understanding motivational principles and team dynamics. I think that the manager of instructional designers needs only know the basics of leadership.<br /><br />I think that the manager of instructional designers needs only know the basics of leadership.<br /><br /><img alt="" height="653" src="https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring211/gardner_pics/gardner5.png" width="491" /><br />
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Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume XXI, Number 1, Spring 2018<br />University of West Georgia, Distance Education Center</div>
Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-35836589157340912802019-04-04T10:59:00.002-04:002019-04-04T10:59:21.013-04:00Episode 03: Assessment in Higher Ed<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">A</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">s mentioned in a previous post, s</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">ome of my coworkers and I recently started the </span><a href="https://learningloungepodcast.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #4d469c; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>Learning Lounge Podcast</b></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. Our goal is to </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">share</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> expertise about learning, training, and instructional design issues, strategies, and best practices.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is assessment? Why does it matter? Why does it often strike fear in the hearts of teachers and academics? Our guest Dr. Yuerong Sweetland will answer these questions and more. View or listen to this episode below.</span></span></div>
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Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-48820866833230775922019-03-05T14:43:00.001-05:002019-03-05T14:43:39.939-05:00Episode 02: Getting the Most out of Your LMS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As mentioned in a previous post, s<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">ome of my coworkers and I recently started the </span><a href="https://learningloungepodcast.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>Learning Lounge Podcast</b></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">. Our goal is to share expertise about learning, training, and instructional design issues, strategies, and best practices.</span><br />
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Our second episode hosts Jesse Fuhrman, Instructional design faculty member and Learning Management System (LMS) guru at <a href="https://www.franklin.edu/" target="_blank"><b>Franklin</b></a>. Jesse has worked with several universities locally and internationally and has designed and developed scores of courses in many LMSs. In this podcast, we discuss some of his recommendations for maximizing an LMS for student learning. You can <a href="https://soundcloud.com/learninglounge/episode02" target="_blank"><b>listen to this podcast on SoundCloud</b></a> here or <b><a href="https://youtu.be/qB-OwDDzM3k" target="_blank">watch it on YouTube here</a></b>.</div>
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Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-19417038579929333502019-02-18T12:26:00.007-05:002019-03-05T14:33:04.673-05:00Podcast 01: Interactive Media in Higher EducationSome of my coworkers and I recently started the <a href="https://learningloungepodcast.com/" target="_blank">Learning Lounge Podcast</a>. Our goal is to talk about learning, training, and instructional design issues, strategies, and best practices.<br />
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Our first episode hosts Bradd Birmimgham, , the Director of Interactive Media Services at Franklin. Bradd has worked with experts and faculty from all over the globe to create instructional media for over a decade. We discuss his experiences working with faculty and design teams, and he shares some best practices for media development. Enjoy in <a href="https://soundcloud.com/learninglounge/episode01" target="_blank">audio form here</a> and below or <a href="https://youtu.be/aDRkBvl11wM" target="_blank">on YouTube here</a> and below.</div>
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Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-60915731340575966732019-01-25T14:55:00.003-05:002019-04-04T11:12:28.570-04:00Why You Should Study Human Performance Technology<div style="text-align: left;">
I am teacher, trainer, and instructional designer at heart. However, over the last 5 years, I have been exposed to the principles of Human Performance Technology (HPT). This holistic approach to improving competency and performance is powerful, and I recently created a video to explain why you should study HPT. <b>What do you think? </b>Should an instructional designer, trainer, or teacher understand and use these principles?</div>
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Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-50678734399877965902018-01-05T13:27:00.002-05:002018-01-10T09:24:00.456-05:00My First Book: GET IT DONEGuys, I thought I would share my latest publication, which is my first book! Read below for a description and links. Happy new year, everyone!<br />
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<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59dd8144d55b41bc94a8dd7e/t/5a0f978271c10ba553f6d0b0/1510971296649/bookcover1.jpg?format=500w" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="bookcover1.jpg" border="0" height="400" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59dd8144d55b41bc94a8dd7e/t/5a0f978271c10ba553f6d0b0/1510971296649/bookcover1.jpg?format=500w" width="280" /></a>Does it feel like you’re <b>always working but never actually get anything accomplished</b>? Do you wish you had <b>more time to focus on the things that really matter to you</b>? In my own research and experience, I have found that most people struggle to focus on what matters most to them. The reality is that we have endless opportunities for how to spend our time, and many things get in the way of doing what we care most about.<br />
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<b>4 Simple Strategies</b></h3>
Over the past 17 years, I have studied what it takes to focus on and achieve what is most important to you. I have read hundreds of books and thousands of articles on how people learn and grown and achieve their goals. Based on this research, I have found that there are essentially <b>4 Simple Strategies </b>for getting the most important things done: Take Action, Choose Your Focus, Hack Your Environment, and Optimize Yourself.<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Get-Done-simple-strategies-procrastinating/dp/1973335212/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">New Book: Get It Done</a></b></h3>
In my new book <span style="background-color: white; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro;"><b style="color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.79);"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Get-Done-simple-strategies-procrastinating/dp/1973335212/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" style="color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.79);" target="_blank">Get It Done</a>,</b> I write about each of these strategies and give specific action strategies for achieving what is most critical. which is written to help you find focus and devote time to what’s most important and meaningful to you. This book offers four simple strategies for getting the right things done, and a variety of specific action plans that you can apply to your everyday life.</span><br />
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Inside, you’ll find plenty of tips and tricks to get you on the right track, including:</div>
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<li style="word-wrap: break-word;">How to avoid the eight productivity killers</li>
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<li style="word-wrap: break-word;">Six ways to kickstart a balanced routine</li>
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<li style="word-wrap: break-word;">How to avoid negative people</li>
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<li style="word-wrap: break-word;">And many other simple ways to do more of what you want</li>
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Read <b style="color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.79);"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Get-Done-simple-strategies-procrastinating/dp/1973335212/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" style="color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.79);" target="_blank">Get It Done</a></b> and have an outstanding 2018!</div>
Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-29066056151188146612017-11-21T13:24:00.000-05:002017-11-21T13:24:10.192-05:00New Article: Applying Project Management Strategies in a Large Curriculum Conversion Project in Higher EducationMy <a href="https://www.franklin.edu/" target="_blank"><b>Franklin University</b></a> colleagues and I have published an article on <b>Project Management</b> and <b>Instructional Design</b> in the <a href="http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/" target="_blank"><b>Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration</b></a>. The journal has generous copyright policies, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to share the full article here!<br />
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<b>Joel Gardner</b></div>
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Franklin University</div>
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joel.gardner@franklin.edu </div>
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<b>Patrick A. Bennett</b></div>
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Franklin University</div>
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patrick.bennett@franklin.edu </div>
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<b>Niccole Hyatt</b></div>
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Franklin University</div>
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niccole.hyatt@franklin.edu </div>
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<b>Kevin Stoker</b></div>
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Franklin University</div>
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kevin.stoker@franklin.edu </div>
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<b>Abstract</b></div>
Higher education is undergoing great changes that require universities to adapt quickly, and making these changes can be difficult. One discipline that can aid in executing change is project management, which has developed a set of clear processes and strategies for completing initiatives quickly and effectively. Several authors have identified project management competencies as key in the practice of instructional design. However, in our experience it can be difficult to operationalize project management, particularly in instructional design projects that are large in scope and require a quick turnaround. In this case study, we describe our response to an immediate need to convert 53 courses from a 15-week to a 12-week format. We share the project management processes, strategies, and technologies we used to plan, organize, and lead this large course conversion project. We share our experiences working with organizational culture, collaborating with busy faculty, and hiring part-time designers and content experts. Finally, we share our own best practices for managing and leading large, multi-course instructional design projects.<br />
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<strong>Introduction</strong><br />
There has been a tremendous amount of discontinuous change in the U.S. system of higher education over the last several decades. The shifts have included ever-increasing scrutiny by accrediting and regulatory bodies, falling enrollments due to fewer high school students heading to college, and astounding price increases to the cost of tuition. For example, the cost of higher education tuition has increased by 1,225% over the last several decades, which is twice that of increases in medical care costs during the same period (Jamrisko & Kolet, 2014). Additionally, the National Student Clearing House (2017, June 16) reports that the number high school graduates attending college has fallen over the last five years by more than 2.5 million students. Higher education is in a time of great transition and institutions that do not become more agile risk abject and total failure. As Bryson (2011) noted, the survival of an organization is predicated on how well it responds to the shifting ecosystem. The problem of decreasing attendance is so dramatic for some institutions that Frey (2013) estimates that 50 percent of all private institutions of higher education within the United States will collapse by 2030 due to insolvency. <br />
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On top of all of this, institutions of higher education do not change easily. In fact, the long-held traditions of colleges and universities make needed change even more difficult. Zemsky (2013) suggests that although colleges and universities may experiment with new non-traditional models, they may not adopt sustainable change, so the same old education models are applied to new opportunities. New models and approaches, such as project management methodologies, are needed to help maintain quality while at the same time reduce expenses.<br />
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<strong>Project Management</strong><br />
One discipline that can aid in executing change is project management, which has developed a set of clear processes and strategies for completing initiatives quickly and effectively. It appears that change is more rapid and discontinuous in nature today than at any other time in history. These types of abrupt changes require strategic and agile responses, and project management is one method of approaching change that can speed sustainable change and encourage positive organizational behavior interventions. Project management includes a set of clear principles and strategies for completing projects on schedule, per scope, and within a predetermined budget (Project Management Institute, 2013). A project is as a unique activity that has a predetermined start and end date. The overall practice of project management involves the creation of a project plan that breaks down the defined project into the related tasks to accomplish the goals of the project, sequencing the tasks, assigning resources, and working to adjust task start and finish dates to align with resource availability. This upfront planning process allows for the creation of a project schedule, a project budget, and a project team consisting of the required human resources to complete the project. Project management is successfully applied in a variety of fields and contexts (Project Management Institute, 2013).<br />
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<strong>Project Management in Instructional Design </strong><br />
Project management is key in the practice of instructional design (Greer, 1992; Koszalka, Russ-Eft, & Reiser, 2012), a field which is inherently project-based. The International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (IBSTPI) identified planning and managing instructional design projects as a key competency for instructional designers, (Koszalka, Russ-Eft, & Reiser, 2012), and many authors have promoted the notion that programs preparing instructional designers for their work should include instruction on effective project management (Merrill, 2007; Williams Van Rooij, 2010). At our University, we have employed project management strategies in a variety of instructional design projects, including course design for University programs and curricula, corporate clients, government clients, and other institutions of higher education.<br />
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<strong>Responding to Change at Franklin University </strong><br />
Franklin University has a long history of adapting to changes in industry and the higher education ecosystem. Our University was an early developer of fully online programs in the late 1990s and has successfully provided online education for nearly 20 years. In the early stages of our online development, Our University was granted permission from the U. S. Department of Education (ED) to have an overlapping winter and summer trimester to support the development of online programs and employ a 15-week summer term. However, during the 2016-2017 academic year, the ED communicated that it would no longer support the overlapping of terms. This meant that the summer term would be shortened to 12 weeks in length. Because this direction was given just 7 months before the next summer trimester, it created a serious potential problem for many of our students who would need to take key 15-week courses during that summer to graduate from our University in a timely manner. Our university had more than 85 15-week courses, all of which were online and several with face-to-face versions. This included major area courses in many high-enrollment programs such as accounting.<br />
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To respond quickly to the requirements of the ED, we created a project team to plan for and execute a new strategy: converting all 15-week courses to 12-week courses. Furthermore, University leadership mandated that the required 15-week courses for Summer 2017 be redesigned immediately. That meant that our institution would need to convert 53 of the 85 courses from 15 to 12 weeks between January 2017 and April 2017.<br />
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In this case study, we describe how we responded to an immediate need to convert 53 courses from a 15-week to a 12-week format. We share Our University’s model for delivering online education using adjunct faculty. We then discuss the project management processes and strategies we used to plan, organize, and lead this large course conversion project. We share our experiences working with organizational culture, collaborating with busy faculty, and hiring part-time designers and content experts. We also share the technologies we used to effectively manage this large course conversion project. Finally, we share our own best practices for managing and leading large instructional design projects.<br />
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<strong>Method </strong><br />
<strong><br />Instructional Design and Centralized Curriculum at Our University</strong><br />
In this section, we provide an overview of our course design and delivery approach at our University. Adjunct faculty, who are actively employed experts in the field related to the courses, teach the majority of our courses. This aids us in achieving our goal to provide instructors and courses that are relevant and current to the needs of employers. To aid in controlling and assuring the quality of each course, we employ a centralized curriculum in which each course is developed and deployed within our Learning Management System (LMS) BlueQuill, and each section of the course contains the same structure, assignments, rubrics, and point allotment. Per our design process, teams comprised of an instructional designer, faculty member, content editor, and sometimes external content expert create each course. This team and process has become an integral component of curriculum development, revision, and improvement.<br />
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This design approach creates a sense of "our course" among the team and ultimately provides a more robust experience for the student. It allows the faculty member and content expert to focus on the content, or discipline, while the instructional designer focuses on the best way to distribute the information throughout the course, and the content editor conducts a series of checks to ensure that the course is ready for publication. A management team employs project management strategies to oversee, support, and lead the design project.<br />
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<strong>Project Management Applied to Instructional Design</strong><br />
As noted above, several authors have written about the relationship between instructional design and project management (Greer, 1992; Koszalka, et al., 2012 Merrill, 2007; Williams Van Rooij, 2010). Williams Van Rooij (2010) found that project management is a critical contributor to the success of instructional design, and the generic ADDIE process for designing instruction does not fully encompass critical project management components (Williams Van Rooij, 2010). We have found this to be true in our instructional design work, and below we describe how we integrated both the ADDIE process within an overarching project management process to execute this course conversion project.<br />
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According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), there are five process groups or phases of project management, which we highlight here and describe in greater detail below: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing (Project Management Institute, 2013). These groups generally occur sequentially, though <em>executing</em> and <em>monitoring and controlling</em> occur simultaneously. For this project, the five phases were led and managed by the management team, which included the vice president of implementation, the executive director of design services, the department chair of instructional design, and the director of implementation, who acted as project manager. The instructional designer who led the design teams performed the executing phase. The executing phase encompassed the five phases of the ADDIE model: analyzing, designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating, which were the responsibility of the instructional designer (see Figure 1). In this manner, we integrated project management principles and instructional design processes.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHIvfYq0kXvlgPxlAznHKDoyr_WXX7RLiH8rvIKtNfn7Q4fXCh5kJR0ih_0dexVvqnp0vwES7csuLe0PSl7BWcH-MY0nXay4h6WsZWJdPq1UBfHjAIqVscqBpaMjcZhHq-7UzqcFT2oFA/s1600/PMBOKandADDIE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="1227" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHIvfYq0kXvlgPxlAznHKDoyr_WXX7RLiH8rvIKtNfn7Q4fXCh5kJR0ih_0dexVvqnp0vwES7csuLe0PSl7BWcH-MY0nXay4h6WsZWJdPq1UBfHjAIqVscqBpaMjcZhHq-7UzqcFT2oFA/s400/PMBOKandADDIE.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Figure 1. The relationship between general phases of instructional design and the project management process groups at our University. The ADDIE phases helped guide each individual course design project, and the project management process groups guided the overall course conversion of the identified courses.</td></tr>
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<strong>Process Groups. </strong>Our implementation of the course conversion process paralleled the project management process groups defined by the PMBOK. In this section, we define the five PMBOK process groups (Project Management Institute, 2013) and describe how we implemented them in this course conversion project.<br />
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<strong><em>Initiating.</em></strong><br />
The initiating process group consists of those processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase (PMBOK 2013). In this phase, typical activities include identifying who will be affected by the project and ensuring that all stakeholders are aware of the project scope and agree to its implementation. As we began to grapple with this project, we first met with multiple stakeholders to help clarify the needs and constraints for the project. We held several meetings to present the current situation, listen to stakeholders’ concerns and ideas, gather feedback on the proposed plan, and determine the goals and outcomes for the project.<br />
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<strong><em>Planning.</em></strong><br />
The planning process group consists of those processes performed to establish the total scope of the effort, define objectives, and develop a course of action (Project Management Institute, 2013). In our experience, planning is the most important part of the work for the project manager, and inadequate planning is very often the cause of a project’s failure. For this project, this planning included identifying the courses that were to be converted. This included prioritizing those courses running in the coming summer trimester that had a high enrollment and potentially impacted students’ ability to complete their degrees in a timely manner. This planning also included defining team members’ roles, identifying the project’s scope, and developing a communication plan. <br />
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A key part of our planning for this project was clarifying the role of each of the design team members. These team members included an instructional designer, a content editor, a lead faculty member, and in some cases, a subject matter expert hired to provide content expertise for the course. We defined each team member’s role, including when and how they would contribute to the process. Along with this planning, we identified a clear deadline for when key parts of the design process were to be completed. We also identified a deadline by which all courses needed to be completed.<br />
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An important part of the planning process is identifying the scope of the project. This includes clarifying the project goals, what to deliver, the criteria for success, and the cost of resources spent. We compared our capacity as an organization with the specific needs of the project and prioritized which courses to focus on for the summer start date. To help control the scope of each individual course and keep the project to a manageable size, we clarified that the goal was to convert the courses to a different format, not necessarily to fully redesign the courses. Our goal was to finish all conversions, despite the potential to further improve some of the courses. We estimated that it would take around 60 hours to convert a single course and directed our designers to spend about this much time on each course.<br />
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Finally, we also created a communication plan that considered all of the key stakeholders for the project. These stakeholders included students, faculty, designers, adjuncts, and the registrar’s office. A key aspect of this communication included our initial kickoff meeting with all stakeholders in which we described the purpose of the project, the timeline, and the process to complete the project and further built stakeholder buy-in. We discuss more elements of our communication plan under the Monitoring and Controlling section later on.<br />
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<em><strong>Executing.</strong></em><br />
The executing process group consists of those process groups performed to complete the work defined in the project plan to satisfy the project specifications (PMBOK, 2013). As noted above, the executing phase is where all of the course conversion work took place. In this phase, the instructional designers employed the instructional design process with the faculty and content experts. In some cases, edits and changes to these courses took place within a Microsoft Word course manuscript design document, which captured all of the content and assignments for the course. In other cases, these edits and changes were identified on a marked up PDF copies of the courses to be changed. To employ project management for these courses, we created major milestones for the courses’ development so that we could track the designers’ progress in developing the courses. The instructional designers attended biweekly meetings to provide updates on their progress meeting these milestones. Instructional designers also tracked their time spent on each course project so that we could effectively monitor how long each course took to complete and make adjustments as needed.<br />
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In addition to the work accomplished by the instructional designers, our content editing team played a key role in the execution of this project. Content editors reviewed the completed course manuscripts and put them into the LMS. They also conducted quality checks on each course to ensure that all of the course components and functionalities such as discussions, synchronous sessions, point allocations, and rubrics met the course quality standards we had previously created. Ultimately, content editors reviewed the courses for accuracy, consistency, and accessibility. Again, these activities were reported biweekly and each content editor tracked time spent for each task daily.<br />
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A key component of these course conversions was the collaboration with adjunct faculty who served as content experts. Because our full-time faculty were required to convert many of these courses rapidly, we needed to hire additional experts to support the design process. Typically, these content experts were adjuncts that teach the specific course that they supported and have the familiarity with the content and course flow. Using this model, we were able to develop multiple courses simultaneously without overwhelming one particular lead faculty member. For example, one faculty member had to convert 13 courses, which would be impossible given the complexity of the work and the other responsibilities that the faculty member had to maintain during the same period. We anticipated and, therefore, budgeted for 21 courses, but ultimately had 34 courses supported by a content expert.<br />
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<em><strong>Monitoring and Controlling</strong></em><br />
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<strong><em>Communication</em></strong>. One key method for monitoring and controlling is communication. As noted above, we created a plan for communicating the project and its status to all stakeholders. Specifically, we held planning meetings with all stakeholders to gather their insights and develop an understanding of the project needs. We held a kick off meeting with all involved and communicated the project purpose, scope, and plan. As noted above, we held biweekly meetings with the instructional designers to communicate any updates and to facilitate peer-sharing and collaborative problem solving. We also checked in with faculty regularly through emails or phone calls, particularly when issues needed to be resolved. We also met monthly with the academic deans to discuss any concerns, and to answer questions. At the end of the project, we conducted lessons learned meetings to gather insights from team members on what went well and on how we could improve on the work with future course conversions.<br />
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<em>Tracking and Reporting.</em><br />
Another method for monitoring and controlling is tracking and reporting. We held biweekly status meetings to monitor the work of our instructional designers and content editors. In these meetings, the project manager followed up with each team member on the status of each course, including which milestones were completed. This meeting served to hold team members accountable for their assigned work and gave us the opportunity to identify issues and problems early so that we could respond to them quickly and keep the course designs moving forward.<br />
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We also tracked employee work using the time tracking software Replicon. Instructional design faculty and content editors entered the time spent on each project into this tool, which allowed us to create reports on the time spent for each assigned course conversion so that we could plan for future course conversions.<br />
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<em>Quality Reviews.</em><br />
In addition to the tracking described above, we also instituted quality reviews to monitor and assure the quality of the courses implemented into the LMS. These quality reviews included review of the faculty member, the instructional designer, and a comprehensive peer review of the final course by two content editors. Components of the review included: a review of the overall flow of the course; a check of course functionality such as links, assignments dates and discussion functions; a review of all images for appropriate use of alternative text; a review of course syllabi to ensure inclusion of required policies and other components; and standard review of the updated course materials.<br />
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<strong><em>Closing.</em></strong><br />
As noted above, the closing phase of a project is when the project officially ends. To close out this course conversion project, we held two lessons learned sessions – one with our instructional design/content editing experts, and one including all faculty and college leadership - to identify opportunities for improvement for future projects. Opportunities we identified included setting clearer deadlines, building in time for course review, and staggering due dates for a more balanced flow of work. We then communicated the successful completion of the project to all project stakeholders, including a final report of the project’s success. We documented the changes made to each course and any additional notes for each course conversion in our records in SharePoint. Finally, we held a luncheon with key project stakeholders to celebrate the successful completion of the project.<br />
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<strong>PMBOK Knowledge Base.</strong><br />
In addition to the five process groups noted above, PMBOK has 10 knowledge areas, which we describe briefly in column 1 of Table 1 below. These knowledge areas can be emphasized or deemphasized depending on the industry, the project and products, and the project context. In our instructional design projects, we tend to focus on seven of the knowledge areas, while paying less concern to three of the knowledge areas. Specifically, we do not typically focus on project integration management because our processes are well established, and there is little need to manage their integration. Project risk management was not a focus, because there was little choice in this project – we were required to complete the changes - though the project did have some inherent risks. Finally, project procurement management was not emphasized because the majority of our resources for the project were internal, aside from identifying and compensating content experts. Table 1 below briefly describes the 10 PMBOK knowledge areas and summarizes how we applied these areas in this course conversion project.<br />
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Table 1. The 10 PMBOK Knowledge areas and how we applied them in this project.<br />
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<tr><td valign="top" width="265"><br />
<strong>PMBOK Knowledge Area</strong></td><td valign="top" width="265"><div align="center">
<strong>Our Application</strong></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="265"><em>Project Integration Management</em> – Managing the holistic processes and components related to a project</td><td valign="top" width="265"><ul>
<li>Coordinated the design and management processes of the course conversion project</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="265"><em>Project Scope Management</em> –Defining what the project includes and does not include.</td><td valign="top" width="265"><ul>
<li>Met with project stakeholders to identify courses we needed to convert</li>
<li>Worked with design faculty to determine the level of design for each course (in this case, a conversion in length)</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="265"><em>Project Time Management</em> – Managing the time spent on the project and ensuring timely completion.</td><td valign="top" width="265"><ul>
<li>Developed an estimate of time needed to convert each course</li>
<li>Estimated the overall project time needed</li>
<li>Defined the deadline for completion of courses, as well as milestones for key tasks</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="265"><em>Project Cost Management</em> – planning and tracking the budget to control the cost of the project.</td><td valign="top" width="265"><ul>
<li>Identified external support needs based on project and the existing internal resources</li>
<li>Contracted with part-time employees to fulfill those needs in excess of our capacity</li>
<li>Gave all employees parameters for how much time to spend on each course conversion</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="265"><em>Project Quality Management</em> – defining and measuring the quality of the products to meet the project quality standards and scope. </td><td valign="top" width="265"><ul>
<li>Created course production standards for each course</li>
<li>Conducted quality assurance reviews of each course using production standards</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="265"><em>Project Human Resource Management</em> – Organizing, managing, and leading the team to deliver the project in scope.</td><td valign="top" width="265"><ul>
<li>Held kickoff meetings to communicate expectations</li>
<li>Consistent periodic meetings to track progress, address issues, and provide support</li>
<li>Frequent email communication with individuals and stakeholder groups to keep the project on track</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="265"><em>Project Communication Management</em> – Planning and executing the communication of the project and project-related information to all stakeholders.</td><td valign="top" width="265"><ul>
<li>Held kickoff meeting to communicate the project parameters and plans</li>
<li>Communicated the status of the project to University leadership every two weeks</li>
<li>Email communication to solve problems and share status to staff, faculty, and faculty leadership</li>
<li>Biweekly meetings with instructional designers to communicate status, problem solve as a group, and provide support</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="265"><em>Project Risk Management</em> – Identifying anything that could be an obstacle to the success of the project.</td><td valign="top" width="265"><ul>
<li>Identified risks, including potential impact on students, potential lack of faculty commitment, inability to secure needed content expertise</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="265"><em>Project Procurement Management</em> – Managing the acquisition of resources needed to complete the project.</td><td valign="top" width="265"><ul>
<li>Identified content experts and coordinated their compensation</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="265"><em>Project Stakeholder Management</em> – Identifying stakeholders and understanding their role within the project.</td><td valign="top" width="265"><ul>
<li>Met with multiple groups of stakeholders multiple times to establish the project, build support, communicate status, and address issues</li>
<li>Held lessons learned meetings to gather insights and signal closure of the project</li>
<li>Communicated completion at close of project to leadership</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong><br /></strong>
<strong>Technology for Facilitating Project Management</strong><br />
As alluded to above, we used several technologies for this project. In this section, we describe these technologies and share how we used them in the management and execution of this course conversion project:<br />
<ol>
<li><em>Microsoft SharePoint</em> is a document management and storage system that the University has employed. <em>Microsoft</em> <em>OneNote</em> collects notes or data about a particular topic that fosters collaboration while interfacing with all Microsoft Office products. We created a specific project page within SharePoint to house all documents for this project and used it as a central location for storing course manuscripts, documenting what actions we took, and noting any changes that we might need to make in the future.</li>
<li><em>Replicon</em> is a web-based software that can be used to track projects, hours on tasks, the work of team members, and reporting on that tracking. We used Replicon to track the number of hours worked on each course within the project, which helped us to validate the estimates that we established for the work that the team would complete. In addition, Replicon helped us assign future work to the team by reporting the completion time for each course.</li>
<li><em>Microsoft Excel</em> is a software that creates spreadsheets. We used Excel to track the status of each project and to create reports with the project status. This allowed us to quickly report our progress to all levels of stakeholders. Note that these reports were effective because the project manager was responsible for updating the spreadsheets daily if not multiple times per day.</li>
<li>In many cases, we also used a <em>course manuscript</em>, which is a template built within Microsoft Word that provides consistency among all courses. Essentially, the template provides a structure for all instructional designers, which allows them to focus on the creative elements of the course design. Additionally, the content editors can work more efficiently with the manuscript because they know which elements go where in the LMS. By implementing the manuscript, the content editors were able to significantly decrease their build time, which decreases the overall budget for the project.</li>
<li><em>BlueQuill</em> is the Learning Management System that we employed for this project. We implemented and taught all courses within BlueQuill. The LMS is built internally by our University and is available commercially.</li>
</ol>
<strong>Results</strong><br />
This course conversion project was successful. We completed 53 course conversions on time. To be specific, when we began the project, we estimated that it would take instructional designers an average of 60 hours to convert each course. Based on our tracking, our instructional designers averaged 48.9 hours per course. The PMBOK acceptable standards for estimation are to conclude at -10% or +20% (PMBOK, 2013), and we were roughly 8% under on hours, which is within that standard. In addition, our content editors averaged six hours per course.<br />
<br />
Our observation was that using these project management principles encouraged positive interactions with the faculty and content experts. In addition, we were in the middle of a merge of two groups of instructional design and management team members. Looking back, we needed a project of this scope and urgency to bring the team together, and it helped to build a sense of unity and commitment among design team members, many of whom had not previously had an opportunity to collaborate with one another on projects. This project provided purposeful opportunities for the teams to create what Haslam, Reicher, and Platow (2011), refers a <em>social identity </em>as the team self-stereotyped leading to the creation of combined team values, norms, and beliefs surrounding the project. This is a far superior approach to providing long-term team cohesion. This is what Haslam, et al. (2011) define as <em>we </em>leadership<em>.</em><br />
<br />
This successful project also helped to build relationships with college faculty members. As in many universities, some groups of faculty members were uncertain about the effectiveness or usefulness of instructional design support for their courses. Because of the university-wide impact of this project, we worked closely with several of these faculty members, and informal feedback was very positive. In addition, based on the successful execution of this and other projects, we believe that other leaders and managers within the University trust and rely on our expertise more fully.<br />
<br />
<strong>Recommendations and Reflections </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Recommendations</strong><br />
We recommend the following to leaders and managers of instructional designers. First, we recommend meeting with all stakeholders early and often. This includes faculty, faculty leadership, instructional design management and team members, and any other key stakeholder. Your goal should be to collaboratively clarify the needs of the project, establish support from all stakeholders, identify obstacles and potential strategies before the project begins, communicate the status of the project regularly, gather feedback, and report on the conclusion of the project.<br />
<br />
We also recommend communicating early and often. We accomplished this through regular meetings with the instructional designers, stakeholders, and college leadership. These meeting help to the project manager stay transparent with all stakeholders throughout the process. In addition, hold lessons learned sessions at the end of each project so you can learn from and apply those lessons in the future.<br />
<br />
We also recommend holding biweekly status meetings in which the team members report on their progress. Our project manager typically leads this meeting, though the director or manager could manage it. We have found that these meetings promote collaboration and peer problem solving and help to identify common issues that can be addressed by the team. In addition, the meeting creates a sense of urgency and a need for team members to show progress since the last meeting. Meeting every two weeks works well because as the research indicates, activities to create a single deliverable should be no more than 80 hours (Project Management Institute, 2013).<br />
<br />
We also recommend harnessing technology to facilitate instructional design projects. Technologies can help you organize, track, store, and monitor the work and the instructional products of the instructional designers. When used appropriately, they also allow for sophisticated reporting on the number of hours worked and the progress made.<br />
<br />
Wherever possible, we also recommend employing a full-time project manager to manage and monitor instructional design projects. In our experience, project managers who employ key PMBOK principles can provide a significant increase in the productivity and results of an instructional design project. Where this is not possible, we encourage directors and managers of instructional designers to employ these key project management strategies.<br />
<br />
To decrease the amount of time needed to bring a substantial number of courses to fruition, we recommend considering external subject matter experts that teach the subjects to assist in the instructional design process. We also recommend employing part-time, contact instructional designers and content editors to increase capacity when needed. Documenting processes and developing clarity on standards makes this possible, and without that kind of clarity this would not work as effectively.<br />
<br />
<strong>Reflections</strong><br />
It is worth reflecting on the centralized course design strategy taken by our University. In our context, a centralized instructional design model and standardized curricula in which instructional designers, not faculty, design and develop courses seem to have facilitated our ability to respond quickly as an organization and to convert these courses quickly. We completed all course conversions in a short 12-week period. However, this centralized, standardized model may not necessarily make sense in all higher education contexts.<br />
<br />
This paper illustrates how we have combined the disciplines of project management and instructional design, specifically combining the ADDIE process with the PMBOK principles. As noted above, in this approach, a project manager is responsible for the overarching project management, and the instructional designer manages the specific timeline for all course design elements. This works well for us, but it may not work for other universities that have different contexts and constraints. Still, we believe that using these PMBOK principles is a critical component of effectively managing instructional design projects, as well as any other major response to the higher education environment today.<br />
<br />
It is worth reflecting on the flexible nature of project management and instructional design principles. Because of the pragmatic nature of the practice of the fields of project management and instructional design, we have found it useful to use the principles and processes such as those found in PMBOK and in processes such as the ADDIE process because they can be applied in myriad ways. We might emphasize, for example, project communication management in this project, but give it less emphasis in a project that has fewer stakeholders. In another example, we might conduct an analysis differently for a course conversion than we might for a new course designed for a new program. These are principles to apply in a pragmatic manner based on the context in which the work is taking place.<br />
<br />
We have found that this flexibility has enabled us to respond quickly to the demands placed on our design team and our University. Project management tools and clean design processes have helped to facilitate our response to the demands of accrediting and governmental bodies quickly. These principles can also be applied in a variety of ways to help facilitate other kinds of change.<br />
<br />
<strong>Conclusion</strong><br />
In this paper, we describe how we employed project management principles to succeed in a large course conversion project. This project was a response to a specific direction from the Department of Education to shift how we schedule our courses at our University. Higher education will continue to experience this kind of pressure and change, among many other kinds. We will need to respond to those changes quickly and effectively, and in our experience, project management is a key tool for managing and directing those responses.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
References</h3>
Bryson, J. M. (2011). <em>Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement</em>. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.<br />
<br />
Frey, T. (2013, July 5). By 2030 over 50% of Colleges will Collapse. Retrieved May 19, 2016, from <a href="http://www.futuristspeaker.com/business-trends/by-2030-over-50-of-colleges-will-collapse/">http://www.futuristspeaker.com/business-trends/by-2030-over-50-of-colleges-will-collapse/</a><br />
<br />
Haslam, S. A., Reicher, S. D, & Platow, M. J. (2011). The new psychology of leadership:Identity, influence, and power. New York, NY, Psychology Press.<br />
<br />
Jamrisko, M., & Kolet, I. (2014, August 18). College Tuition Costs Soar: Chart of the Day. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-08-18/college-tuition-costs-soar-chart-of-the-day">http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-08-18/college-tuition-costs-soar-chart-of-the-day </a><br />
<br />
Koszalka, T. A., Russ-Eft, D. F., & Reiser, R. (2013). <em>Instructional designer competencies: The standards</em>. Retrieved August 15, 2017 from <a href="http://ibstpi.org/instructional-design-competencies/">http://ibstpi.org/instructional-design-competencies/.</a><br />
<br />
Merrill, M. D. (2007). The future of instructional design: the proper study of instructional design. In R. A. Reiser & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), <em>Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology </em>(Second ed., pp. 336-341). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.<br />
<br />
National Student Clearing House. (2017). Current term enrollment estimates – spring 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2017, from <a href="https://nscresearchcenter.org/currenttermenrollmentestimate-spring2017/">https://nscresearchcenter.org/currenttermenrollmentestimate-spring2017/. </a><br />
<br />
Project Management Institute. (2013). <em>A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide)</em>. Newtown Square, Pa: Project Management Institute.<br />
<br />
Williams Van Rooij, S. W. (2010). Project management in instructional design: ADDIE is not enough. <em>British Journal of Educational Technology</em>, 41(5), 852-864.<br />
<br />
Zemsky, R. (2013). <em>Checklist for change: Making American higher education a sustainable enterprise</em>. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-58710108287023432602017-11-16T06:54:00.002-05:002017-11-16T06:55:01.344-05:00Conference Reflections - How Relevant is AECT?My great friend and associate Dr. Lewis Chongwony just posted a GREAT <a href="https://institute.franklin.edu/blog/My-Reflections-Association-Educational-Communications-and-Technology-AECT-2017-International-Convention/chongwony-lewis" target="_blank">reflection on his experiences at the international convention for the Association for Educational Communications and Technology</a>. He asks some critical questions about <a href="http://aect.site-ym.com/" target="_blank">AECT</a> and its fundamental purpose and impact. I highly recommend reading the post.<br />
<br />
I also attended AECT's convention this year, and I had some similar thoughts. Here are my reactions in bullet-point form. (You will notice that I use the term we in these questions - I am a scholar and a member of AECT and the Educational Technology/Instructional Design community).<br />
<ul>
<li><b>What is our purpose? </b>This is something I have wondered about for several years. What is the purpose of AECT? It feels like it is essentially focused on supporting and rewarding research related to educational technology. But, I and many others have wondered what positive result this has achieved outside our own circle of discussion.</li>
<li><b>How can we impact education instead of simply researching it?</b> I am not saying that no impact has been made, but many problems continue to plague our educational system. Right now higher education institutions and typical tenure policies are focused on rewarding research and research-related activities. This is important, but it seems to be disconnected from the issues we see in the systems we are trying to understand and influence.</li>
<li><b>We are topic centered instead of problem-centered. </b>The very structure of AECT is based around different topics, and as scholars we tend to ask "what is the topic of your study?" Even though we know the power of a problem-centered approach, we still think in a topic-centered way. If we want to have an impact, we must select a problem or a series of problems that we are going to take responsibility to solve.</li>
<li><b>How can we share our scholarship more effectively? </b>I see this as an attempt to make our knowledge more accessible and therefore more used by practitioners. A few observations - first, academics have been trained to do a specific style of writing. It can be inherently boring, very long-winded, and hard to interpret and apply. Second, the cost of our publications can be prohibitive. I attended a session on an excellent book that had been written by some peers of mine, but when I went to purchase the book, I found that it was nearly $100 for the book. Seriously? $100? We can't figure out a way to reduce the costs of publishing that book? It didn't have any special color illustrations or anything like that, so why in the world was it so expensive? I can only assume that it was a result of some kind of strange publisher relationship...</li>
</ul>
<div>
I have considered AECT my scholarly home, and it is an outstandingly supportive community. But I certainly join Dr. Chongwony (and many others speaking at the convention) in questioning the direction we have been heading and our relevance and impact on the actual practice of education. My deepest desire is to positive impact peoples' lives and improve the nations and people I work with. Am I doing so through my work with AECT? I have found myself over the past couple of years branching out to different ways of sharing my knowledge (like this blog and an upcoming book that I have written) to make this knowledge more available to others. Will AECT as an organization make the changes it needs to remain relevant and have a deeper impact on the practice of education?</div>
Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-80059093305331646282017-06-19T11:57:00.001-04:002017-06-19T11:57:21.288-04:00Summit Notes: Essential Institutional Capacities to Lead InnovationI recently attended the <a href="http://wcet.wiche.edu/" target="_blank">WECT</a> 2017 Summit on <a href="http://wcet.wiche.edu/events/summits/building-capacity-leading-innovation-2017" target="_blank">Essential Institutional Capacities to Lead Innovation</a>. It was a very good conference that shared some best practices in higher education for innovations to improve student success. Below are some of the notes I took during the conference.<br />
<h2 style="margin-left: .25in;">
Michelle Weise - Sandbox Collaborative – Southern
New Hampshire University<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
Michelle discussed some of the
things that her university has been doing to promote design thinking and collaborative,
creative problem solving at her university and as a service for other
universities. They created the Sandbox Collaborative, which is a space where
people can really think through their design needs and consider solutions for
their work. They pulled together a variety of research-based tools and
techniques from research and other organization. The space looks very open,
beautiful, different, and inviting. It seems to be the kind of space that would
be interesting and exciting to be in. The space and group serves as internal
consultancy focused on performance improvement for the university (the current
needs) and to help look at over the horizon solutions and opportunities (the
future). In my experience, it is very difficult to maintain and optimize what
is already existing while simultaneously planning for new, innovative systems
and approaches.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
She noted that they started in “stealth
mode” which allowed them to develop and grow and innovate. If you are under
scrutiny of others and have the existing culture and patterns imposed on you,
you may have a difficult time being able to move forward and will likely lose many
of your innovative ideas. Autonomy is critical in the initial phases. <o:p></o:p></div>
<h2 style="margin-left: .25in;">
Jeff Borden - St. Leo University – Innovation Incubator<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
Jeff talked about their innovation
incubator, which has been a place for innovating and creating great solutions
for the university. They eventually created LionShare, which is a system that
pulls together all kinds of student behavior data and provides the students with
a variety of supports and tools that provide just in time support to students
that is strong up-front and decreases over time. “For technology to work,
integration is the key.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Does your university support
innovation? Will they put money behind it? Will they support it?<o:p></o:p></div>
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If an organization or individual
is rewarded for innovation, then innovation will happen. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><u>Some reflections</u></i>: to me, it seems that implementing the
innovation is a major issue. Jeff addressed it with the need to consider
stakeholder engagement, but there is much more to it than that. What if we
never put enough resources toward solving the problem? What if we don’t beta
test? What if we ignore cultural or international issues? What if we don’t use
foundational project management strategies effectively? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="margin-left: .25in;">
Breakout Session 1: Identify the Talent You Have,
What You Need, and Where to Discover Candidates<o:p></o:p></h2>
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<b>MJ Bishop<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Dr. Bishop shared some key results
of a couple of powerful studies that look closely at centers for teaching and
learning. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;">Bishop, M., & Keehn, A. (2015). Leading academic change:
An early market scan of leading-edge postsecondary academic innovation centers.</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
The results of the study included
the following insights:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Institutional culture is one of
the biggest challenges to innovating, along with lack of resources.</li>
<li>Innovation centers seem to be
regularly undergoing reorganization. (7 of 10 interviewed were undergoing a
major revision).</li>
<li>Building collaboration was a key
thing organizations were doing (collaboration within campus organizations).</li>
<li>There seems to have been a shift
from faculty success to student success.</li>
<li>Most teaching/learning centers
started between 2001 and 2010.</li>
<li>Most leaders of these centers have
had faculty experience.</li>
<li>Most report to the provost or
academic affairs.</li>
<li>In most, the mission and reporting
function changed a lot over the last several years.</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<b>Outreach to department chairs</b> and <b>financial incentives</b> were the most effective methods for increasing
faculty engagement with the center.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Christina Anderson<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
Christina asked a few questions
that really help us gain a focus with the changes we are working to make within
an organization. Some good questions here:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>What are you trying to change?</li>
<li>Why?</li>
<li>How will you know it’s been
successful?</li>
<li>When does it need to happen?</li>
<li>Who needs to be involved?</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are certainly some
foundational project management/goal setting/change management principles
embedded in these questions. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Jay Hollowell<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
Sometimes we are pushed into a
swimming pool of sharks. (If you don’t know the joke, it is funny <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>). This is often the
cause of innovation –we do it as a reaction to something in the environment. We
can also do it proactively without a push into the shark pool - either way, we
must react and adapt and innovate. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
Near the end of the presentation,
we met as a table and discussed the following question. I have added in our
responses.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>How must higher education institutions change to better support
learning?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><b>Redesign the tenure process</b> to go the teaching track or research
track. This will help facilitate improve teaching and learning.</li>
<li><b>Bring in additional</b> roles such as mentors to help students move
through a learning path as opposed to different courses. Western Governors
seems to do this. There could be other supplements including having students
provide that kind of support.</li>
<li>Incentivize faculty to design
courses more effectively so that the students start effectively.</li>
<li><b>Faculty learning communities</b> – faculty teach the same course and
come together and have a conversation
about the course and what they are doing, struggling with, what is working. Faculty
seem to struggle with the concept of community and dialogue can help instill
the idea of sharing experiences and expertise.</li>
<li>Hire more full-time faculty.</li>
<li>Quality onboarding of new faculty.
Be more intentional in onboarding. Focus on teaching them how to teach online
and face-to-face. Create an experience of up to 12-18 months. Use quality
standards and rubrics, peer evaluations, and others.</li>
<li><b>What role should the teaching and learning center plan in today’s
learning design infrastructure?</b></li>
<ul>
<li>We focus a lot of effort on
instructional design to help support the teachers Simplicity is often key –
focus on the basics of ID, teaching effectiveness. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
Again, this was a great experience. I have found, though, that very often the context of sitting in a conference is not that I am acquiring the content that is being shared, but that I am thinking alongside the presentations. These presentations often spur ideas and insights that are meaningful but that are not at all related to the presentation content! That was the case at this conference - many ideas for improving myself, my work, and creative endeavors, and the university for which I work.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thanks, WCET, for a great experience!</div>
<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7278144859690037262.post-37507259552334185502017-01-17T15:56:00.000-05:002017-01-17T15:56:19.017-05:00Professional Development in Instructional Design<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>In the absence of growth, atrophy.</b></div>
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<b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The world is constantly changing, and as a learning professional,
your role is constantly shifting. To remain relevant and to have a positive
impact in your profession, you must continually acquire and expand your
knowledge and skills to improve yourself in your craft.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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In this blog post, I will share some of my current thoughts
on professional development in instructional design. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>4 Strategies for Setting Professional Development Goals<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<li>Be clear about how you will impact peoples’ lives. If you
have this clarity, then your next step often becomes more clear. I have
articulated my professional purpose in this manner: “My professional purpose
and mission is to discover and share knowledge that inspires, empowers, and
equips others to succeed in their careers and lives.”</li>
<li>Envision your future self. What kind of a person do you want
to be? What do you want to become? Look
at examples of people you want to be like and identify the traits you would
like to develop. Who do you want to become in a year? In three years? Create a
compelling vision of yourself and make it a reality!</li>
<li>Have career goals. Your career is going to happen, so you
might as well be deliberate about what you want to happen within that career. What
is the next position you would like to hold? What is the dream job you want to
work toward? Work to align your career with how you want to impact peoples’
lives.</li>
<li>Create clear actions for reaching your goals. Be specific
about the steps you will take – the skills you will develop, the people you
will meet, and the knowledge you will gain. It is sometimes helpful to create a
timeline for what you would like to happen, realizing that timelines and paths
are fluid and ever-changing. Be sure to identify the most important step you must
take and focus on that step.</li>
</ol>
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<b>Categories of Development in Instructional Design<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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There are 4 basic areas of professional development within
the field of instructional design:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<ol>
<li><b>Process</b> knowledge and skills. These include project
management and workflow, and the result of these skills is increased efficiency,
quality control, and empowerment of designers. What knowledge or skills would
increase your efficiency or effectiveness in your design processes?</li>
<li><b>Technology </b>knowledge and skills. These include technologies
that deliver or enhance the learning experience, track design processes,
evaluate learning, and manage the overall learning experience. What are your
technological gaps as an instructional designer?</li>
<li><b>Theory</b>. These include research and theory on how people
learn (learning theory) and how to help them learn (instructional theory).
There are many theories and models for learning that are pretty innovative, and
improving and refining your understanding of how to help people learn is quite
important. In addition, younger generations experience information and
knowledge differently than perhaps older generations do, and understanding
their experiences and expectations will also inform how you design. How might
you deepen or refine your theoretical knowledge?</li>
<li><b>Self</b>-improvement. You are the instrument through which all design takes
place. You must make yourself the most effective “technology” possible. How
could you improve and optimize your attitudes, beliefs and habits? How could
you improve your health and mental sharpness? What could you do right now to
make yourself a more balanced, well-rounded individual?</li>
</ol>
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<b>General vs. Specialized Development<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I have a fairly high level of specialized knowledge in
learning and instruction. I have been involved in teaching, learning and
instructional design for nearly 20 years, now, including an MS degree, a PhD, several
years of training and design experience, and years teaching ID to graduate
students. However, I have realized that I
use a great deal of general knowledge and skills to make my work meaningful and
useful. These general skills are not necessarily design-specific and might
include communication, critical thinking, problem solving, and project
management skills, among many others. Design skills are essential, but so are
the general skills. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I will finish this discussion with two questions for your consideration: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<ol>
<li>What design-specific knowledge and skills (e.g.
technologies, processes, theory, etc.) do you personally need to develop to
make yourself more effective as an instructional designer?</li>
<li>What general knowledge and skills (e.g. communication
skills, critical thinking, project management, political savvy, etc.) do you personally
need to develop to make yourself a more effective professional?</li>
</ol>
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Joel Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18074164441955325675noreply@blogger.com1