Learning from a Project “Post-mortem”

Context and Background

As I reflect, I’m reminded of a project I took on in my school system. After receiving a large amount of technology grant money, our school made the wise decision to put interactive whiteboards in every classroom throughout the system. When the whiteboards were initially installed, teachers and staff attended off campus training sessions to learn to use the board. A few years later, the system encountered a large turnover. Many first year teachers, as well as a few retired teachers were welcomed aboard. That’s when the project I’m about to explain began. With the funds expended to send the new hires to off campus training sessions, finding someone to train them became an issue. There they were in a classroom with high tech interactive whiteboards and no clue on how to use them. Being considered one of the most tech savvy teachers in the school system, my principal approached me and asked if I would do the training.

I brainstormed the many ways the whiteboards could be used to enhance instruction. I considered the basics that needed to be taught, as well as some extra tricks I had learned outside of the initial training sessions I had attended. So the brainstorming was completed, tutorial handouts were ready, and I had my tutorial presentations locked in. I was ready and excited to introduce them to the wonderful world of interactive whiteboards.

Due to the teachers receiving professional learning credits for every ten hours of training, it was decided that the training would consist of ten one hour sessions. The date and length of the sessions was planned during the first training session by all involved. I considered what I thought to be the top uses of the whiteboard, as well as tips and tricks, and then, planned accordingly. Each session included me modeling the basic skills on the whiteboard in the room and having the learner’s practice them on individual laptops that had the whiteboard software installed. Activities for practicing the skills were incorporated into each training session. As the teachers practiced, I monitored and provided help when needed. As a ticket out the door, the teachers had to create a flipchart page using the skills of the day, save the flipcharts, and email them to me. Then, their flipcharts were opened and displayed on the whiteboard and shared with the entire class.

What contributed to the success of the project?

The goal of the project (training) was to equip the teachers to use the interactive whiteboards. In my opinion, the project was a success overall. As the project manager, I provided tutorials, tutorial handouts, modeling, and practice activities that led to the successful outcomes. To show that they were successful in attaining the daily goal(s), the teachers were required to produce an artifact (flipchart page) to show that they were capable of performing the operations of the day. Additionally, the teachers were required to make notes on their handouts, if necessary, throughout the ten week training sessions, and use them to produce an end of training project artifact. All of the teachers completed the project assignment, but a couple indicated they had a harder time remembering all the skills they had learned because they hadn’t been required to model them after the sessions were completed. I must note that one thing that made this project a success was the willingness of the “quick learners” to help the “slower” learners. I could equate the “quick learners” to the role of my project team. They worked hard to ensure that each phase of the project (training) was successfully completed.

What should have been included to make the project more successful?

Since we are in the 21^st century, I never considered the idea that some of the people I would be training didn’t possess basic computer skills or had no interest in incorporating the interactive whiteboards into their classroom practices. To my surprise, I was in for a bigger challenge than I initially thought it would be. The first year teachers had basic computer knowledge and were excited about the whiteboards, but the retirees for the most part, knew very little about basic computer skills and/or had no interest in using the interactive whiteboards in their classrooms. They just preferred sticking to the basic lecture, textbook, pencil, and paper routines. That was really challenging and hindered the learning outcomes to a certain degree. If I had conducted a survey of the teachers as project manager, I would have been able to better meet their needs. For those that were just there out of formality, I would have taught the basics in a shorter time span and been through with it. For the others that were interested and desired the credit, I would have stuck to the ten week training sessions, but the depth of the training sessions would have been more advanced. Additionally, to account for the couple of teachers that struggled to complete the major project assignment, I should have included refresher activities at the beginning of each training session to enforce the skills previously taught.

Finally, based on this project, I think conducting a learner analysis would really enhance this project design should I be called upon to provide the training in the future. Through the survey and the analysis, I will be better able to plan the training sessions. The ideal scenario will be to split the teachers into separate groups, if the level of basic technology skills is as wide as the levels between the previous teachers. I could then teach the basics to the ones attending the sessions out of formalities, and likewise, dig further into the capabilities of the interactive whiteboards with the more interested and technologically advanced teachers.

Resources

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.