JISC

The implementation of an MLE within a college has the potential to affect all staff and students within the college. It will impact on all areas of the curriculum, on the way tutors and learners communicate and on the way in which the Management Information System (MIS) gathers data. Looking ahead, it brings with it the potential for a major change in the culture of a college.

With the potential for such major impact, it is essential that implementation is done in a planned and structured way and that effects on the people, the systems and the culture are recognised and managed.

A project management approach is particularly suited to projects that cut across existing lines of management and offers the opportunity to develop that structure, monitor progress and reduce risk.

An MLE project needs to consider effects on:

• the curriculum (providing the opportunity of mapping across curriculum areas, identifying common knowledge requirements, facilitating sharing of materials and reducing duplication)
• creation and hosting of content
• delivery of the curriculum
• communication within learning groups and among wider groups
• methods of supporting learners
• methods of tracking learner activity and progress and generating Independent Student Record (ISR) data
• tutor time in online delivery and learner support
• interfaces with existing systems
• changing culture in the organisation and in the wider education sector

The project management approach offers:

• tried and tested methods
• ability to use skills and expertise of different people at different stages of the project
• better planning and scheduling
• software tools for recording and charting
• improved monitoring and control
• more accurate management information
• risk management

Implementing an MLE with its potential for major impact across the curriculum and the college is a complex project. The project manager is the person who manages this complexity. The project manager is ultimately responsible for achieving the objectives of the project. The skills and expertise of the project manager will be a significant factor in the success of the project. The project team can bring together people with different skills at various stages of the project; people who can see the potential of the MLE to bring about positive change for learners, systems and organisations, people who can innovate and motivate others and people who have specific technical skills.

Any MLE project will require a number of stages. The diagram illustrates a simplified MLE project with some of the tasks that will be required organised into various phases: system selection, implementation, piloting and finally the start of the process of deployment to the wider curriculum. It is good practice to build in a number of project milestones to provide points at which progress can be reviewed and action taken if required.

About the Author

Diane Saxon is IT Development Manager at City College Manchester with responsibility for internal and external ICT related projects. Prior to taking on this role, Diane was the manager of the Computing team at the college responsible for the delivery of computing courses to a wide range of students and commercial clients.

Both these roles have entailed involvement in a number of projects both as project manger and as a member of the project team. Previously, Diane worked as a systems analyst in a commercial data processing department and has considerable experience of project management and systems analysis within commercial IT projects.

Contact: dsaxon@ccm.ac.uk 

Readership

• Governors
• Principals
• Vice-Principals
• Senior Management Team
• Directors of Business Development
• Directors of Human Resources
• Directors of IT
• Directors of Staff Development
• ILT Champions  

Further information

Information about the JISC, its services and programmes.

(JISC CIS focus for instance holds periodic workshops to support project managers and will advise institutions on project management strategies) The FERL Learning Technologies website has reports on some recent FE ICT projects.

Books
Effective Project Management, Robert K Wysocki, Robert Beck Jr, David B Crane, John Wiley - ISBN 0471360287
Project Management Demystified, Geoff Reiss, E&FN Spon, 1996 - ISBN 0419213503
Successful Project Management Mark Brown, Institute of Management, Hodder and Stoughton 1998 - ISBN 0340705396

Journals
Project Manager Today, Larchdrift Projects Ltd.