ARTICLES

Improving the Management and Efficiency of Instructional Systems Development Teams (A White Paper)
By Advanced Systems Technology Corporation

INTRODUCTION

This paper presents solutions for select problem areas that affect Instructional Systems Development (ISD) teams and introduces Integrated Knowledge Elements or iKe™, a tool that can improve communications, increase efficiencies, and significantly reduce development time. Using iKe™, ISD teams can produce web-based or CD-ROM-based training products that conform to the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) and comply with the requirements of section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Advanced Systems Technology, Inc. (AST) is a systems and software engineering firm that has specialized in information technology and the development of computer-based instruction and training for the past 20 years.

INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT TEAMS

ISD teams involved in the design, development, and implementation of Web-based learning products face many challenges, such as tight schedules, ever-changing technology standards and tools, and customer expectations. Successfully meeting these challenges requires improving the team’s performance.

AST identified four recurring problem areas that adversely affect courseware development for interactive multimedia instruction:

• Project management
• Complex programming processes
• Nonstandardized processes
• Lack of ready access to information

Project Management – The first problem area affecting performance is a separation between ISD process management and project management methodologies. In many cases, project management consists of a Gantt chart displayed on the project manager’s office wall. This chart usually reflects a schedule based on a contractually required product delivery date rather than a realistic evaluation of the time required to accomplish specific development tasks based on the resources available. In addition, the customer and designated subject matter experts (SMEs) are often unable to meet their obligations for timely review and approval of scheduled project milestones.

Complex Programming Processes – The second problem area involves the need for programming. Commercial off-the-shelf authoring systems often require advanced programming skills to produce interactive courseware. The wide array of programming skills needed for a variety of authoring programs is costly to maintain, and bottlenecks in development often occur.

Nonstandardized Processes – The third problem area is a lack of standardized processes. A new project is often treated like the first of its kind, limiting opportunities to leverage previous design and development efforts. This approach taxes development resources and extends development times.

Lack of Ready Access to Information – Finally, development tools and information were not centrally located or easily accessible by all development team members. The Monday morning status meeting would take several key resources off task for an hour or more to determine who did what last week and who was going to do what in the coming week. Project-related documents were usually stored in hard copy in the project manager’s office. Anyone wishing to review documents had to locate the documents, research what was needed for the project, then take notes or make copies. Most of the time, the documents had to remain where they were stored so that other team members could have access to them. These activities took time, disrupted productivity, and caused delays in development.

SOLUTION: WEB-BASED ELECTRONIC PERFORMANCE SUPPORT SYSTEM (EPSS)

In her book, Electronic Performance Support Systems, published in 1991, pioneer Gloria Gery defined an EPSS as “an integrated electronic environment that is available to and easily accessible by each employee and is structured to provide immediate, individualized on-line access to the full range of information, software, guidance, advice and assistance, data, images, tools, and assessment and monitoring systems to permit job performance with minimal support and intervention by others.”

AST developed the Integrated Knowledge Elements for Instructional Systems Development (iKe™) EPSS to provide integrated information, advice, learning experiences, and tools to support ISD-related tasks and address the four problem areas previously identified.

iKe™ integrates project management tools with a scalable and customizable ISD methodology in a Web environment where communications, collaboration, and access to tools and information are maximized.

iKe™ can help instructional designers develop Web-based training in less than half the time of previous development efforts.

CONCLUSION

ISD teams can look to iKe™, a Web-based courseware development tool protected by SSL technology, to overcome problem areas inherent in courseware development.

Visit our webpage at http://www.astcorp.com for an iKe™ tour.

Listserv Summary on Learning Management Systems Discussion
By Jan Watrous-McCabe

What experience do you have in selecting and working with a Learning Management System (LMS)? This is the question that was sent to the STC IDL SIG’s listserv, where two responses were received.

Fred Sapio provided a link to Moodle (http://moodle.org), an open source software package that is designed for the creation of online learning communities. If you’re up to programming, this solution is free. The site is worth exploring and provides all the information you’ll need to get started if you have an adventurous spirit.

Alice Leal shared her experience with the implementation of two LMS systems. The first implementation, with a company called Mydas (http://www.mydas.com), was of an application that was designed for content management and did not meet the overall needs of the company. There was additional need to address classroom registration and management. The second implementation was provided by SumTotal (http://www.sumtotal.com). Alice reported that the application is currently being used for registration and has been relatively easy to learn and use as a registration tool.

Just to straighten out some alphabet soup:

Learning Management System (LMS) – used for the administration of training usually including both online and classroom registration, tracking, facility coordination and reporting.

Content Management System (CMS) – used to create and manage online course content.

Learning Content Management System (LCMS) –manages the creation and administration of training for both online and classroom.

If you have experience with an LMS implementation, we’d love to hear from you. If you haven’t implemented an LMS yet, you most likely will in the not too distant future, so feel free to send your questions and concerns to our Managing Editor at jdamrau3@airmail.net.