cimt 687 initial planning documents

Initial Planning DocumentsIn partial fulfillment of the requirements for CIMT 687: Leading and Managing Technology Resources in Educational Settings

Submitted by Team 2: Amena Alhamad, Andrea Boehme, Ohoud Al Radhi, Safaa Almohammedsalem, Shaimaa AlHarbi

2013

CONTENTS

Project Charter________________________________________________________________________________________________1

Contract_____________________________________________________________________________________________________1

Statement of Work_________________________________________________________________________________________1

Project Need______________________________________________________________________1

Project Scope Description____________________________________________________________1

Product Scope Description___________________________________________________________2

Strategic Plan_____________________________________________________________________3

Deliverables________________________________________________________________________________________________4

Project___________________________________________________________________________4

Product__________________________________________________________________________4

Requesting changes_________________________________________________________________5

Constraints_______________________________________________________________________5

Assumptions______________________________________________________________________5

Enterprise Environmental Factors__________________________________________________________________________6

Organizational or Company Culture____________________________________________________6

Governmental or Industry Standards___________________________________________________6

Infrastructure______________________________________________________________________6

Existing Human Resources___________________________________________________________6

Personnel Administration____________________________________________________________6

Project Management Information Systems_______________________________________________6

Organizational Process Assets________________________________________________________7

Summary Milestones______________________________________________________________________________________8

Project___________________________________________________________________________8

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)________________________________________________________________________9

Summary Budget_________________________________________________________________________________________10

Business Case________________________________________________________________________________________________11

Project Stakeholders_________________________________________________________________________________________13

SWOT Analysis______________________________________________________________________________________________14

DCPI_______________________________________________________________________________________________________14

Findings__________________________________________________________________________________________________14

1

PROJECT CHARTER

This project charter authorizes Team 2 (Shaimaa, Ohoud, Safaa, Amena, Andrea) to create a

website for Dr. Boileau to meet the requirements of CIMT 687.

CONTRACT

There is no formal contract for this project. Requirements and expectations for the project have

been stated in the class syllabus and rubrics. Product requirements are set by the group and have

been described in the product scope description.

STATEMENT OF WORK

PROJECT NEED

Firstly, this project is being created to meet the requirement of CIMT 687 Leading and Managing

Educational resources. Secondly, the e-book/website being created is for elementary aged

students (specifically grades 5 and 6) who wish to learn independently about science. The need

to increase Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education has been

emphasized by President Obama. This was in response to, among other studies, a 2006

international assessment of science literacy that ranked The United States 21st out of 30 in the

ranking of developed countries (Educate to Innovate)1. It is our hope that by creating a fun and

interactive product, we can spark elementary aged student’s interest in STEM disciplines.

PROJECT SCOPE DESCRIPTION

In order to meet the need for an interactive science resource, and to meet the requirements of the

course, we will create an e-book utilizing Google Sites and the information from the Water Cycle

and Human Body Systems sections of http://k12opened.com/ebooks/#science. The website will

be created for 5th and 6th graders. To help these students engage with the material we will add

1 Educate to innovate. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/k-12/educate-innovate

http://k12opened.com/ebooks/#science

2

videos, pictures, and audio content that will enhance the content from the K12 website. We will

document the project following the criteria listed in the Semester Project requirements included

in the CIMT 687 syllabus provided by the sponsor, Dr. Tim Boileau. Project documents will

follow the guidelines set by the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) and will

attempt to account for every step in the project management process, whether the strategy is

specifically used or not.

PRODUCT SCOPE DESCRIPTION

WEBSITE

The website will be designed using the Google Sites interface. It will be compatible with

Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. Safari may be excluded later as it is not currently

supported by Indiana State University.

VIDEOS

Each subsection of the original content for the Human Body will have a video. The Water

Cycle section will have one video. These videos will be found through internet searches with a

preference for Creative Commons and Youtube. All videos will be embedded on the page

through Google Sites’ functionality. Only videos that have no narration will be considered for

narration to be created by the team. Citations for all videos will be included in APA format as

either a footnote, caption, or entry on work cited page depending on consensus of group. All

citations will have a consistent method for recognizing the creating authority.

IMAGES

Each major subsection will have an accompanying image. Original images will be used

depending on group decision. Additional images will be gathered from internet searches, with a

preference for Creative Commons images. Citations will be included using the same method as

3

videos. All images will be .jpg format and will be uploaded to the website using Google Sites’

functionality.

TEXT

All text (with the exception of citations and navigational text) will be transcribed from the source

document. The only deviation will be to fix grammatical/spelling errors. Formatting will be

done at the group’s discretion as best suits the layout of the website or aids in comprehension of

material.

ASSESSMENTS

Assessments will be created used the pre-existing multiple choice tests from the source

document. The format is yet undecided and may be entered “as is” depending on time

constraints.

STRATEGIC PLAN

As this is an ad hoc group created to fulfill a class requirement there is no overarching corporate

plan that would inform how this project would fit into a current business model.

4

DELIVERABLES

The list of deliverables has been broken down by project or product. This is an initial listing of

deliverables. There are three types of team members Main, Secondary, and Quality Assurance.

The Main (m) team member for the project will be responsible for inputting the majority of the

content and ensuring that this section is proceeding according to the time table. Secondary (s)

team members will be responsible for assisting as the Main team member needs it. Quality

Assurance (qa) will be responsible for making sure this part of the projects follows guidelines set

in the project scope and that overall project standards are met. Quality Assurance tasks may be

assigned to either the Main or Secondary team member, or may be stand alone based on the

complexity of the deliverable. Not all deliverables may have all positions.

PROJECT

Deliverable Start date Projected Due Date

Completion Date

Team Member

Semester Project Part 1

Jan 28 March 4 (m)Andrea(s)Amena, Shaimaa(qa)All


March 5 April 15 (m)Andrea(s)Ohoud, Safaa(qa)ALL


April 8 April 22 (m)Andrea(s/qa)ALL

PRODUCT

Deliverable Start date Projected Due Date

Completion Date

Team Member

Setup websiteJan 28 February 18 (m)Amena

(s)Ohoud, Shaima

Layout text and page structure

March 1 March 22 (m)Amena(s)Ohoud,Shaimaa,Safaa(qa)Andrea

Insert imagesMarch 22 March 26 (m)Safaa

(qa)Shaimaa

5

Insert videosMarch 22 March 28 (m)Ohoud

(qa)ShaimaaVoice over Water

Cycle videoMarch 22 March 29 (m)Amena

(qa)Safaa

Create assessmentsMarch 1 March 29 (m)Safaa

(s)Andrea(qa)Amena

Test/Proofread on defined browsers

March 18 March 29 (m)Shaimaa(s)Andrea(qa)ALL

Test with childrenApril 1 April 5 (m)Amena

(s)Ohoud

Make ChangesApril 5 April 14 (m)Amnea

(s)Andrea(qa)ALL

Website deliveryApril 15 April 15 (m)Amena

(s/qa)ALL

REQUESTING CHANGES

As any changes made to the project requirements will impact all members of CIMT 687 we

request that the class as a whole approve such deviations after an in-class discussion. Only if a

majority of class agrees and Dr. Boileau consents to the request, will such changes be honored.

Changes to the product may be requested by any team member. They are required to have a

majority consensus before changes will be made. Changes suggested by Dr. Boileau will also be

implemented per majority rules. Any additions to the project will only be considered up to

March 29, and cannot require more than 15 hours to implement. Subtractions will be considered

until April 10th, and cannot require more than 5 hours to implement.

CONSTRAINTS

Project constraints have been detailed in the SWOT analysis and in the project milestones

document. Major constraints of the project concern time frame and proper execution of copyright

restrictions.

6

ASSUMPTIONS

Assumptions for this project have been outlined in the project scope.

7

ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

ORGANIZATIONAL OR COMPANY CULTURE

As this is an ad hoc group there is no pre-existing organizational culture that would influence the

product/project.

GOVERNMENTAL OR INDUSTRY STANDARDS

During the creation of the product copyright and fair use restrictions will need to be respected.

The team will have to choose resources that have Creative Commons licensing or follow fair use

guidelines. Citations for all materials will be included in the webpage if the resources was used

for the product, or in project documentation if resources were referenced in the project

documents.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure for this project will include the ISU library, which contains research resources for

the project as well as meeting places. There is also the CIMT classroom that will provide

additional meeting areas. All other infrastructure needed will be provided by the team members

as needed by the project.

EXISTING HUMAN RESOURCES

As the majority of the group has worked within the CIMT program we are used to complying

with standards, and working with a similar project load. Additionally Amena and Andrea have

both used Google Sites to create a website and have the skills needed to complete the work.

PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION

This team cannot be hired or fired, nor is there a company-wide performance review

requirement. Therefore, this section is not applicable.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

8

Open Proj - will be used to chart progress and create documentation for the project

Google Docs - will be used to construct preliminary documents and to house all project

documents. The comments functionality will also be a form of communication for

between team members and Dr. Boileau.

Microsoft Office - will be used to create all final drafts of project documentation.

Campus Email - will be used for formal communication between group members and Dr.

Boileau.

Google Email - will be used for informal communication between group members.

Blackboard will be used to submit project documents to Dr. Boileau for grading

purposes.

Blackboard – will be used to submit final versions of project documents to Dr. Boileau

for grading

ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESS ASSETS

ORGANIZATIONAL STANDARDS

As this website is not being created for a specific company there are no specific organizational

standards to which we must adhere.

TEMPLATES

There are no preexisting organizational templates that we are required to use.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

We have worked with Google Sites before and have experience working with Google Sites’

interface; this will make it easier to manage the creation of materials and should cut down on

testing the website.

9

SUMMARY MILESTONES

Below are listed the milestones for the project. Each item is listed with a due date, a short

description of the milestone, a ranking of criticality, and a possible path of recourse if the

milestone is not met. Please note for the ranking of criticality it proceeds from 1 being “Not

critical at all” to 5 at “Non-completion not acceptable”.

PROJECT

Milestone Due Date Description Recourse


March 4 Initial project documentation

If due date is not met this will adversely affect our grade enough to signify project failure.

Layout text and page structure

March 22 The layout of the website and the information in it.

Project must be halted until all text is input. Project failure will be imminent if text is not input.

All content inserted

April 5 Website is ready for testing.

If not completed by due date group my decided by consensus to remove voice over.


April 15 Finalized project documentation

If due date is not met this will adversely affect our grade enough to signify project failure.


April 22 Presentation If due date is not met this will adversely affect our grade enough to signify project failure.

10

WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS)

A final WBS will be provided as part of Semester Project Part 2. Please see the Deliverables

section for a preliminary work breakdown.

11

SUMMARY BUDGET

This budget is based on hours needed to complete project deliverables. It assumes a “work

week” of 15 hours per person. It does not include weekends or Spring Break. This semester we

have a total of 320 “budgetable” hours (available days x1 hours per day x5 members of the

group) to finish this project as of Feb 25th 2013 we have used 170 hours leaving us with 150

hours left to spend. As projected below we should only need 195 hours to complete the project.

Many of the steps have already been completed, as of March 3rd, and we are on track to complete

the project on time.

Name Budgeted Cost (hrs) Actual Cost (hrs)Website platform 20Images 15Videos 15Voice over 15Text Content 20Testing 15Proofreading 15Project P1 20Project P2 30Project P3 30Total 195

12

BUSINESS CASE

The creation of this e-book will fulfill a need in American education. As described in the project

charter, STEM education is an aspect of education that we need to improve. By giving kids

access to quality materials that engage and excite them, this may bolster their interest in STEM

subjects and cause them to pursue the discipline in their later years.

The cost to achieve this for Team 2 is time. Finding and incorporating quality videos and images

and creating the website are the main issues. However the benefits of these mediums have been

proven. Education depends on various resources: reading, writing, listening and visualization.

Each one has its way to send an educational message. The visual sense is really effective in

child education, especially, if its correlates with other senses. Generally speaking, pictures and

other visuals tools are found to be the most effective, most abundant, and the cheapest way of

teaching. Even if the child speaks another language or has disability that makes his/her

communication difficult, we can use image as a way to communicate and convey our message.

The main purpose is to encourage and improve the visual perception of children. But

unfortunately, instructors are underutilizing this useful resource. Used relevantly, pictures can

get the children’s attention because the colors, or art, can not only demonstrate a topic or theme,

but also can help to provide an experience based on what children require in order to make the

topic more interesting, exciting, and enjoyable. In our project, we replaced the old pictures with

different pictures that contain attractive colors and drawn in comic like and modern manner.

These pictures will be our pathway to touch the children’s minds. Even though these pictures

have advanced topics like respiration, water cycle, and blood circulation; it will be easy for them

to remember the topics.

13

Videos also add another benefit. It has been found that students who watch videos “understand

concepts more rapidly and are more enthusiastic about what they are learning. With video as one

component in a thoughtful lesson plan, students often make new connections between curriculum

topics, and discover links between these topics and the world outside” (NTTI)2. Usually,

children enjoy this kind of learning because it is fun and educational at the same time. Another

strength in the use of video is that students must employ two of their five senses: hearing and

sight. This will better encode the information to help children remember the material for a long

time. Video is also helpful in instruction because it helps to “illustrate complex, abstract

concepts...that can’t be done in class” (NTTI). We found good videos that explain the human

body and water cycles simply. We will also add narration to one video we found to enhance it.

Measuring the costs of these media (our time) versus the educational benefits we can see that this

is a useful endeavor.

2 NTTI. (n.d.) National Teacher Training Institute. Retrived March 1, 2013, from http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/ntti/resources/video1.html

14

PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS

Person/Group Description Communication Method

Impact on project

Dr Boileau Instructor for the Class.

Sponsor

ISU email, Google Docs comments

Will have final approval of project. And will be ultimate judge the quality of the work

Team 2 Safaa, Amena, Shaimaa, Ohoud, Andrea

Main creator of material

Amongst group: Gmail, Google Docs comments, ISU email

Outside of group:ISU email, Google docs comments, informal discussion

Will create all work material. Responsible for meeting

requirements.

Elementary Students

Target Audience

The our target learners will be students in 5 and 6 grade (k-5& k-6)

Informal conversation during assessment of product by Amena and Ohoud

Creating product to meet their needs/wants.

Assessments will be used to change the product if needed.

Students in CIMT 687 Class

Tertiary Client Informal class discussion

No formal impact. They will be observers during the final presentation.

Questions asked during class time may better inform the group on instructor expectations.

15

SWOT ANALYSIS 3

Helpful Harmful

Internal (organizational)

Strengths Have experience creating

Google Sites Group Synergy Large Group (more resources) Familiarity with children

Weaknesses Slight language gap Not Familiar with OpenProj

Functionality Classload Majority of group are 1st

semester

External (environmental)

Opportunities Emphasis on STEM education Rise in societal desire for e-

books and other interactive media

Threats Timeframe Class load Copyright law

DCPI

Factor Ranking Rational

Internal 2 We seem to understand the requirements of the course and we are working well together to meet those requirements. However, many in the group are anxious about achieving the best grade they can. We can meet this issue by using our class time well and keeping communications open so that we all can be assured of an excellent final project.

External 3 The majority of the group has a large course load or other time draws. However, with a sufficient division of labor the project will become more manageable.

Technology 3 The majority of the technology we are going to use is familiar to us. The only issue is the OpenProj software. However there is a robust user forum that can help use use it for the limited amount of functions we need it to do.

Environmenta

l

2 We will have to make sure that we are using materials that are Creative Commons or fall under fair use. Making sure to correctly attribute our additional media will need to be a priority

Total 2.5

FINDINGS

3 Graph format from: SWOT analysis. (2013, February 8). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:07, February 20, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SWOT_analysis&oldid=537145229

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SWOT_analysis&oldid=537145229

16

The SWOT analysis and DCPI evaluator show that this project has a high probability of succeeding.

A full risk analysis will be provided as a part of Semester Project – Part 2.