Systems
Understand that we live and work within systems of cause and effect in which actions may have multiple origins and consequences.
Artifact: ED 795A Final Project Report
Related Artifacts:
Context
This report is the result of my client project, developed for EDTEC 795A, which focused on helping the Integrated Learning Group of Fair Isaac, in partnership with the Security Team, develop a self-paced, interactive, and engaging internal Security Awareness eLearning course. This eLearning course was adapted partly from an already existing instructor led face-to-face course and Fair Isaac’s 39-page security policy manual.
Demonstrating the Standard
Every project I completed provided me the opportunity to work within a system, but the systems in this project were unique in their size and complexity. For starters, my learners included over 2000 Fair Isaac employees in five countries. The content my learners needed to know and do was contained on the Security Policy which was created by Fair Isaac’s Security Team. This training was mandated by Fair Isaac’s corporate office as well as the Integrated Learning Group (ILG), the training department for Fair Isaac. Perhaps the largest group going to be affected by my eLearning course was Fair Isaac’s clients, who hand over sensitive information trusting that that information will be kept secure. One security breech could affect tens of thousands of people and result in the loss of millions of dollars. Understanding the parties involved as well as the systems of cause and effect was very important for me to understand and helped me as I completed the security course.
Challenges / Opportunities
Security awareness training is traditionally boring which gave me the opportunity to be creative and use all the skills I had acquired up this point in the EDTEC program. The challenge for me was grounding my creativity in sound theories and principles. I relied heavily on Keller’s ARCS model of motivation, using inquiry and relevant scenarios and examples as the foundation of how I presented the material. Gagne’s 9 conditions of instruction and Merrill’s component display theory were two other learning and design “doctrines” I applied when determining the types of questions to ask and in what “order” to present the course content, which heavily emphasizes facts, concepts, and procedures.
Time was the biggest challenge I had to overcome. The work schedule was difficult to handle because the times I was able to set aside to work (due to my job and family obligations) were during the evenings and weekends. The Fair Isaac employees assigned to this project worked traditional weekday hours so we were working on opposite schedules. This prevented me from getting immediate feedback on questions or issues that would arise. Some evenings, and even weekends, I would have to stop and wait a day or two to receive feedback before moving forward. To overcome this, we met every Monday with all the team members (Jan: Education Lead from Corporate Learning, Rick: Sr. Manager from Project Management, Scott: Manager from Information Security, and Kimberly: Sr. Manager from Corporate Learning). I had to be thoroughly prepared for each meeting in order to utilize our time wisely.
Both the class and project deadlines were also constraints. I felt that if given another month or longer to work on this project, I could have improved it even more. I had no experience with the eLearning software or audio recording and editing software so I spent a great amount of time early in the project trying to learn those applications. More time would have allowed me to learn the software better and also learn the Captivate software that I wasn’t able to use.
Personal Growth
This project is a shining example of my growth through the EDTEC program. I was able to put it all together, developing a project from beginning to end for a real audience and real company with real consequences. For this project, I had to utilize all the standards:
- Date-based decision making – I researched the learners and conducted some brief interviews. I then used this information as my starting point.
- Principles, theories, and models – Interactive software tools would not, in and of themselves, engage learners in this course. Rather, ‘success’ depended on the use of innovative instructional strategies based on sound theory and proven principles.
- Technical – I used PowerPoint and the eLearning software Articulate plus audio recording and editing software.
- Processes – I created an outline and storyboard for review to guide the design process. The final product went through dozens of revisions before being finalized.
- Communication – I communicated effectively with the team members through a weekly conference call, regular emails, and the internal Fair Isaac network.
- Cognitive – Making the content engaging, motivating, and interactive required me to solve issues creatively and effectively.
- Interpersonal – I worked positively and effectively with a team of leaders from different departments in Fair Isaac.
- Systems – I understood where the mandates were coming from and who would be affected.
The final product was rolled out in February 2009 and received very positive feedback. This validated my hard work, my understanding of design theory and principles, and my ability to analyze and make decisions.
Click here to view my Comprehensive Reflection. Click here to return to the matrix.