Choosing & Using Technologies in Education & Training
This checklist is intended to help you plan by identifying questions you should ask yourself and information you should acquire as part of your planning process.
The organisation should ensure that adequate funding, suitably trained human resources, suitable facilities and accessible equipment are available. These are needed not only through the development and trial stages but for the lifetime of the fully implemented project.
| SUCCESS FACTORS | CHECKLIST |
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1. A realistic costing of all aspects of development, trial and (as far as is predictable) implementation of the project has been made. |
1.1 What elements of development, trial and implementation of the project must be costed? (e.g. staff time or replacement, equipment, consumables, meeting costs). 1.2 What sources of information will you draw on for the costing? (e.g. teaching staff, administrators, equipment suppliers, comparable data from other projects). |
| 2. Resources (financial, material, human) are available to support all aspects of development, trial and implementation of the project. | 2.1 To what extent can
these needs be met from existing resources?
2.2 To what extent can resources within the organisation be redirected to release funds and staff time for the project? 2.3 What other sources of funds and other resources may be available for the project? (e.g. funds from government, industry or project partners; income generation as a result of the project). 2.4 What will make the project attractive to potential providers of funding? (e.g. is it in line with government or industry priorities, does it demonstrate innovation, does it provide a model for future activities?). 2.5 How will you record the readiness of financial, material and human resources to assure their continued availability to the project? 2.6 What will happen to the project if expected resources are unavailable at any stage? 2.7 What upkeep needs can be predicted during the life of the project? (e.g. updating of content and material, maintenance and security of equipment, migration path of technology, staff training, marketing, migrating across developing learner groups). |
| SUCCESS FACTORS | CHECKLIST |
| 3. The impact of the project and its outcomes on existing managerial, administrative and other procedures has been taken into account. | 3.1 What areas of the
organisation will be affected by the project? (e.g.
enrolment procedures, recording of progress, assessment
procedures, management information systems, building
management, student support and counselling, library
procedures).
3.2 How will you ensure that persons responsible for these areas have an input into the project planning and development? |
| SUCCESS FACTORS | CHECKLIST |
| 4. A project management plan has been developed, with a time schedule including identification of critical events. | 4.1 How is the project
management plan documented?
4.2 What critical events have been identified? 4.3 Who is responsible for managing the project? 4.4 How will they communicate with other members of the project team? 4.5 How will they ensure that the responsibilities of project team members are assigned and clearly understood? 4.6 How will they keep staff informed of directions, decisions and developments in the project? 4.7 How will difficulties or disagreements be managed? 4.8 What will be the impact if it becomes necessary to wind the project up? (e.g. need to find other avenues for enrolled students to progress; disposal of equipment and facilities; impact on staffing arrangements; impact on relationships with project partners such as industry sponsors). |
| SUCCESS FACTORS | CHECKLIST |
| 5. A human resources plan has been formed based on an analysis of the tasks required for development, delivery and support of the program. | 5.1 What tasks must be
done?
5.2 Who has the required skills and knowledge to undertake them? 5.3 How much of their time will be required? 5.4 If these people are existing members of staff, how will their current duties be handled? (e.g. redistribution of duties; employment of additional staff; payment of overtime etc.). 5.5 What will be the impact on existing staff? (e.g. changes in workloads, job roles or conditions, changes in organisational structure, changes in administrative procedures). 5.6 What types of support may project staff need that is not available within existing structures? (e.g. administrative support, mentoring). 5.7 Who will provide the background knowledge required for the project? (e.g. educational and cultural objectives, knowledge of existing organisations, networks and resources, knowledge of government and industry policy, knowledge of pedagogical principles). |
| SUCCESS FACTORS | CHECKLIST |
| 6.1 A contingency plan is in place in case key staff are lost from the project by completion of contracts, resignation or redeployment. | 6.2 To what extent does
the achievement of project goals depend on key staff
members?
6.3 Have arrangements been made for project staff (including outside contractors) to document their activities and cross-skill staff within the organisation so that knowledge and skills are retained in the event of key staff leaving? |
| 7. Where non-standard times, places or methods of work are demanded by the program, these have been negotiated between staff and their managers. | 7.1 Will there be a demand
for non-standard times, places or methods of work? (e.g.
night work or irregular hours for teaching shift workers;
visits to industry or community locations; team work
between college and industry trainers).
7.2 What will be the impact of these conditions on staff? (e.g. considerations of convenience, additional time, travel claims etc). 7.3 Are industrial relations issues likely to arise? What processes does your organisation have to deal with them? |
| SUCCESS FACTORS | CHECKLIST |
| 8. Project processes have been developed giving staff the opportunity to participate in and contribute to planning and decision-making, and encouraging flexible work patterns and team work. | 8.1 How best can management and staff contribute to the project? How can their cooperation and commitment be obtained? (e.g. by involvement in planning meetings, by identifying the project’s relevance to their interests, etc). |
| 9. Professional development needs of all categories of staff have been identified and suitable arrangements made for formal or informal training. | 9.1 Who will need professional development? (e.g. teaching/facilitation staff, administrators, technical staff, librarians, managers?).9.2 What new skills, knowledge and attitudes will they need?9.3 What sorts of professional development will suit their needs best? (e.g. formal programs, action learning sets, on-job mentoring). |
| 10. The impact of the project on existing physical facilities has been assessed. | 10.1 Will the project
create an additional load on existing facilities? (e.g.
classrooms and learning centres, computers, library
resources). Will this require the acquisition of
extra facilities or opening at extended hours?
10.2 What options exist for coping with this demand? (e.g. build into project budget, regroup existing activities etc.). |
| SUCCESS FACTORS | CHECKLIST |
| 11. The likely locations for learning have been identified. | 11.1 Bearing in mind the
geographical spread of learners, what locations are
available to them in addition to your organisation’s
facilities? (e.g. workplace or community learning
centres, public libraries, campuses of other educational
organisations).
11.2 Will access to learning facilities be negotiated as part of the project development, or will individual learners be expected to negotiate their own access? 11.3 If the latter, what support and advice will the organisation offer to learners to help them negotiate access? Who will be responsible? |
| 12. A decision has been made about the extent to which equipment will be provided to learners (e.g. on loan, or by access in a library), and the extent to which equipment must be provided for staff use. | 12.1 What options exist for access to equipment for staff and students? (e.g. library, loan, user-pays. This will depend on the nature of technology and other equipment chosen). |
| 13. Arrangements have been made for the maintenance and management of equipment, both on and off campus, for which the organisation is responsible. | 13.1 Who will be
responsible for equipment maintenance and management?
13.2 What procedures will be needed to assess maintenance and upgrading needs? |
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