Jan Herivel #22 Advantages and Disadvantages of e-learning discussion

Hi everyone
Sorry for the lateness in posting but I got behind when I was in NZ for the LIANZA conference earlier this month!

I agree with the comments and in particular, the one about e-learning never really replacing the social aspect that internal students enjoy. Many students study by distance ed as they do not live close to the institution or they have competing work/family commitments.  For many the personal aspect of being able to bounce ideas of people in person suits their style of learning. I have completed most of my tertiary study via distance education and it does mean that you have to be self motivated and discipline (I still struggle at times to meet deadlines).

The advantages of e-learning for me is that I can (usually) fit it in around work and family commitments. I can do my reading during lunch at work for example.

Disadvantages?  I like the personal contact but my main issue is the amount of times that links etc are not checked when electronic materials are dispatched. This means that sometimes I have had to search to find the right information as the email detailing the issues with links etc usually arrives later.
My views have not changed - I believe that e-learning is an important component of the learning environment which is why I have chosen to study via this method and more importantly teach via the medium as well.

Shirley's project definition

A project to me has a definate beginning and end.  It is something that it out of the ordinary to your everyday tasks and often will be a one off - sometimes it might be a trial project that if successful then becomes part of your normal work but at this point is no longer a poject.  It has set tasks and project milestones to ensure it is on track and meeting the objectives set.  It normally has a separate allocated budget and is measureable to ensure success or failure.

Project management #20

Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. It is sometimes conflated with program management, however technically that is actually a higher level construction: a group of related and somehow interdependent engineering projects.
A project is a temporary endeavor, having a defined beginning and end (usually constrained by date, but can be by funding or deliverables),[1] undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives,[2] usually to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast to business as usual (or operations),[3] which are repetitive, permanent or semi-permanent functional work to produce products or services. In practice, the management of these two systems is often found to be quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and the adoption of separate management.
The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals[4] and objectives while honoring the preconceived project constraints.[5] Typical constraints are scope, time, and budget.[1] The secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre-defined objectives.

This definition is from wikipedia.< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management >

I quite like this as it clearly states that a project is different from business as usual, which none of the definitions already listed include. I think all of the definitions provided to date are good, although somewhat repetitious.

Susan M

Project definition

A project is a one-time effort that produces a specific result, for example, a building or a major new computer system. This is in contrast to a program, which is 1) an ongoing process or 2) an activity to manage a series of multiple projects together. Projects usually follow major phases or stages, including feasibility, definition, project planning, implementation, evaluation and support/maintenance.

http://www.managementhelp.org/plan_dec/project/project.htm

The Free Management Library accessed 28/3/2011

This definition highlights the unique or particular nature of a project; it is not the usual work we do, but something that is out of the ordinary, with specific goals and purposes. Often, it is these projects that achieve major changes to service delivery or workplace practices. A project can often be a daunting prospect, and it is useful to apply the staging process mentioned in the Free Management Library definition to help organise our approach to a new project.

- Suzanne

Defining a Project (#20 Task)

I found the following definition in the Oxford English Dictionary which I think encompasses many of the elements of a project:

“a collaborative enterprise, freq. involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.”

(Oxford English Dictionary Third edition, July 2010; online version November 2010)

The “collaborative” bit suggests a project team. Obviously one can undertake a solo project, but generally in the workplace I have found that there is usually a wider project team (e.g. commissioners, stakeholders etc) even if it is one person responsible for delivering the project outputs.

“Carefully planned” suggests some form of project management and that all aspects of a project should be considered (e.g. cost, time, quality, risks etc). Obviously the more carefully planned the better!

“A particular aim” suggests that there should be a planned output (or outputs) so that all members of a project team know what they’re working towards. It also means you will know when the project is finished!

I also found this joke about projects which I’m sure we all can identify with!:

“At the heart of every large project is a small project trying to get out.”

(Funny-haha.co.uk (2010) Project Management. Bitscape Ltd.)

How would you define a project? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Posted by Anthea (FOLIOz Team)

Strategic planning is a requirement of my organisation, and at first, I regarded this as an unnecessary burden, consuming huge quantities of time. The benefits have far outweighed the burdens, however, and I would encourage every librarian to actively participate in the process.

As Silvia says, it is very easy to make assumptions about our user groups and services, and a reflective process is needed to confirm or reassess what we do, why we are doing this, and who we do this for.

All libraries need to demonstrate their value to administrators, and this fits within the auditing and evidence based practice of our health organisation. I am used to searching for the evidence of what medical treatments work, so it makes sense to me to seek evidence of what library practices work. I feel this makes apparent the professionalism of Library Services.

Reading the blogs, I am struck by the similarities of our workplaces, despite the variety of backgrounds. Time poor, resource poorer, and governed by the direction of our parent organisations. All client focused, and aware of library staff needs and potential, and resourceful in using what we have to achieve the most.

I think the key to successful strategic planning is mentioned by Laura- to set a manageable plan. My first plan's draft was so high, it was unachievable; I was lucky to have a manager who encouraged me to refine and re-shape while keeping my level of enthusiasm for change and new services.

Suzanne

the importance of planning strategically

Pausing to reflect back on times when strategic planning where I worked had not been formally or openly done, I can see that, like Cheryl, I operated according to a strategic plan of my own. For this reason alone, a strategic plan for the organisation is beneficial; people running branches or departments will operate on some sense of what is important, and while these plans and ideas may be sensible, they will not necessarily be a complete fit with the overarching goals of the organisation.
Now that I have worked with strategic planning, I would not like working without a strategic plan because I would feel as if I were making it up as I go along. Strategic planning in our organisation is treated seriously. In our library we create team plans from the strategic plan and then individual performance plans link into the team plans. In practice this is trickier than it sounds, but it does mean you have to think carefully about what your priorities and goals are in a given timeframe.
I have worked in libraries where there was no evident plan and experienced exactly what Pippa mentions - demoralised staff, a reactionary work environment where everything assumes the sames importance (e.g. a project to curtail notetaking in library books took as much staff time to explore and plan as did re-organising the furniture to provide a safe path through the library for disabled borrowers), and a sense of things just going along in the same way all the time. I can already hear the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" cry go up, but strategic planning is more about things not getting 'broken' in the first place. One common factor in such organisations is that employees can become risk averse. If something a little different seems to be needed or is suggested, it doesn't get traction because no-one is sure if that's what they are supposed to do. Instead they do the same as before because so far no-one has said not to.
Of course a lot of what happens day to day in the library is perfectly rational and effective service that will continue over the forseeable future. The strategic element is more about looking more broadly and a little into the future: what do the demographics in your area tell you about the needs of the community now and in the next 5 years? What are the council's or university's main aims in the medium term? The strategic plan says 'The library understands these aims and this is what we are doing to work towards them.' From this platform you are able to quantify what resources are required to achieve these goals.
In the examples where the strategic plan is so broad that your team or branch activities are not really discernible, I would encourage you to draw up a plan of your own and run it by your manager. In response to fairly general goals in our plan (e.g. 'participate in bicultural reference service design and provision'), I now also write a 3 monthly plan of action for my team. The benefit of this is that the team are fully aware of what work is on the horizon and when it should start and be finished by, and we can see exactly how our activities fit into the strategic plan for the team, the department and the library.
And the beauty of it is you can then look back and say "This is what we aimed to do and this is what we did. We achieved our goals which means we helped achieve the goal of the city/university/company". Good for morale and great for getting more of what you need!
Charlotte Clements

Looking Ahead

Strategic Planning is an indispensable acitivity: every hour spent on writing strategies and policies more than yields dividends within the medium to long term time horizon.

A strategic plan is necessary because it helps to give a library or information service a sense of direction and clear goals. Formulating a strategic plan helps you to set targets for the short, medium and long-term. Assessment of how well the library meets these targets gives a clear review of our performance. Without setting these targets in a strategic plan how would we assess how well we are performing?

An information service is generally part of a wider organisation perhaps a Hospital Trust or University to which they will have to report to and which provides them with the money to run the service. The organisation will want to know exactly how well the library is performing and how they are planning to develop their services in the future. Having a strategic plan with targets makes the whole process much easier and clearer. A review of how well the library has met the targets from the current strategic plan can be provided as a review of their performance. The strategic plan for the forthcoming year or years can then be provided to illustrate how the service intends to develop. Showing that you have considered your performance and the future would also help if requesting additional funds to provide new or extended services.

Developing a strategic plan gives staff the opportunity to reflect on the service they provide and think about how they want to develop it in the future. We live in a period of continual change and stopping regularly to consider the environment that you are working in helps to ensure that necessary changes are implemented and that the service does not stand still. The process is also an opportunity to consider feedback that the service has received from its customers and ensure that any suggestions have been fully considered and acted upon.

Strategic planning is a library wide activity and by including all staff in the process a variety of different opinion are incorporated. This will also ensure that all staff feel that their opinions are valid and considered and give them a sense of ownership of the plan. Additionally, your staff are the individuals that will be implementing the plan so it is important that they believe in it.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Add your own comment with your responses to the following:

How important is strategic planning to you?

How important is strategic planning to your information service?

Think about your responses with regards to the information above, your own experience and your course participant’s opinions.

Save a copy of your response in your portfolio. (You can retrieve it subsequently by returning to the ExFiles Forum blog). Please note that extra credit will be given to portfolios that demonstrate response to the comments of others – either at the time of your initial posting, in a subsequent posting or in subsequent personal reflection.