Caution! Detour Ahead!

Imagine being handed the keys to an amazing sports car, given the freedom to drive as fast as you can, and then uncovering that every road is impeded by construction and detours.

Route 1 - Awkward TimingBudgeting for a new fiscal year, end-of-quarter activity, board meetings, and organizational strategic planning all bloomed like new spring flowers this month. On one hand, this is great timing. There has been a lot of discussion about what differentiates GPS from any other co-op, internship, apprenticeship in our strategic planning sessions. Every trait listed in my personal character program has been called out in organic conversations. The drive and interest in to create a GPS certificate are real. And, I’m told, the finances exist to support the development of this program.

On the other hand, all key decision makers in the organization are tied up in meetings, board retreats, preparation for the new fiscal year, etc. Getting an audience for program approval has become a real challenge.

Route 2 - Internal GrowthIn the last year, GPS has become an industry name in youth apprenticeship. Organizations as small as locally run workforce development offices and as large as the Boys and Girls Club of America have come to us for program development. The creative design and curriculum of these new programs lands

on my plate. The communication, fiscal agreements, and project management lie on my bosses plate. So, as important as the personal character development program is to our organization, it is an activity stream that will ultimately cost us money, whereas this past week, I pitched a program design that made my organization a significant amount of income.

Route 3 - Curriculum and Instruction RE-DesignAs the Curriculum and Instructional Design Manager, managing the content, instructional design and delivery, and data-driven decisions are all my responsibilities. For the last three years, I have been burdened with a learning management system (LMS) unfit for our competency-based, project-based curriculum design. Inspired by my work in the LRU course “Emerging Web and Mobile Technologies”, I have recently embarked on a search for an LMS more in line with our needs. This work has been slow to the point that it is unlikely we will have anything but a beta ready for fall. And, it has led to a huge question in my personal character development program - what platform do I use for the final development of this product? I am at the point where I could start doing actual authoring, but I am stymied by the prospect of building this in our LMS only to turn around in two months and have to re-do the design in new a system.

By Orionman (Own work)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

It isn’t just an issue of not wanting to do work and re-work. It is an issue of true design. Our current LMS delivers content in a linear, course-structured design. New LMS’s that I am looking at deliver content in modules, allow for student navigation and choice that isn’t necessarily linear, and manage assessment and data in entirely different manners.

Route PlanningDespite the roadblocks, detours, and construction barrels, indecision is not in my internal makeup. I have two final elements to pull together for my program: development of assessment tools and alignment of content to program design. This will be my focus for this upcoming week. The following week, I get a meeting with administration on the calendar and then spend my time creating specific proposals that identify internal decisions - write all of our own content, partner with Pairin, author within our existing platform, delay authoring until new system is in place, deliver a beta prior to seeking funding, credentialing through external badging sources (like Credly), etc. - and put the decision making in the hands of administration.

Full speed ahead! After more than a decade of living in a state where orange construction barrels are considered the state flower, I’m not intimidated by detours.