Assigning Hours To Product Development
From LiteracyTentWiki
- Back to Discussion of State Professional Development Systems
- Back to Adult Literacy Professional Development
Subject:[ProfessionalDevelopment] Assigning Hours to Product Development
From:Jennifer Rafferty Jennifer.Rafferty at umb.edu
Date:Wed Feb 1 10:04:11 EST 2006
Greetings from Massachusetts. My name is Jennifer Rafferty and I oversee a
state-wide distance learning initiative for ABE and ESOL learners. While I
am a part of a bigger state PD system (SABES-System for Adult Basic
Education Support), I am only focused on the PD offerings for our distance
learning instructors. Since we are still in a pilot phase with distance
learning, we are in the process of developing resources and training
materials for when dl becomes full-scale in our state. With that said, my
question revolves around assigning hours to the development of materials,
not ratios of prep:delivery.
I wonder if some of the states might be able to speak about the process of
assigning a specific numbers of hours to product development/deliverables.
I am in the process of trying to gauge how many hours would be needed to
develop some "toolkit"
type products: a toolkit for orientation of distance learners and a toolkit
for practitioners working with high-end GED or Fast Track learners. The
content is not necessarily important here, but rather I would like to figure
out if I have x amount of $$ for the development of a toolkit, what is the
best way to present the work to the developer if I am not completely certain
about the time that it will take to develop the product. My concern is that
I will either ask them to do too much or too little in the time allotted for
the work. If states have insight to share, or sample contracts that would
guide me in developing my own, it would be great!
Jennifer Rafferty
Adult Literacy Resource Institute
Boston SABES
ABE Distance Learning Project Manager
617-287-4081
jennifer.rafferty at umb.edu
Subject:[ProfessionalDevelopment] Assigning Hours to Product Development
From:jeff fantine fantine at ohio.edu
Date:Wed Feb 1 10:56:14 EST 2006
Jennifer:
These are great ideas! I hope that if you do follow through with
developing these products, you share with the rest of us.
I've hope in the future we (as the field of ABE PD) consider having a
national conference as a forum to share training and resources among the
states. COABE and Proliteracy are more leadership and direct-service
oriented, and NAEPDC is for state directors. I'd like to see an effort
dedicated specifically to PD - maybe an entire strand at COABE rather than
just a pre-conference would be a start.
Ok, to get back to your question about project planning: it is difficult,
but the more you do it the easier it gets. I would suggest asking yourself
- What is it going to take to create this toolkit? or rather what are the
steps I need to take? Once you break the project down into steps in a
process, you can begin to put timelines, hourly wages, cost estimates, etc.
to each step. If you know there will be other costs like supplies or
publishing, etc. - then get actual bids or prices of the items or services
you will need for the project. AND, last but not least, of course it's
always better to have too much money than not enough when you're developing
a product, so I always build in an extra 10% beyond the total I come up
with after doing the above steps.
Dang - I hope none of my funders are on this list, they may ask for 10% of
their money back. :) Not sure how others do it, but that's my plan...
-J
Subject:[ProfessionalDevelopment] Assigning Hours to Product Development
From:Dlhargrove@aol.com Dlhargrove at aol.com
Date:Wed Feb 1 12:39:54 EST 2006
Hi Jennifer,
I can speak generally to how we've been developing content for Florida. I'm
sure it is different for other states... actually, it really depends on the
number of training contact hours you want as the final product.
As an instructional designer, I've assisted in the development of over 30
web-based trainings for the Florida TechNet website:
_http://www.floridatechnet.org/webbased.htm_ (http://www.floridatechnet.org/webbased.htm)
The general development team for our online trainings includes a subject
matter expert (content developed), an editor and then me, the distance learning
designer. On average, I would say it took us anywhere from 25-45 hours to
develop one hour of training. That includes research and development. Add
another 10-20 hours of design per hour of training if your adding in interactive
activities, creating activities, etc. Consulting fees can range from as low
as $50/hour up to $150 or higher.
Can others share how they've costed out designing Distance Learning?
Debra Hargrove
Florida TechNet
Subject:[ProfessionalDevelopment] Assigning Hours to Product Development
From:Jennifer Rafferty Jennifer.Rafferty at umb.edu
Date:Wed Feb 1 12:40:51 EST 2006
Thanks, Jeff for your suggestions. I have been giving thought to the way I
formulated my original question, and I have reworded things a bit:
I would like to figure out how I set up a plan with trainers/developers to
create a product, and what considerations I need to look at before I give
them the job and say they have xxx many hours to complete it. Any
suggestions from the field would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Jennifer
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment] Assigning Hours to Product Development
From: Jennifer Elmore jennifer at jelmore.com
Date: Fri Feb 3 11:26:17 EST 2006
Hi Jennifer.
I’m currently working as an independent education consultant in Boston. I’ve contributed to the design/development of a number of PD resources
in recent years.
I’d recommend creating a basic “spec” for your toolkit – either with or
before engaging a developer. Estimating time/money will be a lot
easier, once you have a basic development plan in place.
You actually mentioned two potential products in your post – the
toolkit for new distance learners and the toolkit for practitioners
working with Fast Track learners. I’d probably treat those items as
separate development projects and apply a few general questions to each
one, including:
- What do we hope to achieve with this product? What are our goals?
- Who will be using the product – and/or what are their needs, expectations, etc.?
- Will teachers/students use the product on their own, in conjunction with a training/class, or both?
- What kind of general content areas will we need to cover? Have we developed any text/content to date that we might be able to adapt? Or will we have to generate new content?
- What media best accommodates our goals, our users, and our content?
- Do we want to create a print resource, a website, a DVD? Will our toolkit include any graphics or any video/audio?
Your answers will, I think, begin to create a picture of the resource
and, by extension, define some of the professional skills/expertise
you’ll need to assemble the product. For instance, if you decide to
develop an online resource (not inclusive of video/audio) that teachers
will use independently, you will need to make sure that (among other
things) your developer(s):
- know how to write concisely for the web
- know how to design/assemble a website that users will be able to navigate easily OR recommend/help you use an appropriate “shell” to contain the content
- will be able to help you determine and develop the level of functionality/interactivity you desire – for instance, will users be able to save any information online?
- know how to accommodate user accessibility issues – that is, develop a resource that individuals will be able to access using different generations of PCs and Macs and different browsers
- will be able to advise you re: web hosting
In short, my development process tends to involve waves of questions.
I start with the basic ones (listed above). From there, I ask myself
new sets of questions based on my answers.
Once you have a clearer picture of the product, you’ll be in a better
position to break the project down into specific tasks or phases (as
Jeff suggested). And I think it will be easier to attach timetables
and $$ to these tasks.
Hope this helps!
Jennifer
Jennifer A. Elmore, M.F.A., M.S.Ed.
Education Consultant
617-247-4802
http://jelmore.com
