Project Charter

Project Title
BYOD in the Classroom: An Online Course for Tipton County Schools, Grades 6-12

Project Manager
Fair Josey Wicker

Project Need
The course is needed in response to a change in district policy which states that cell phones and other multimedia devices are not allowed in the classroom. This policy change, which will take effect July 2013, enables students to bring any personal devices to the classroom as long as they remain turned off. It stipulates that, as long as a teacher has completed the course, they may permit their students to use their own devices for instructional purposes. Enabling students to bring in their own devices will be a significant change from current policy, thus requiring more teacher education to avoid potential issues resulting from the change. Issues of concern to stakeholders, specifically school administrators, include: classroom discipline issues, issues related to student safety (texting/cyberbullying), and devices not being used for instruction.

Project Description & Preliminary Scope Statement

Teachers. Learners will be 6th-12th grade teachers employed by the Tipton County School system who wish to integrate multimedia devices in the classroom. The new mobile device policy will allow students to bring devices to school. These devices must remain powered off unless used in a teacher led classroom lesson. All new teachers will be required to complete the course as well as any teacher interested in using mobile devices as a part of their classroom instruction. Content. Based on projected instructional needs, the course will cover best practices for instructional use of mobile devices and compliance to ensure student safety and policy adherence. The two main components are: (1) best practices for instructional use and (2) appropriate vs. inappropriate use. Strategies demonstrated in the course will be applicable across all curriculums for grades 6-12. Deployment. The project will be a web-based course designed so that: (1) it can be housed on the local servers of the Tipton County School system, or (2) it can be referenced via a link to an external site. Teachers will be required to login for the purposes of accessing the course as well as keeping track of progress. They will also be provided a certificate or a summary of scores that can be printed upon completion. Assessment. Throughout the course, teachers will be provided several review sections in which they can

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gauge their progress, as well as a summative assessment at the end of the course.

Project Start Date

2/6/13

Projected Finish Date

4/24/13

Goal
Develop and deliver online training course for Tipton County Teachers on the new mobile device policy, and bring your own device classroom model.

Critical success factors

1. Clearly defined the new mobile device policy. 2. Increased comfort of faculty with mobile device usage in the classroom. 3. Understanding of mobile device usage within classrooms lessons. 4. Training accessible by all 6th-12th grade Tipton County teachers. 5. Course can be completed in under one hour. 6. AUP compliance

Assumptions
Each participant in this course will have access to the online course through their own devices. Teachers will be able to complete the course over the summer, beginning July 2013, in preparation for the next school year. Teachers will also be able to complete the course any other time during the school year, as long as it is completed successfully prior to device integration. Assessments aligned to the course content and instructional objectives will stay housed within the fully developed course. The course will include a system to maintain track of each participants progress, with a way to print a certification of course completion or participant scores. The course will be developed within a framework that will be easy for the client to edit when updating for future versions.

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Constraints
The client desires a course that maintains track of learner progress with an individual log-in; additional features include the ability to print a certificate of completion at the end of the course, and a format that can be easily edited for future versions. Meeting each of these requirements may limit the selections for a framework to house the course. As the primary devices for some teachers will include iOS, the course cannot include any Flash-based components. In addition, the course must work on a variety of devices and the course should not exceed 45 minutes.

Risks
The success of the course will be partially measured by a reduction of risks related to student safety and acceptable use. However, the school system currently does not maintain a filtered wireless network accessible to students, and there are currently no plans in place to expand the network for student use during the 2013-2014 school year, when the new device policy will be in place. As this ultimately leads students to using unfiltered cellular networks in the classroom, student safety remains an issue that may not be entirely addressed as an instructional problem. In addition, the LMS for the course has not yet been determined.

Obstacles
Usability testing on only devices accessible to the client, team, and school technology staff may help reduce the likelihood of device incompatibility for online course access; however there is there is no guarantee without testing each personal device that will be used by teachers. Some teachers may have limited Internet access at home, thus requiring them to complete the course during work hours or after hours on campus.

Financial Resources
Resources for the cost of labor and web development are projected to cost between $14,355 and $17,855. Total costs, without video production, are projected to amount to $14,355 and include weekly project reporting and labor expenses for the different stages building the course. The use (depreciation) of a computer, software programs and overhead are built into the consultants hourly fee, which is $100/hour. 25 hours of video production will bring the total cost to $16,855, while 35 hours of video production would bring the total cost to $17855. As the web platform has not yet been determined, additional costs for course management software are not included in the above-proposed budget total.

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Personnel
The project will require 8 full-time personnel to complete this project, including:

1. Client (also SME) 2. Skilled teacher already using devices (SME) 3. Project Manager 4. Lead Instructional Designer 5. Lead Content Developer 6. Lead eLearning Developer 7. Lead Evaluator 8. Lead Team Site Manager

Materials
Materials required to complete the course include: course management software to house the course, video recording device, video editing software, sound recording/editing software, a variety of devices to test the prototypes throughout the design process, team site, and shared document folders.

Approach
Dates for completing various milestones of the project are as follows: Analysis Report - 2/13/2013 Project Plan - 2/27/2013 Content Analysis - 3/10/2013 Instructional Strategy - 3/20/2013 Treatment Description and Rationale - 3/20/2013 Treatment Design and Template - 3/27/2013 Complete Course - 4/24/2013 Treatment Report - 5/1/2013 Formative Evaluation - 5/1/2013

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Project Charter

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Client - The client will sign off on all stages of project documentation including the analysis report, project plan, content analysis, instructional strategy, treatment description and rationale, treatment design and template, and completed course. The client makes all last and final decisions regarding the development and implementation of the course. 2. SME - The SME will serve as a consultant for content development. Processes and components requiring involvement of the SME include: development of any instructional videos and other media serving as instructional demonstrations, consultations regarding best practices and acceptable device use, and insight for developing assessments that align with the instructional goals. 3. Information Technology Staff - IT staff will serve as consultants during the prototype stages of the project and, depending on the system housing the course, test each prototype (as well as the final project) for usability. 4. School administrators and principals - School administrators and principals will encourage compliance with the new policy, which states that all teachers who which to integrate student devices must complete the course. Additionally, they will support the client in communicating expectations for the implementation of the course. 5. Teachers - A selection of teachers will provide evaluations of the course prototype and serve as consultants for course content development and usability. All new teachers will be required to complete the course, and veteran teachers may optionally choose to complete it based on their level of interest in integrating devices in the classroom.

Client Signature: Sponsor Signature:

______________________________________ ______________________________________

Date: Date: Date:

__________________ __________________ __________________

Proj. Manager Signature: ______________________________________

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