1. 1
2
A view of a portion of the overall visual
course production template, on which the
timeline is auto-populated by entering course
start date and number of modules. Using this
template, which includes all key project planning
tasks, means that each team is consistent with
their approach, while being able to adjust for
their specific circumstance as needed.
Spreadsheet for organizing production
status of course videos. Target due dates
for recording and editing are auto-filled by
entering course start date and number of
modules. Sources of media objects in the
videos (images or video clips) are tracked on a
separate spreadsheet, when necessary.
Template course task list tracked in
Basecamp project management software
(basecamp.com). Project leads make a copy
of the template for each project. Course team
members enter due dates (master tracking
spreadsheet can be used as a guide) and assign
tasks to the responsible individual.
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25
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10
Hours
Week
0
=
Start
of
Course
Academic
Technology
Consultant
(ATC)
Ame
per
project,
for
9
projects
Project
A
Project
B
Project
C
Project
D
Project
E
Project
F
Project
G
Project
H
Project
I
+
~5
hours
~10
hours
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Week
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0
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Week
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Week
9
Week
10
Hours
Week
0
=
Start
of
Course
Online
Course
Builder
(OCB)
Ame
per
project,
for
9
projects
Project
A
Project
B
Project
C
Project
D
Project
E
Project
F
Project
G
Project
H
Project
I
+
~40
hours
Effort
build
up
Online Projects:
July 2012 – February 2015
Organizing and visualizing timelines and staffing assignments for projects
Tools for Managing Online Projects
courses developed
The charts to the right show the total hours a staff
member worked each week on a project, for a total
of 9 projects.
Academic Technology Consultants (ATCs;
provide consulting on pedagogical design, manage
project) appear to have a “long tail” of effort early
on (~5 hours weekly) and then their effort often
builds up to ~10 hours weekly 6 – 8 weeks before
the course and during the course.
Online Course Builders (OCB; build the course
site, serve as an online teaching assistant) often
have an effort build-up 2 months before the
course starts and remains close to 40 hours a week
immediately before and during the course.
The Challenge: Keeping track of projects and staffing
1. How many projects can our team manage at any one time?
2. How do we standardize course development processes
and procedures across projects?
3. How do we allocate resources efficiently across varied projects?
This view highlights times when our staff capacity is fully used and
when we may be able to take on additional projects.
This view can help highlight which staff may be
available to support new projects.
Here is a Gantt chart where each row lists a project, the project’s
support team, and a project timeline. For each timeline, green
indicates a course’s expected development period and blue represents
the actual run of the course.
MS Access allows us to represent project info in different ways. For
example, this Gantt chart takes the same information as the other chart
but organizes it by staff member instead of by project team.
Enabling consistent processes across teams
Collecting survey data to improve budgeting of staff time for projects
Quentin Ruiz-Esparza, Project Coordinator, Duke University Online Education Initiatives
Amy Kenyon, Assistant Director, Duke University Center for Instructional Technology
4
35
60
17
4
4
4
4
4
4
J
J
J
sessions taught
support staff
(10 – 11 FTE)
To view this poster online, visit online.duke.edu/coursera-conference-2015 Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA