Task One
Early in this course, I felt as though I had a really strong understanding of systems, but I no longer feel that same confidence. As I have mentioned the last couple of weeks, Task One was not an easy assignment for me. I struggled throughout trying to figure out my system, what I needed to include in the analysis, and how to create a systemigram that represented the system and its connections. I know that part of my struggle was due to a lack of personal connection with the system; however, I think my biggest challenge was the uncertainty I felt overall about the assignment. Looking forward to Task Two, I feel like I have a better understanding of the task ahead of me. The assignment is more clearly defined than Task One, which helps me to better comprehend what I need to do in order to be successful on this assignment.
Task Two
For Task Two, I am creating an implementation plan for an online corporate university that will utilize a learning management system such as Adobe Captivate Prime. As a part of the e-course design team in Fort Worth ISD, I have a strong foundation in designing online courses and the obstacles that must be overcome with online learning. I feel as though this personal experience will help me to be more successful with Task Two than I was with Task One. To be honest, I have been more confident about Tasks Two and Three since the beginning of the course. Creating implementation plans and evaluating programs is something I am very familiar with because of my previous experience as a librarian. I just hope that this experience overcomes my lack of involvement in the corporate environment.
Task Three
Although we evaluate our professional development sessions in public education, I don’t think that a lot of focus is placed on the ROI (return on investment). After twenty years in education, I have never heard anyone talk about how training programs affect student success and test scores. Looking forward to Task Three, I have started researching evaluation models used to evaluate corporate training, including Don Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation. I know that to effectively lead a learning and development team in the corporate setting, I have to be able to measure and assess the impact of training programs.
Conclusion
Task One was not an easy assignment for me. I struggled throughout trying to figure out what I needed to include in the analysis. However, I feel a lot more confident going into Tasks Two and Three, largely because of previous experiences with implementing and evaluating programs. I hope that I do better on both of these assignments than I did on Task One. Regardless of the outcome, I know I will learn a lot and grow as learning leader.
References
Kirkpatrick, D.L. and Kirkpatrick, J.D. (2007). Four levels of training evaluation. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.