Timeline -- The Consortium for Education's Toolkit

Timeline—Consortium for Education Toolkit

Overview
	Developing a learning unit with teachers is a time consuming process. It can take from 12 to 18 months to complete an online project, depending on the availability of your agency's personnel and resources, and the teachers' expertise with technology and the content matter.

Resources

This timeline (also available in ) was developed on a 13-month schedule beginning in January. It allows for four phases -- analysis, design, development, and implementation, with evaluation built in throughout the process. It should be noted that this timeline is based on the school year rather than the government fiscal year, assuming that the project will be supported from one fiscal year to the next. For example, it suggests that you send an invitation to teachers in February or March, asking them to apply to work on the team. This allows teachers time to plan for summer workshop attendance in June or early July. It sets the launch date for the learning unit in January and builds in marketing before then, especially during the critical education conference months of October and November. You can also view all tasks chronologically.

Analysis

Identify the project director and outline responsibilities. See tip 2.
Form an interdepartmental advisory team and define the roles of team members. See tip 2.
Identify agency resources that will be used in the learning unit. See tip 1.
Determine optimum factors that must exist within the agency to develop and sustain the project. See tip 1.
Investigate the agency's technology issues. See tip 1.
Investigate agency's previous contacts with teachers. See tip 3.
Determine the audience for your learning unit, i.e. high school, middle school etc. See tip 3.
Outline the process that will be used to choose teachers and create a teacher application. See tip 3.

Design

Invite teachers to apply to work on the project. Give them 3-4 weeks to reply. See tip 3.
Develop statements of work and contracts for active and alternate teacher members. See tip 4.
Evaluate all teacher applications using a rubric. Choose equal numbers of active and alternate teacher members. See tip 3.
Set date for first face-to-face meeting with teachers. Notify active teacher applicants. Ask them to read and sign contracts and plan on attending first meeting. See tip 7.
Notify alternates and ask them to read and sign contracts. Notify all other applicants of their status.
Plan the first meeting, including agenda, travel, and housing logistics. See tips 7 and 8.
Begin to enlist collaborations from outside organizations and agencies. See tip 5.

Develop

Hold face-to-face orientation meeting with teachers. See tip 7.
Present teachers with content information and access to experts. See tip 6.
Give the team the academic standards to be used in developing units. See tip 8.
Brainstorm possible pedagogical methods for project. Choose appropriate method for audience and agency needs. See tip 6.
Assess teacher members' access to and comfort with various uses of technology. See tip 7.
Offer teachers (or develop jointly with them) a template and model of the lessons you expect them to produce. See tip 6.
Agree upon a reasonable timeline with dates that deliverables are due from teachers. See tip 9.

Implementation

Communicate with teachers regularly and frequently about their progress. See tip 7.
Provide professional development experiences as necessary. See tips 6 and 8.
Review and edit the lessons as they are submitted. See tip 9.
Seek feedback on the content of the units from experts and selected members of your intended audience. See tip 9.
Give feedback to teachers about content and the required revisions necessary. See tip 9.
Collect other content for the learning units as necessary.
Plan the design and navigation of the web site.
Seek feedback on the design and navigation from people most like your intended audience and revise it as necessary. See tip 9.
Code the site and continually seek feedback on its content and functionality.
Develop and implement a marketing plan for the learning unit. See tip 10.
Issue press releases about the learning unit. See tip 10.
Develop a plan to evaluate the use and effectiveness of the learning unit.
Launch the site and celebrate.
Implement the evaluation plans, review and revise as necessary.

Last updated October 2, 2001 (pjk)