Project Manager – Online courses

I deal with a few conventional language schools which sell and run online courses very effectively but unfortunately, they are among the minority. So recently I have spent a lot of time thinking about why so few conventional language schools offer online courses as part of their range of products and why many of those that do don’t seem to sell very many of them or be very comfortable about doing so. In my experience the most successful organisations that sell and run online language materials tend to be training organisations specialising in online learning rather than conventional language schools. Which begs the question, are the skills required to manage online courses so different from those required to manage face-to-face classes that most organisations can only do one or the other?

I think there are many reasons why conventional language schools feel uncomfortable about including online courses in their product catalogue and why they struggle to make them work. None of these issues though are impossible to overcome or justify language schools not taking part in what is a rapidly expanding market.

One important factor is the importance of the presence of a project manager in running online courses. Setting up and running an online language course is, to all intents and purposes, project management and requires the associated skills. And although language schools characteristically have directors, academic managers, directors of studies and administration managers, it seems to me that the position of project manager does not slot comfortably into any of these positions.  While there is obviously a certain amount of project management in the setting up and running of face-to-face classes especially ESP classes, these skills don’t seem to be easily transferred to the online world. Indeed at a recent DoS conference, many DoSes commented on how the idea of setting up and running online language courses took them way out of their comfort zone.

As each school is different and the role and scope of managers will vary depending on the institution, it seems most practical to briefly outline what the role of a project manager would be in managing online courses so that organisations that are contemplating broadening their offer to include online courses can reflect on how to best fill this role.

The project manager, in broad terms, will be the person who oversees the setting up and running of the course from start to finish. She will be the one person who has a vision of everything that is involved in the process. She will decide the support the client will need both before and during the course in order for the course to be a success. She will understand the structure and content of the course material. She will timetable and monitor tracking and reporting services. She will ensure that administrative and technical support is provided.  She will make sure that suitable teachers are contracted, trained and supported. She will implement quality control measures and ensure that effective feedback procedures are in place to evaluate the success of the course. And, most importantly, she will manage client expectations to bring them in line with the course they will be doing.

A successful project manager will have great people skills.  She will be organised, enthusiastic and capable of transmitting the belief in the project to clients, tutors and support staff alike. She needs to be prepared to deal with a certain amount of resistance from both within the school and possibly amongst the clients. Moving from face-to-face classes into the online world involves significant changes and inevitably change generates resistance. As a result, it is important she is flexible and is prepared to adapt and learn as the project progresses.

To a greater or lesser extent a lot the tasks a project manager needs to carry out already happen in a face-to-face environment. However, in many cases these tasks are carried out by and are the responsibility of different management figures rather than one person. In the case of online courses, it is initially very important to have one figure overseeing and managing all these components and bringing them all together. In many ways managing online courses is analogous to performing a symphony, it requires a conductor who can bring everything together, somebody who both understands and is sensitive to the music to be played, the musicians who will play it and the audience who will partake in the experience.

IH DoS talk 2013

Click on link below to view presentation.

Setting up and running successful online language courses

Open Space Technology

Recently I attended the combined Teacher Development / Leadership and Management Special Interest Group (LAMSIG) annual “conference” in Brighton. It was the first time I had attended a LAMSIG event and, the first time I’d experienced Open Space Technology (OST). When I first looked at the programme, I was a little sceptical but also intrigued about the inclusion of so many Open Space sessions in the programme. I had heard mixed stories about the effectiveness of OST.

However, after experiencing my first OST session, I was a fan! And I know I wasn’t alone in being impressed with the use of OST at the event. So why did it work so well?

One of the most important factors was how the sessions were set up. Adrian Underhill masterfully talked us through the objectives of Open Space Technology in a way that made the sessions seem both intriguing but unthreatening. He likened OST to coffee breaks in a conventional conference and argued that it is during coffee breaks when the “burning issues” which really concern conference participants are talked about. The idea of OST is to allow these issues to be explored by providing the means required: space, time and people with similar concerns.

Another important factor in the success of the sessions was the fact that the event was attended by like-minded people from similar contexts with related issues and problems. This was not coincidental. The event was a joint venture involving two Special Interest Groups (SIG); the Teacher Development SIG and the Leadership and Management SIG. And the conference theme: Developing Teachers in Developing Schools attracted a combination of mainly DoSes, other managers and teacher trainers all interested in development issues.

The order of the different sessions during the event was significant. The programmed speaker sessions were held before the OST sessions and helped to get everybody thinking about related issues. These sessions were thought provoking and helped to give rise to the “burning questions” which became the focus of the OST sessions.

At the beginning of the OST sessions participants were invited to propose a burning question by writing the question on a post-it. Similar questions were grouped together and participants were asked by a show of hands to choose the question they would like to talk about. If there was no interest in a question, no group was formed, if there were just two or three people interested, the group could form or not depending on whether the participants wanted to form a small group. A time limit was set for the discussion of approximately 50 minutes and the only request was that someone in each group volunteer to take notes.

Adrian Underhill explained the only rule, the rule of two feet. If you are not contributing or getting anything out of the session, use your two feet to find a session which is of more interest to you. There were no other rules, no hierarchy, no fixed structure, you could contribute if you wanted or just listen which meant that there was no pressure on any participant.

Another factor which influenced the success of the sessions was the size of the conference. There were approximately 70 participants which was a very manageable number for this type of activity. I wonder how effective OST would be in events with more participants.

The only area which I would tentatively suggest could have been different was the time and space allocated for feedback on each OST session. This could have been simply time set aside for the reading out of the notes taken in each session. This would have allowed us all to reflect more on what had been discussed sessions we didn’t take part in to maybe take this further in other OST sessions. Instead, the minutes were printed out and stuck up on a board for us to read in the coffee breaks which was potentially useful. However, like many others, I was in coffee break mode and busy talking about other burning issues rather than finding time to read the minutes of other OST sessions.

As a participant, it was a very rewarding experience and much more meaningful and relevant than other TEFL events I have attended. I am sure that, to a large degree, this is due to how the event was organised and the very successful use of OST. I, for one, will definitely sign up for more events which include OST sessions.

Managing successful online courses: 3. The tutor

A lot of online language courses are tutored in one way or another and in most of these courses the tutor plays a significant role in the success or failure of the course. The tutor will mitigate the impersonal nature of online courses and provide that personal touch which can make all the difference in our clients’  appreciation of the course. So, if you are setting up an online tutored course, what tutor issues do you need to consider?

The choice of course materials inevitably affects the role of the tutor. At one end of the spectrum some courses merely require tutors to track the students’ progress, follow up on student inactivity and encourage the students to keep up with deadlines and get through the course. In this type of online course, an administrative person who is familiar with the course and who can communicate with the students in their L1 (in the case of mono-lingual groups) could more than satisfactorily carry out this role. In fact it would be neither relevant nor necessarily effective to use a teacher to tutor these students.

In the middle of the spectrum there are a lot of online courses in which language and content is delivered and practised by the course material itself. The tutor’s role in these courses is limited to helping the student to produce language outside the constraints of the programmed exercises (in tutorials, for example). The role of the tutor here is not to present language but to give the student feedback, support and encouragement in developing their speaking and writing skills. A tutor in this type of course will probably also deal with any questions the student might have about the online content. There is therefore a strong emphasis on remedial support and this role, in my opinion, requires the knowledge of a relatively experienced teacher.

At the other end of the spectrum the tutor can be required to actually put together the course by selecting the contents of the course from a bank of content and exercises, structuring its delivery, and holding online group or one-to-one classes which can involve presenting language as well as skills practice. This role would require a highly experienced and skilled teacher.

Another issue is the rate of pay. Typically tutoring rates are lower than teaching rates (with the exception of when the tutor has to create the course). While teaching rates typically include preparation and the marking of homework, the hourly rate of a tutor often doesn’t need to include these elements i.e. the hour paid corresponds to an hour worked. In addition, most tutoring work can be done from home so no travelling is expected and the tutor can log on to the platform to deal with student questions and written work when convenient and not necessarily at set times.

However, the lower rate of pay can be an issue for a school’s regular face-to-face teachers and cause a certain amount of resentment and negativism towards tutoring. In these cases it is often more successful to contract tutors from outside the school for whom the attractions of tutoring outweigh the disadvantages of the lower hourly rate of pay.

The role and skills of a tutor can be quite different from the role of a teacher in a face-to-face context. Traditional language schools putting together online courses should not expect that great face-to-face teachers will automatically make great online tutors.

Bearing all this in mind, it is important to define very carefully the role of the tutor in the online course you are putting together by producing a comprehensive job description. And once you have defined the role of the tutor, you should give careful thought to the sort of person who will effectively fulfil this role and elaborate a detailed person specification.  If you do this successfully and then provide a thorough training course for the tutors selected before the start of the course and support during the course, your tutors should play a decisive part in the success of your online course.

Managing successful online courses: 2. Materials

In the last 10 years there has been an exponential growth in the number and type of online courses and materials available for use by language organisations wanting to set up their own online courses. Offers range from highly prescribed, ready-to-go courses which involve relatively little set-up time, to loosely structured courses, banks of material or platforms where material can be created from scratch and consequently take longer to set up.

There are a number of considerations to take into account when selecting which online materials to use as part of an online course.  So, how do you decide what material to use? What criteria should you use to select the material or course which will best work for you?

Post 1 in this section covers your clients’ needs and expectations and how they should play an important part in your decision of what material to use.

Other important considerations are budget restraints, time restraints and issues of continuity. Budget restraints will inevitably restrict your choice of online materials, some materials are relatively cheap to license while others are expensive (usually there is a correlation between cost and quality). However, when costing the price of online courses and materials available on the market, it is important to remember that a more expensive, ready-to-use, quality online course could save you a lot of money when compared with of the cost of paying somebody to create materials and or put together a more tailored online course out of banks of online materials.

In terms of time, off-the-peg courses have the advantage that they are ready to go immediately. So, if you have a client who wants to start in a short time scale, these types of courses will allow you to do this.

It is also important to have a mid and even long-term perspective when selecting material. Ideally, your client will be so satisfied with your online course that they will want more after the course has finished. It is therefore interesting to consider how much continuity can be provided by the materials provider you select. Many course providers which supply ready to go courses will offer a series of consecutive levels e.g. from A1 to C2 which will allow a satisfied client to continue up through the levels with the same guarantee of satisfaction.

The offset of ready-to-go courses is the lack of or limited customisation. If a client is looking for a course which will satisfy specific requirements beyond those catered for by general courses, it might be difficult to find ready-to-go courses which fit these needs and therefore be necessary to go with a course provider which provides banks of materials which can be used to build customised courses and additionally allows you to create your own materials. The advantage of this option is a more flexible and tailor-made course. The downside is that in order for this option to be successful it requires a high level of expertise on the part of the language institution or course designer to construct a coherent and effective course which will satisfy the client (see post 3 for the relevance of the teacher/tutor in the choice of course material).

Although now rather dated, Robin Mason’s (1998) observations are still pertinent if we apply them loosely to current practices. She grouped online courses into three categories: content + support model (prescribed course content and tutorial support), wrap around model (more tutor flexibility to adapt and support content), and integrated model (student and tutor negotiated content). She argues that the content + support model can be more cost-effective with large numbers of students. However, “for small courses in niche subjects the [wrap around model] can be a very cost-effective model”.

The third option of student and tutor negotiated content, while fascinating, is the least adopted option and is beyond the logistical constraints of most commercial language organisations and therefore is not discussed here.

While focusing on the content of the materials or course to be selected is of prime importance, other more peripheral issues related to the choice of material should not be ignored.  When selecting material, language organisations should also ask themselves the following questions: Is the learner management system easy to use? Is it intuitive and clear for learners, tutors and course administrators? Does the information recorded on the platform satisfy the needs of the client? Is it easy to track student progress and if the course is subsidised by a government body, does it fulfil the funding body’s requirements?

The choice of what materials to use is not an easy one. However, if course organisers analyse the client’s expectations (post 1),  budget restrictions, possibilities of continuity, time restrictions, practical considerations related to the platform use and teacher expertise (see post 3), the chances are that the material selected will be successful.

References:

Mason, R 1998 Open University http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/past/nlc1998/Proceedings/Mason_1.72-1.80.pd

Managing successful online courses: 1. The Client

When setting up an online course, it is obviously important to try to cater to the clients’ needs and expectations if the course is to be successful (clients being both the students and the training manager in the case of corporate and institutional clients). But in addition to carrying out a classic needs analysis, it is useful to consider how different cultural elements can influence clients’ expectations and how these, in turn, can affect the success of an online course.

There are potentially three main cultural considerations to take into account: each participant’s individual personality and preferences; national or regional cultural implications; and corporate / institutional cultures.

1. Individual personalities

We are all different. Some people are more sociable than others, some people are insecure and need reassurance while others are fear-free and will not be afraid of making mistakes. Some people are linear whereas others are chaotic. Some people will have already done an online course while for others it will be their first time.  However, all participants will have some preconceived idea about what an online course should be and how it will work and this will rarely reflect the reality of the course they are about to take.

This is why it is important to influence as much as possible student expectations prior to the start of the course. We want our clients’ expectations to be in tune with what they will experience. Ways of doing this include pre-course presentations and orientation sessions using webinars as well as providing students with comprehensive support documents in their L1 (in the case of monolingual groups).

2. National / Regional cultural factors

If a group of students is from the same region or country, there will probably be the same national or regional cultural influences which will bring a bearing on their expectations and perceptions. By understanding these common cultural influences, it is easier to select course material which should work well with students with a similar national or regional cultural background and it will also help us to provide culturally appropriate support during the course.

To illustrate what I mean, I recommend thinking about how your client’s national or regional values fit into an adapted version of Geert Hofstede’s five categories. Hofstede used these categories when he researched how IBM employees’ values differed in over sixty countries (Hofstede 2010). Consider the importance of power distance (the accessibility and power of superiors); individualism versus collectivism (importance of the individual or the group); influence of age (the importance of age in positions of power); influence of gender (the importance of gender in positions in the organisation); and attitude to time (the importance of punctuality and deadlines). Hofstede’s categories are illustrated below:

If we come to the conclusion that a culture stresses the importance of hierarchy and respect for age, it prizes the individual over the collective group, that gender issues are important and punctuality is expected, we can also assume that this culture will be more receptive to a highly prescribed course with little group interaction compared with a less rigidly structured course which stresses group interaction and a more organic approach to content.

3. Corporate or institutional culture

When dealing with corporate groups or institutional groups, attention needs to also be paid to the predominating corporate or institutional culture. Understanding the corporate or institutional culture will be relevant in terms of understanding the training manager’s expectations of the students’ performance, it will affect how seriously the students take the course, how well they work together and how well they will respond to certain course material and, as a result, should influence our choice of material to be used in the online course.

By understanding the corporate or institutional culture, we will be better able to make decisions relating to the choice of course material in terms of the importance of issues such as quality and reach. For some training managers with limited budgets the importance of being seen to provide training for a lot of people is more important than the quality of the online course and how much is learned. This should affect our choice of material.

Charles Handy (1993) is recommended reading for anybody who wishes to read more on corporate culture.

So, by analysing these three cultural areas, we will have information which will help us to select appropriate course material and develop strategies to influence our clients’ expectations and bring them in line with the course they will experience. We will also have valuable information which will help us to provide appropriate support while the course is in progress.

References:

Hofstede, G. and Minkov, M. 2010 Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. USA, McGraw-Hill, 3rd Edition. See also http://www.geerthofstede.nl/index

Handy, C 1993 Understanding Organizations. New York, Oxford University Press

The 3 Rs: Recruitment – Retention – Redeployment

@CinthiaStella http://flickr.com/photos/eltpics

Have you ever had guests outstay their welcome or realised that you’ve outstayed your welcome? It doesn’t feel good either way.  And the longer the situation goes on, the more resentful and uncomfortable everybody feels.

EFL teachers can similarly outstay their welcome in the schools where they work. The result is a less than rewarding experience for both the teacher and the language school. Common symptoms of this phenomenon are managers complaining about inflexible and unenthusiastic teachers and teachers grumbling about unappreciative and disinterested managers.

So, if this is neither beneficial for the teacher nor the language school, why does this situation arise so frequently? And what can managers and schools do prevent this from happening?

The 3 Rs theory is a practice which, in my experience, is rarely implemented seriously, but if it is, can help to encourage teachers to move on when the time is right to the benefit of both teacher and language school.

Recruitment

This is something that all language schools do but with varying degrees of success. Good recruiting is an art which, if performed successfully, means that a school will have a team of like-minded teachers who fit into the culture of the school. These teachers will normally be more receptive to different initiatives and direction than a teacher who does not identify with the school culture so it is well worth spending time perfecting recruitment procedures.

Good recruitment practices require careful thought being given to the sort of person who will fit into the school culture, thinking beyond qualifications and experience. With this in mind, corresponding job descriptions and person specifications need to be drawn up which clearly communicate the job being offered and the type of person required. This coupled with effective interview procedures will help to select the applicant who will best integrate into the school.

Once the person has been selected and has accepted the job, managers should not underestimate the importance of a comprehensive induction programme which will help the teacher to settle into the language school quickly. The more thorough the induction programme, the sooner the teacher will become an effective part of the language school team.

Retention

When the teacher has settled into the school and knows their way around, how can we as managers, ensure that the teacher’s levels of enthusiasm remain high and benefit the school? It is important that teachers identify with the schools short and mid-term objectives and feel that they can make an important contribution to them. One way of doing this is to define and agree on a personal job plan for the teacher’s development which brings together both the teacher’s personal professional objectives and the school’s short or mid-term aims. By encouraging and supporting the teacher to work on their development in a certain direction and by finding ways of integrating what the teacher learns into school practice via workshops, training sessions etc, both the teacher and the school gain and should view these job plans positively.

Unfortunately, in my experience, it seems that relatively few language schools put into practice serious job development plans. Teacher training often takes the shape of a few token workshops which are on topics which are neither requested by the teachers or part of a larger development plan being followed by the school. If, however, teacher involvement in training programmes is encouraged, recognised and rewarded, and follows a coherent and previously agreed path which benefits both parties, the outcome should be positive for all.

Redeployment

There will come a time though when a teacher outgrows the establishment he or she works for and it is better for both the teacher and the school for the teacher to move on. This can happen sooner or later depending on the integration of the teacher in the school and the opportunities the school can offer the teacher. If a school realises the importance and benefits of helping teachers to leave and integrates a redeployment policy into school practice, fewer teachers will outstay their welcome. What’s more, if the school has carried out a successful retention policy, the investment in this teacher’s development will have been repaid manifold. A happy teacher leaving and being replaced by new, enthusiastic blood should be celebrated as a success.

However, to have the desired effect, incorporating a redeployment policy into a school needs to be more than just sending around a list of available jobs from an international network from time to time. A redeployment policy will encourage teachers to reflect on what they want to do next, the direction they want to move in and how they are going to do this. By providing support for teachers to achieve their objectives, there should be little surprise or upset when a teacher does actually leave. A happy teacher who leaves will be much more cooperative in handing over, and will make their leaving as smooth as possible.

Of course, it is never as easy as this but managers might find it useful to reflect from time to time on their current recruitment, retention and redeployment policies and how they could be improved.