Influencer Strategy Part A - Desired Results and the Behaviors that Drive Them
In the next few
years, the successful creation of online/hybrid alternatives to the
face-to-face courses of the Computer Networking & Troubleshooting Technology
program at Lamar Institute of Technology will depend on the commitment, efforts,
and approval of a varied group of administrative and academic colleagues, as
required by the Institute’s organizational chart (Lamar Institute of
Technology, 2014). At different times, different colleagues will be influential
in driving success: during approval and review stages, the Director of the
Distance Learning Committee; during design and development of courses,
instructors who have taught the course, and during all stages of the project,
our Program Director, who develops curriculum and has taught all our classes.
Joseph Grenny and
Kerry Patterson (2013) suggest that three keys of influence should guide the
online/hybrid project: (1) focus on and measure desired results; (2) find vital
behaviors that drive the results, and (3) engage all six sources of influence.
How each of these keys apply to this project will be addressed.
Desired Results
The new online
component’s success will hinge on two desired goals, or results, of the project
developing the component.
The first result of the project will be the
beta online/hybrid course, which is to be designed and developed during
the Fall 2017 semester and offered in the Class Schedule beginning Spring 2018.
Monthly progress reports on the development of the beta course will be provided
to both academic and administrative colleagues for input and approval.
The second desired
result will be the design, development, and offering of the remaining
online-hybrid courses over the long semesters. The progress of this
development will also be measured by the monthly reports, including Integrated
Course Plans, and completed test Blackboard courses.
The following table illustrates the project’s desired results:
Result
|
Measurement
|
Those
Involved
|
Design and development of one beta
online/hybrid major-specific course during the Fall 2017 semester, for
offering to students in Spring 2018
|
Review of monthly reports of course
development, outlining progress by Chapter/Section of curriculum, as
evidenced by content in the test Blackboard course
|
Course-developing instructors, the CNTT
program coordinator, the Business Technologies department head, the Distance
Learning Committee and its Director, and the Vice President for Student and
Academic Success
|
Design and development of three
online/hybrid major-specific courses (fifteen in total) in each long semester
from Spring 2018 forward, completing development and offering of all courses
by Fall 2020
|
Review of monthly reports of course
development, outlining progress by Chapter/Section of curriculum, as
evidenced by content in test Blackboard courses
|
Course-developing instructors, the CNTT
program coordinator, the Business Technologies department head, the Distance
Learning Committee and its Director, and the Vice President for Student and
Academic Success
|
Finding Vital Behaviors
To find the
vital behaviors (Grenny & Patterson, 2013) that lead to our desired
results, we must first look for obvious, though underused, behaviors that may
be nurtured and better applied. Our first vital behavior, asking colleagues for help when falling behind schedule to meet
periodic deadlines, is a behavior so obvious and easily understood that it
might not seem necessary to list it. It is, however, vital to the success of
each course and the project as a whole. Having to cancel an un-finished course
before its first semester, despite its having been published in the Course Schedule,
could lead to students dropping out of our program or out of school completely.
Timely course development avoids that crucial moment where un-finished or
inferior courses must be canceled.
To be
successful in our project, we must look at similar projects, hopefully to find
a positive deviant, someone who succeeds despite facing similar challenges (Grenny
& Patterson, 2013). The Internet has an abundance of information for
students who are taking online courses, but not nearly as much for instructors
who want to be successful in presenting online courses. Fortunately, in our own
building, in our department, there is a director and instructor from another
program who has designed and taught several of her courses online. She has
succeeded in growing her online and face-to-face programs with the flexibility
of class scheduling. Though she is not in our program or on our team, she will
be a valuable resource and opinion leader for this project, as she knows the
needs of the student body and also the available development tools and the approval
process at our college. We will also collaborate within our program to share the best methods for design and
content delivery, especially with program colleagues who have also taught
the face-to-face course.
Besides sharing best methods, collaboration with colleagues
will also lead to brainstorming and innovation
in design and content of courses. Once an instructor learns how to add
edited videos, blogs, discussion boards, virtual classrooms, and Adobe Connect
sessions to his courses, his classes will be more engaging to students and will
encourage student success and retention. He will then share his new ideas with
other developers for other courses.
The team
effort needed to ask for help, share best methods, and be innovative in course
development may run counter to the cultural norm that each course is each
instructor’s own, to design and present as he desires. Because the project’s
overall success depends on each course’s individual success, it is important
that we all work to ensure that all courses succeed. Course-developing
instructors will be encouraged to be open to suggestions and new methods,
especially those proven to be successful.
The following table shows three vital
behaviors for our project, why they are considered vital, and who should adopt
and/or develop the behavior.
Vital
Behavior
|
Why
Vital
|
Those
Involved
|
Ask colleagues for help if falling behind
schedule to complete courses within the development timeline.
|
To have courses ready for offering in their
first semester, as already published in the upcoming Course Schedule/Catalog
|
Course-developing instructors
|
Share models of design and content with
other developers working on similar courses.
|
To provide a cohesive and collaborative
series of courses, based on successful design
|
Course-developing instructors, the CNTT
program coordinator, and the Distance Learning Committee and Director
|
Use creativity and innovation in course
design and content delivery methods.
|
To increase interest and student success
|
Course-developing instructors, the CNTT
program coordinator, and the Distance Learning Committee and Director
|
Instructors will
use an Integrated Course Plan for Online Courses to outline and track their
course development progress (Harapnuik, 2016). These Course Plans, as they are
completed, will be part of the monthly progress review. Besides the course
design, content, and progress information they provide for the instructor and
the program, Course Plans may also be useful in sharing innovative formats
and/or media for content presentation with other colleagues for their courses.
INTEGRATED COURSE PLAN FOR ONLINE COURSES (TEMPLATE)
Module
|
Learning Goal
|
Assessment Activities
|
Learning Activities
|
1
|
Learners will …
|
Online pre-tests,
labs, quizzes, worksheets, and/or tests; Class discussions, blogs in
Blackboard.
|
Read textbook
chapter(s), online materials. Watch podcasts of lecture. View online videos.
Participate in
weekly Adobe Connect sessions.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
|
2
|
Learners will …
|
Online pre-tests,
labs, quizzes, worksheets, and/or tests; Class discussions, blogs in
Blackboard.
|
Read textbook
chapter(s), online materials. Watch podcasts of lecture. View online videos.
Participate in
weekly Adobe Connect sessions.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
|
3
|
Learners will …
|
Online pre-tests,
labs, quizzes, worksheets, and/or tests; Class discussions, blogs in
Blackboard.
|
Read textbook
chapter(s), online materials. Watch podcasts of lecture. View online videos.
Participate in
weekly Adobe Connect sessions.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
|
4
|
Learners will …
|
Online pre-tests,
labs, quizzes, worksheets, and/or tests; Class discussions, blogs in
Blackboard.
|
Read textbook
chapter(s), online materials. Watch podcasts of lecture. View online videos.
Participate in
weekly Adobe Connect sessions.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
Update
development progress here, deleting this cell when development is complete.
|
Influencer Strategy Part B - Motivating and Enabling Vital Behaviors
The success of the online curriculum development project will depend on careful
attention to all Six Sources of Influence as explained and outlined by Grenny
and Patterson (2013). The motivational and ability domains of influence are
further sub-divided into influences of Personal Motivation, Personal Ability,
Social Motivation, Social Ability, Structural Motivation, and Structural
Ability, which must all be addressed thoroughly, both to remove or anticipate
those influences which are driving the wrong behaviors and to establish those
influences which will drive the right, or vital, behaviors.
Personal
Motivation. To show colleagues
the intrinsic value of online course development, they will take a quick
student survey asking whether students have had to change their course or work
schedules and/or expected graduation dates because classes are not available
and whether they would benefit from having online options. The Online
Instructor, our successful Positive Deviant, from other program will speak
about her success and the increase in the number of new students taking both online
and face-to-face courses. Historical day- and night-class enrollment figures
will be shared, as additional evidence that there need to be more choices for
students.
Personal
Ability. So that instructors will feel
that they are able to build online courses, there will be general Blackboard and
specific Lecture Capture and Podcast training through the Department of Distance
Learning. To ensure that instructors will not be overwhelmed, they will act as
lead developers for only those courses which they have already taught
face-to-face. Finally, during progress meetings, the Distance Learning director
and instructors will share proven design ideas so that the overall curriculum
will have continuity in design and structure and so that no instructor will have
to start from scratch. New and innovative ideas can be brainstormed in the
scheduled meetings or in collaborative work times. Instructors will be able to
keep on track with their Integrated Course Plans.
Social
Motivation. The first, or Beta,
online course will be created by Instructor Bonnie Cobb and Lauri
Arnold-Calder, formal and opinion leader and director of the program. To model
the course-building process, the Beta course developers will enlist help of
those instructors who are not yet working on their own courses. All instructors
in the program, who will eventually develop courses, will be included in the progress
meetings from the beginning of the project, to help generate excitement, ideas,
and motivation before they begin work on their own courses.
Social
Ability. Instructors who are best at
certain content creation skills, such as creating labs, capturing lectures,
designing Blackboard structure and gradebooks, etc., will share, teach, and/or
provide their skills with other developers. Instructors creating their first
online course will work with an instructor who has completed and launched an
online course, who will act as a mentor and/or co-developer.
Structural
Motivation. Information
detailing the additional compensation that is given per semester for each
online course taught will be provided to instructors as an extrinsic incentive
to create and teach online courses. The lead developer for each course will be
given the option to teach the first semester of that course. If the lead
developer chooses not to teach the course first, then those developers and/or
colleagues who provided support for the course, if qualified, will be given the
option to teach the course.
Structural
Ability. So that help may be given
easily, all developing instructors will have observer access to Blackboard base
(test) courses during development. Co-developers
who are working together on courses will have instructor access to those
courses.
To keep the “big picture” in mind, a chart listing courses in development,
their developers, expected semester rollout, deadlines for submission for
review and approval, and progress will be posted in Room 103.
Monthly progress meetings will be calendared by the Program Director on
all developers’ Outlook calendars and timely email reminders of the meetings
will be sent to developers and the Distance Learning Director.
For ease of access, training content, course content, and other
work-in-progress will be saved and shared in the program’s Office 365
SharePoint folder.
Each semester, the deadlines for (1) submission to the Distance Learning
committee, (2) submission to the Vice President for Student and
Academic Success, and (3) courses to be
included in the Course Schedule/Catalog will all be communicated by email and
calendared in Outlook for developers.
Following is The Six Sources Strategy Matrix, originally designed by
Grenny and Maxfield (2013), and modified for our project.
The Six Sources Strategy Matrix
Motivation
|
Ability
|
|
Personal
|
· Student survey whether students
have had to change their course/work schedules and/or their graduation
semester due to unavailability of classes, and whether they would benefit
from online options.
· Have Online Instructor in other
program (Positive Deviant) speak about the increase in number of new students
taking both online and face-to-face courses.
· Share day- and night-class
enrollment figures, as evidence that there need to be more choices for
students.
|
· General Blackboard training by
Distance Learning
· Lecture Capture and Podcast
training by Distance Learning
· Instructors will act as lead
developers for only those courses which they have taught face-to-face.
· During progress meetings,
Distance Learning director and instructors will share proven design ideas so
that overall curriculum (and students) will have continuity in design and
structure and so that no instructor will have to start from scratch. New and
innovative ideas can be brainstormed. Instructors will
be able to keep on track with their Integrated Course Plans.
|
Social
|
· Bonnie Cobb and Lauri
Arnold-Calder, formal and opinion leader, and director of the program will
create the Beta online course.
· Beta course developers will
enlist help of those instructors who are not yet working on their own
courses.
· All instructors, who will
eventually develop courses, will be included in progress meetings, to
generate excitement, ideas, and motivation before they begin work on their
own courses.
|
· Instructors who are best at
certain content creation skills, such as creating labs, capturing lectures,
designing Blackboard structure and gradebooks, etc., will share and/or
provide their skills with other developers.
· Instructors creating their first
online course will work with an instructor who has completed and launched an
online course to act as a mentor and/or co-developer.
|
Structural
|
· Distribute information detailing
the additional compensation per semester for each online course taught.
· The lead developer for each
course will be given the option to teach the first semester of that course.
If the lead developer chooses not to teach the course first, then those
developers and/or colleagues who provided support for the course, if
qualified, will be given the option to teach the course.
|
· All developing instructors will
have observer access to all Blackboard base (test) courses in development.
· Developers who are working
together on courses will have instructor access to those courses.
· A chart listing courses in
development, their developers, their expected semester rollout, deadlines for
submission for review and approval, and their progress will be posted in Room
103.
· Monthly progress meetings will
be calendared by the Program Director on all developers’ Outlook calendars.
· Timely email reminders of the
monthly progress meetings will be sent to developers and the Distance
Learning Director.
· Training content, course
content, and other work-in-progress will be saved and shared in the program’s
Office 365 SharePoint folder.
· Each semester, the deadlines for
(1) submission to the Distance Learning committee, (2) submission to the Vice
President for Student and Academic Success, and (3) courses to be included in
the Course Schedule/Catalog will be communicated by email and calendared in
Outlook for all developers.
|
Conclusion
Because the online curriculum development
project has not begun, we do not have perfect information about possible
attitudes or commitment to it. Though this strategy attempts to predict and
prevent any adverse behaviors that might develop, there may be additional
behaviors that need to be addressed once the project begins. The strategy can
and probably will be modified as the project progresses. As crucial moments
arise, we hope to address and influence the behaviors we need to successfully
implement our project.
References
Distance
Learning Instructor Handbook - Lamar Institute of Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved
January 29, 2017, from http://www.lit.edu/common/pdfs/Distance_Learning_Handbook.pdf
Grenny, J., & Maxfield, D. (2013). How to 10X Your
Influence (Rep.). Retrieved February 18, 2017, from VitalSmarts website: https://www.vitalsmarts.com/influencerreport
Grenny, J.,
& Patterson, K. (2013). Influencer: the new
science of leading change, second edition. McGraw-Hill.
Harapnuik,
D. (2016, September 27). EDLD 5304 Leading Organizational Change
[Syllabus]. https://sacs.lamar.edu/opa/syllabi/public/lamarsyllabi.php.
