Training of Avatar Moderator in Sliding Mode Control Environment for Virtual Project Management

This chapter describes a development of algorithms, software, and hardware for avatar management and avatar moderator training systems, using the principle of practical tendency in sliding mode control environment and illustrating its applicability in virtual communications project management. The avatar is a computer-synthesized animated three-dimensional model, acting as a virtual representation of a real person, or as a visualization of the communication system of artificial intelligence. It is required to develop and evaluate realistic avatar interfaces as portals to intelligent software capable of relaying knowledge and skills in various subject areas. The chapter focuses on integrating speaker-independent continuous speech recognition, context technology of intelligent dialogue system in real-time, graphics rendering based on motion capture (motion capture is used by avatar to accompany the verbal information with gestures), and the development of applied information systems with avatar technology for different subject areas. Thus, created algorithms, software, and hardware are now use in collaboration works at the Astrakhan State University (Russian Federation) and at HHH University (Australian Federation and the Republic of Armenia) for the development of avatars for project management in design of real virtual control systems.

The “Online Teaching, Design, and Development” Course

“Online Teaching, Design and Development” was created as a 5-week instructor-facilitated online course to support the instructors at Kansas State University (K-State) in creating online courses and whole degree programs in the distance mode. This dual-track course accommodated both K-12 and university-level instructors, from on- and off-campus. This chapter describes how the course was conceptualized, structured, and deployed. This describes the curricular design and strategies; the creation of the various digital learning objects, the creation of the rubric evaluation structure, the assignment design, and the interactivity plan; and the course housekeeping management. Faculty members (learners) were recruited from both main and branch campuses at K-State and from other institutions of higher education using the Axio™ Learning/Course Management System (L/CMS), which was showcased in the curriculum. The lessons learned from the four years that this course has been offered (twice annually at minimum) include insights on the challenges of learner retention, the importance of learner incentives and record-keeping, and curriculum design and evolution. The curriculum was structured to have faculty build parts of an online course as they proceeded, so that all academic work done was also professional academic work towards building their online course(s). This chapter describes an online learning design structure that was sufficiently open to accommodate a variety of domain fields and teaching approaches and that encouraged peer support among faculty in the co-building of their respective courses.

eLearning Project Management for Innovation Management

The global crisis led educational institutions to adjust their curricula, pedagogical methodologies, and use of tools to the new alternate external environment. ITIN is a French IT Institute which has based its entire structure on dealing with such challenges by changing its pedagogical educational settings as well as its evaluation methodologies. One major change is related to Team Project-Based eLearning (TPBeL) utilization in order to advance students’ knowledge, team skills, and collaboration in authentic working environments via Computer Supported Collaborative eLearning (CSCeL) for the Innovation Management eCourse. This book chapter discusses the TPBL and CSCeL approaches and presents a case study with 43 ITIN students. To achieve triangulation, diverse research methods were employed, including: individual questionnaires, thematic discussion analysis, and social network analysis. The results showed that the students’ perceptions on teamwork skills developed within a Team PBL were positively increasing and they used several team work techniques simultaneously such as group co-construction of their assignments as well as the puzzle method. An interesting result suggests an absolute difference about what happened in teamwork and how the students perceived it; most students did not develop a group perceptive on their teamwork despite the fact that the group assignments were successfully completed. Lastly, they suggested that they enjoyed working very hard in an intensive eCourse, although it was the first time they used the Moodle Learning Management System and its integrated tools to collaborate for learning purposes.

Cost Estimation in E-Learning Design Project Management

The Internet is a revolutionary development of dimensions equivalent to those of the Industrial Revolution. All aspects of life are being radically influenced by this, sectors are being re-structured, professions are being re-defined, and modes of handling business, economy, education, public administration, politics, entertainment, and culture are being changed. Inclusion of the internet in the education technologies has led to radical changes in both formal education and also in remote education. E-learning, instructional design, and project management are three important concepts of increasing significance. In this chapter, the cost estimations aimed for the preparation of project management plans of e-learning systems, including education design, are discussed. Cost estimations aimed for project management, cost management, e-learning, education design, organization characteristics of e-learning systems, issues to be taken into consideration in e-learning project management, and preparation of e-learning project management plan preparation are made. The economic impacts of e-learning instructional design project management are discussed.

Accessibility Implementation for Disabled Students in PMBOLD Environments

Project management theory provides an organized, cost-effective approach to providing an accessible e-learning environment. Such a collaborative project has the opportunity to bring together such professionals as instructional designers, disability services staff, and institutional researchers. Accessibility as an afterthought is a costly approach, and disabled students are a large enough minority to seek equality of opportunity. E-learning accessibility empowers the individual by providing educational content in formats that not only encourage collaboration and learning, but also reduce frustration and develop a sense of inclusiveness. A project manager who understands the importance of e-learning accessibility will be able to grow the project from the ground up in a manner that empowers the disabled, while benefiting all learners.

Using an Evolving Electronic Stylebook as a Touchstone for Online Learning Project Management

For complex instructional design projects, having an evolving electronic stylebook offers a critical advantage in terms of organizing the work for quality and shared understandings. A stylebook may serve as a touchstone, a test, or criterion for the quality of a thing, because it is the documentary record for online learning projects. This chapter addresses the main contents of such an electronic stylebook and the criticality for the evolution of this work as the project parameters change.

Project Management-Based Design for Online Learning

Designing an online learning milieu by utilizing project management-based design has different dimensions, such as the responsibility assignment management, implementation management, time management, cost management, procurement management, risk management, quality insurance management, human resources management, and communication management perspectives of online learning design and its models. The main purpose of this chapter is to elucidate the dimensions, components, and characteristics of Project Management-Based Online Learning Design (PMBOLD). This chapter, therefore, focuses on how to design and deliver online learning based on utilizing project management approach. Based on the main purpose of this study, the authors consider on how to plan, organize, secure, and manage resources to bring about the successful completion of online learning goals and objectives. They also discuss online learning design and its models from a progressive and transformative viewpoint of project management-based design. This is vital for distance education designers to examine online learning models how to bring a global and multicultural partnership of faculty, administrators, professionals, teachers, community activists, researchers, and parents as well as understand and challenge the injustices digital societies face.

Managing an E-Marketing Plan for an Online Learning Curriculum

The design of an online learning curriculum is not the end of the work for that course or curriculum. Further work involves a marketing outreach to potential learners in order to encourage their enrollment and participation in the course. In the electronic age, it is not just sufficient to send out information through the electronic mailing lists of a department or through local media or established university channels; rather, it’s critical to position an online learning course or sequenced curriculum globally to most effectively capitalize on the electronic connectivity of the Internet and Web. Online courses are not just there for the convenience of geographically localized learners who have busy schedules. Reaching a broader potential audience of learners may lead to several types of competitive advantage: a broader diversity of international learners; a stronger tuition base to support the teaching-and-learning work; positive challenges for the instructors and subject matter experts, and heightened and less provincial learning opportunities. Further, those on the development team have a critical role to play in terms of marketing an online course—because of the intimate knowledge of the course curriculum, its design, and the targeted learners.

Managing Quality in Online Education

Online education is advancing the world over and recent emphasis has focused on the quality of online learning and student outcomes. This chapter focuses on managing quality in online learning design through two different project management approaches at two different institutions of higher education. University X instituted a pilot program of faculty and instructional designers to initiate online course development at this University and to identify and define quality in the online course design process. College Y has had a successful online cadre of courses and programs and recently adopted a for-purchase quality initiative through Quality Matters. Courses are put through the Quality Matters evaluation process to determine strengths and weaknesses. Both institutions will continue to offer online education as an alternative to traditional, classroom courses and both will continue to monitor quality as a key indicator of student learning and online course success.

Using Public Relations Process in Setting up Websites

Information and communication technologies play a key role in public relations applications in creating an effective communication between institutions and target audiences and student support services of distance education institutions. The necessity of making use of new communication technologies by educational institutions is because they obtain and spread information. While distance education provides students an opportunity of independent and individual study, it also should make teaching and learning process easier and more interesting for students. The aim of this study is to propose a model for open and distance education universities in using public relations process in setting up websites. It can be put forward if the public relations process is applied in public relations applications carried out on the Web.