AUDITORIUM PRESENTATION
Strategic Planning for Educational Software Development
John M. Jackson, M.Ed.
University of Virginia School of Medicine
ABSTRACT:
Faculty often develop
innovative educational tools that are well suited to their particular situation.
But many projects fail to make a broad and lasting impact on a curriculum or
field because they are not adopted by others. A step-by-step strategic plan is
essential to maximize the potential of a teaching tool and make an impact in
the field. The key components to this process are:
• Review the
available tools: What tools similar to your idea are available and how can they
be improved upon?
• Develop a
prototype: Rough out your ideas with a simple tool like PowerPoint.
• Collect pilot
data/evaluations: Test you concept with learners and educators.
• Involve other
educators: Identify collaborators to help refine and generalize your concept.
• Identify similar
needs in related fields that could be addressed: Expand your potential users to
include those with similar problems.
• Seek institutional
or extramural support: Building the best takes money and professional
developers.
• Acquire
professional design and development expertise: Choose your team carefully,
including those with related development experience.
• Create goals,
objectives and evaluation plan for the product: Define exactly what you seek to
accomplish and how you will measure the results.
• Involve potential
adopters in the prototyping process: Gain early buy-in from other users by
asking for their input.
• Assure that
authoring modules is relatively easy: Success will be measured by how many
learning modules can be created with your tool.
• Involve learners
early in the design and testing process: Value the input from your intended
audience.
• Evaluate with
rigorous research methods: Carefully select subjects, conditions and
methodology to gain valid, publishable results.
• Present and publish
your results: Gain exposure for your project with other potential users.
• Advocate adoption with
your peers: Without advocacy even the best tools go unused. A marketing partner
will many times be useful.
• Continue to develop
and refine your product: Even a great idea can be improved upon.
BENEFIT TO PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING SESSION:
Many faculty have
great ideas and produce innovative new educational products, but they fail to
be adopted by other educators or have much lasting impact. This presentation
will focus on a step-by-step method to maximize the potential of a unique idea,
reach a large audience, and develop a professional reputation in the field.
John M. Jackson
University of
Virginia
P.O. Box 800555
Charlottesville VA
22908
USA
Phone: (434)924-1528
Fax: (434)982-3040
Website: http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/