Project Abstract

The Business & Finance unit of the Basic Camp Director’s Course (BCDC) has, until now, been delivered exclusively in a week-long training conference. The course is offered four times per year, but there is always a waiting list for sessions. Because the logistics and expense of a week-long training session are increasingly challenging, Dr. Gwynn Powell , a member of the ACA National Board of Directors, has asked to create an online version of the unit.

We will develop this module as a prototype that the ACA can then use to develop similar online versions of the other 13 units in the training session.

Client Profile

The client for our project is The American Camp Association as represented by Dr. Gwynn Powell and Kat Shreve. Dr. Powell is an Associate Professor in the Recreation and Leisure Studies Department in the College of Education at The University of Georgia. She is also a volunteer for the American Camp Association, specializing in curriculum development and research application. She will serve as the liaison between Genesis Learning and the American Camp Association. Ms. Shreve is an ACA national staff member with nationwide responsibility for training. She will provide content and ongoing input to help us design this unit in a way that will be most practical for the organization.

The ACA Web site describes the organization as follows:
“The American Camp Association (formerly known as the American Camping Association) is a community of camp professionals who, for nearly 100 years, have joined together to share our knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs. Because of our diverse 7,000 plus membership and exceptional programs, children and adults have the opportunity to learn powerful lessons in community, character-building, skill development, and healthy living — lessons that can be learned nowhere else.
“As a leading authority in child development, the ACA works to preserve, promote, and improve the camp experience. Our association is committed to helping our members and all camps provide:

• Camp communities committed to a safe, nurturing environment
• Caring, competent adult role models
• Healthy, developmentally-appropriate experiences
• Service to the community and the natural world
• Opportunities for leadership and personal growth
• Discovery, experiential education, and learning opportunities
• Excellence and continuous self-improvement “
(http://www.acacamps.org/about/profile.php)

Adapted with permission from http://www.nov8tivedesigns.com/

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Genesis Learning 15/5 040208

What started out as the most stressful week so far (at least for me!) has ended up with a bit of breathing room. I reviewed with Dr. Clinton how much we still had to do, and we all agreed on Thursday that we were concerned with the quality of what we could produce in time for a beta on April 7. He talked with our client, after which I talked with our client and we agreed to postpone the beta until April 14. That extra week should make a huge difference in the depth and quality of our product.

We really accomplished a lot. The pre-test went up in Dr. Powell’s WebCT site. We have the text content loaded for five of the six units. Donna and Roman came to Monday night’s meeting with several interactive spreadsheets that, with just a little refinement, will be ready to go.

Our 6200 consultants are hard at work on animations and other graphic work. Trudy produced a terrific splash screen of a waterfall with money flowing in it. Joy has developed a see-saw to illustrate the relationship between depreciation and value. We’re expecting several others in the next 24 hours.

In the coming week, we will continue to work on content development. Our target is to have all the examples and the guided practice portions up in time for the beta. We’re also working on the self-assessments at the end of each unit.

We continue to be frustrated with the amount of time available for meetings on Thursday evenings. Since three of us live out of town, we really need all we can get, so it’s hard to take away time for other Studio functions. We’re working away and recognizing that we’ll have to burn the midnight oil a few nights before this project is finished. But the end is in sight!

Posted by Myra Blackmon at 6:48 PM 0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)