MEMORANDUM

To: Dr. Max Bertola - The Center on Disability Studies, Department Chair, Southeastern State University cc: Dr. Curtis Ho

From: Saxton & Leauanae Instructional Design, LLC Amy Saxton, Jessica Leauanae Date: November 15, 2011 Re: Needs Assessment and Analysis of Transitioning Current Face-to-Face Courses to Online Environments

Aloha Dr. Bertola, After careful review of the Center for Disabilities project, we regret to inform you that based upon the information provided, we will not be able to complete a proper needs assessment and analysis of the situation in order to deliver on the learning goals and objectives for the transition of face-to-face curriculum into an online environment within the three-week timeline you indicated. Our instructional design team came to this conclusion after extensive research into the delivery of online learning to students with disabilities and the use of the technology platforms requested i.e., Blackboard Collaborate and Laulima (Sakai). Our company has already learned the hard lesson that one of the most common problems instructional designers face is not reviewing a situation and planning a strategy with enough care at this phase of a project. Please find our Project Summary and the accompanying details to our review below. Please note that the instructional design team can review your proposal again upon the completion of the Requirements for Project Consideration. The RPCs are general guidelines that help our team efficiently ascertain the situational needs of a project. Please carefully review the RPCs prior to submission of a new proposal.

S&L ID., LLC

Client Requirements for Project Proposal

The following guidelines are provided by Saxton and Leauanae Design to help clients better understand what information is necessary to complete a project. Please review the items outlined below and ensure your proposal can provide the minimum information requested. These are general guidelines and the decision to accept a project is not based on this information alone. A combination of client consultations, expectations, and time frames are all taken into consideration when reviewing your request. Any decision to decline proposals are only made after careful consideration and scrutiny of the project details as a whole. 1. Situational Context: Please provide a thorough context and reason for the project. Instructional Design often involves deliverables across multiple environments, departments, and people. Please provide details of each area the ID team may find itself interfacing during the course of this project. 2. Content / Subject Matter: The content of the material will often determine the use of the delivery tools that are applicable and optimal. 3. Tools for delivery: The content of the course must determine tools, e.g., do Laulima and Blackboard have the necessary functions to display course content like foreign languages, mathematical symbols, eReader options, etc.? 4. Targeted Audience: Please list the target audience that will be end users to this project, e.g., do any of the three professors have a disability that must be taken into account? 5. Special Considerations: Please list any special considerations for the project e.g., equipment limitations, budgetary constraints, time constraints, etc.

Please contact your ID team for further consultation if assistance is needed in gathering this information. This document will be used as a living document to meet the changing needs of the project without compromising the original goals and objectives. Any significant variances to this document may constitute a new project proposal.

S&L ID., LLC

Project Summary

Title: Project F2F to O, Southeastern University Goal: The goal of project F2F to O is to create, implement, and train faculty in the Center of Disability Studies Department on the process for transitioning their current face-to-face courses to an online environment Course Format: The format of the course will be both asynchronous with the use of Laulima and synchronous with the use of Blackboard Collaborate. Special consideration of course delivery methods be taken into account for those students with physical disabilities such as hearing or seeing. Snapshot Project Details: TASK - prepare faculty to use Laulima and Blackboard Collaborate (BBC) to teach online END USERS - 3 Disability Studies professors, including Professor Adris ENVIRONMENT - facultys physical offices, Laulima, BBC RESOURCES- facultys office computer, email instructions, handouts posted online, Laulima and BBC Help and Tutorials TIMELINE- three weeks Sample Performance Objectives Using ABCD Method: Audience, Behavior, Condition, Degree Using the participants own office computer and given handouts posted online and the help/ tutorials available (C), the faculty participant (A) will demonstrate how to load (B) three different types of course materials (D) into both Laulima and BBC. Using the participants own office computer and given handouts posted online and the help/ tutorials available (C), the faculty participant (A) will demonstrate how to create (B) two different quizzes or tests (D) in Laulima. Using the participants own office computer and a summary list posted online (C), the faculty participant (A) will select and explain (B) two collaborative features (D) in both Laulima and BBC that will promote optimum learning for their course.

S&L ID., LLC

Challenges to the Project

Lack of Situational Information The scope of this project involves the inter-departmental cooperation from several smaller sub-units within the department. While the decision to move courses from face-to-face to online is being made by the Center on Disability Studies, the context and objectives of the decision are unclear to S&L. Without clear objectives for the transition, S&L is unable to create measurable initiatives and deliverables for the project. This inability leaves the true goal of the project in a state of ambiguity and assumption, traits that often lead to the delivery of a project that is not accurately aligned with the intended goals and objectives of the decision making parties. In addition, a clear situational analysis often determines the tools and delivery platforms. In this case, because we do not thoroughly understand the situation we are unable to determine if the requested tools of Laulima and Blackboard are appropriate for this project. However, our team has created a table detailing the technological issues with each platform, the gaps in information that your project presents, and additional questions to be considered when and if you should choose to submit this project for review in the future. We look forward to discussing any concerns you may have and hope to be of assistance again once the necessary information has been thoroughly vetted out by the decision chairs.

Please see the following tables for analysis details of your project: Table 1.1: Situational Needs Assessment Analysis Table 1.2: Delivery Tools and Platform Analysis

Table 1.1

Table 1.2