|
|
 Ratings
|
|
|
| Reviewed: |
May 30, 2010 by Business Editorial Board |
| Overview: |
‘Introduction to Project Management’ is an open source online courseware supplement to be used in conjunction with a textbook and software. It is offered through the University of California- Irvine (UCI). The courseware is located through the UCI Web Site’s ‘OpenCourseWare’(OCW) initiative. This initiative is a repository for many open-source courses as sponsored by this group.
This is a standalone online course that presents the fundamentals of the project management discipline. It is written at the introductory level for college students or professional groups seeking to gain an understanding of managing a project. |
| Learning Goals: |
After completing this course the individual will be able to:
1) Identify and manage the product scope;
2) Build a work breakdown structure;
3) Create a project plan;
4) Create the project budget;
5) Define and allocate resources;
6) Manage the project development;
7) Identify and manage risks; and
8) Understand the project procurement process
The online course component is dependent upon the student having the required textbook and software to be used in conjunction with the online courseware. The course is designed to give an overview of project management terms, applications, and concepts. |
| Target Student Population: |
This course module can be used as an introductory to project management for the following groups:
1)Undergraduate college level;
2)User and Professional groups; and
3)Individuals wanting to gain knowledge of the project management discipline. |
| Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: |
This online course is one of three parts students must have: a textbook and software are required to be able to benefit or achieve the learning objectives. This online courseware is not a stand-alone-learning device . Prerequisite knowledge of general business management courses would be beneficial to students of project management studies as a precursor to terminologies. However this course, is as the title suggests, an introduction to project management, and therefore may not require pre-requisite knowledge or skills aside from having required textbook and software. |
| Type of Material: |
Supplemental Online Courseware |
| Recommended Uses: |
The Project Management courseware could be used by faculty and students in several ways; as a resource in the traditional classroom or online classroom but must be used in conjunction with the required textbook and software. The lessons appeared to be adaptable to assigning student homework, team projects, or most any typical learning endeavors. |
| Technical Requirements: |
Browsers IE, Mozilla and Chrome tested fine to access this Web site.
No plug-ins or additional download material were necessary to access the online courseware. |
|
|
|
| Strengths: |
Very nicely organized and logically sequenced introductory project management course. Also, very nice use of graphics and drag and drop exercises. Great tool for those looking for an introductory course with very little knowledge of project management. |
| Concerns: |
In the Introduction to Project Management Section the drawing shows the PMBOK 2nd Edition. This should be corrected to show the PMBOK 4th Edition. The course should also provide a section that describes the purpose and information regarding the Project Management Institute (PMI) since it is the globally recognized professional organization for this discipline. Also, a brief description of PMP certification and process would be helpful. The course objectives state that after completing this course an individual should be able to:
1) Identify and manage the product scope;
2) Build a work breakdown structure;
3) Create a project plan;
4) Create the project budget;
5) Define and allocate resources;
6) Manage the project development;
7) Identify and manage risks; and
8) Understand the project procurement process
There is not enough material, examples, or modules that thoroughly cover the detailed information needed to meet these course objectives.
Finally, an introductory course in project management should cover time management, the project management office, and various product and system/product life-cycle frameworks. It would also be helpful to cover how the Project Management framework interfaces or integrates with other quality based frameworks such as ISO9000 and the CMMi. More use of the PMBOK as a reference would be very helpful. |
|
|
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool |
Rating:    |
|
| Strengths: |
The online portion of this course does meet the criteria for identifying learning objectives , prerequisite knowledge and reinforces concepts progressively. However, these still appear to be dependent on the user/student having access to the other study aids and aspects of the course which are in book and software formats. |
| Concerns: |
It is difficult to confirm that this course demonstrates relationship of concepts and ease in writing assignments and can be learned in a short amount of time; again because the reviewer is only evaluating one portion of three resources for this course which appear to be dependent on one another. The online portion is not able to stand alone, and rests upon the text and software that are required to effectively learn this course material. |
|
|
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty |
Rating:   |
|
| Strengths: |
Presentation used ‘clean and clear’ formatting in respect to color and lines in the layout of the Web pages. Navigation through scrolling on the bottom of each page was a good option. Link to printing was available on each page. Interesting interactive elements. |
| Concerns: |
This is not a stand-alone online course, and must be used in conjunction with written text and software to get the full benefit of the online portion, which apparently is only one aspect of this course. Interactive features should be more clearly marked – denoting [click here] to reveal otherwise hidden content items. Interactive mini-quizzes are suggested to provide some type of measurement for content and vocabulary retention devices incorporated into the online material. |
|
|
| Other Issues and Comments: |
None. |
|
