successful project management - Commonwealth of Learning

Project Team
The project team is made up of all those who participate in the project, and typically,
members are committed to the activity of the majority. A project team is more than a
group, because while the group might be involved in a project, group members may
not have the required commitment.
Project Areas in open and distance learning (ODL)
There are several other terms that we will be referring to during discussion, but for
now these will suffice. In distance education, for example, there are management
issues, there are matters concerning the support of learners, identification and
development of courses and programmes. There are also issues of quality
assurance of programmes as well as issues of either adapting or adopting
programmes offered by one institution. This involves contextualisation and broader
consultation. Added to that, there are communication and technology issues as well.
It will be noted that there are gaps, or deficiencies in these areas. Depending on
which aspect of open and distance learning you have an interest in, it will be overtly
clear that the areas themselves are a minefield for projects.
To borrow a leaf from the Malawi Centre for Distance and Continuing Education,
here are some areas they identified as having potential for both macro and micro
projects in a DE set up. At their planning meeting (June 2006), they classified these
areas into three categories, namely, projects to do with DE management and
administration, programmes development, and learner support. Space has been left
for you to add any areas you think forms part of each category, but has not been
mentioned.
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