V21s: Project management in the IT industry

Overview of course

The course introduces the principles of project management, including an explanation of the project lifecycle and the tools and techniques used by project managers in the IT industry.

The face-to-face component of this course will include IT sector employers discussing projects they have worked on and reflecting on how different tools can be used effectively on both small and large scale projects.

Participants will have opportunities to develop ideas for projects to use with learners and will see learning resources that have been developed to support delivery of project management in the classroom.

Learning outcomes

At the completion of this course, you should be able to demonstrate the following outcomes:

Professional and reflective practitioner skills

• An understanding of the importance of a structured approach to project management for IT projects
• An understanding of the principles of the project lifecycle and how to identify opportunities to work with learners on relevant and appropriate project scenarios to share this understanding
• The ability to critically consider and discuss the issues around project management and its application in the real world with course participants and learners.

Practical skills

• To use project management tools and techniques with learners to initiate, plan, execute and evaluate a project
• To work with learners to create a project plan for a project scenario that includes key tasks, critical path, dependencies and a realistic timeline
• To plan delivery of project management to learners making effective use of the learning resources available from e-skills UK.

Knowledge and understanding

• An understanding of the tools and techniques of project management and how these are used to ensure projects are delivered successfully on time and within budget
• An understanding of the principles of the project lifecycle and how to make use of the e-skills UK learning materials to support delivery of this in the classroom.

Cognitive skills

• To critically discuss how project scenarios can be adapted for use with groups of learners across KS4 and 5 and how these can be introduced through the use of a brief
• To discuss strategies for supporting learners in gaining confidence in managing their own projects through simple project planning examples.

The Practitioner Research Cycle

Vital Model Courses are based on the Practitioner Research Cycle as shown in the diagram below.

You will no doubt already be familiar with the notion of reflective practice, which typically has four stages:

• Identify needs
• Plan
• Do
• Reflect.

The Practitioner Research Cycle extends that by adding in two further stages:

• Find out
• Share.

‘Find out’ involves investigating what the wider education community knows about how to address identified needs (in order to help learn from other people’s prior experience and avoid re-inventing the wheel).

In the ‘Share’ stage you pass on what you have learnt to the wider community so that they in turn can benefit from your experiences and expertise. (This is then mediated by a process of peer review before becoming an established part of the education communities’ shared knowledge base.)

This cycle draws on, and develops, personal and professional knowledge bases (Pers KB and Prof KB in the diagram). The latter is the knowledge that underlies professional practice in education, and is reflected in the literature, resources, policies and other materials that are used to inform practice.

This course will explicitly follow the stages of the Practitioner Research Cycle, starting with identifying needs and moving through to sharing your learning (initially within your course group). Throughout the course icons will indicate the stage of the cycle being addressed.

Course information

You will need access to:

• the internet
• a group of 14–19 learners who are following programmes of study that include project management, e.g. the Diploma in IT Higher and Advanced level, ICT and Applied ICT A-level.

You should have the following skills and qualifications:

• An understanding of the requirements of the qualification specification for either the Diploma in IT or A-level ICT relating to project management.

Course schedule

Face-to-face event

The main focus of this course is a face-to-face training event. A facilitator, together with IT industry project managers, will be explaining their experiences of working with the project lifecycle, and using tools and techniques to manage small and large scale projects. You will also be working in small groups to generate ideas for projects, and associated client briefs, with course participants and employers. These ideas will be of value in the classroom.

Activities 1–2 are completed as part of the face-to-face event.

Activities 3–7 are online and classroom activities following the face-to-face event.

The first four sessions of the event are described below, followed by the face-to-face activities.

Post-event activities

These activities are designed to build on the contacts made at the face-to-face training event and to reflect on the use of the learning resources provided by the sessions with groups of learners.

Working with learners

In these activities, you will use the project resources, tools and skills from the face-to-face event with a group of learners and then report back on this in the course forum.

Shared knowledge

The practitioner research cycle is based on sharing your experiences and expertise in order to develop the professional knowledge base.

Having reflected individually upon your own learning within this course the next stage is to share these reflections within the course group and see what commonalities there are in what each of you has learnt. You may then want to share these insights more widely within the community.

Evaluation

This final section allows for evaluation.