A Telecommunications-Oriented Project Control Framework for a Learning Technology Development Environments: Application to Systems Development at Nova Southeastern University

The purpose of this study is to develop a project implementation model to allow research students to collaborate, at a distance, on research projects. An alternative to the classical approach for designing project control systems is proposed by installing a personal computer for the primary benefit of having server functionality so that researchers can control and exercise collaborative activities. This interim plan permits one participant to have server capability and more being added as research members are establishing their own server-at-home capability. A description of research questions raised by this study is offered in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 examines the management of research and development projects. The emphases in the examination were on the implementation and control of such projects within a university environment. Traditional approaches emphasized quality of output rather than process quality. These it is argued, are inappropriate for the simultaneous control of management and technical processes operating in the Nova Southeastern University Multimedia Electronic Classroom (MECR) project. Chapters 3 and 4 further delineate the model by implementing a concentric, cooperation and control or \u27 C3 \u27 Project Control System. A critique of project implementation strategies of historical significance to the MECR project are presented in Chapter 3, and used to illustrate the complexity of project management tasks in university research and development environments. Chapter 4 presents systems factors for consideration in design and implementation of the C3 Project Control System. System components are described with the expected end-user benefits such as increases in the availability of computer power to individuals. Project team members with Internet connections and WWW browsers, regardless of the barrier of time and distance, can share information, build up a knowledge base or information base, and maintain close contact. An interim prototype phase extends the principle, use and application of distributed project management. The new model framework has to reengineer distance University. been developed as part of an effort education at Nova Southeastern Finally, Chapter 5 discusses the contributions of this study, the implications of the C3 strategy, offers recommendations to the field of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), the issues that require further investigation and future extensions of this research