Artefact #2: Distance Education Business Plan

In this course I learned the business side of education, of which I had little previous experience.  I learned every step from the ground up, which required more effort and persistence than required in previous courses.  It involved more collaboration and feedback from my professor and fellow students than other assignments and was grounded in an actual community-based need.

This business plan was eventually used in my community to help establish a community-based pilot project to train potential trades apprentices.  As a direct result of this pilot project, I was offered two new employment opportunities, which helped steer my career in a new direction.

I feel this particular project is representative of my whole Masters program on a smaller scale.  I discovered many things about myself as a learner, as well as this unfamiliar topic.  Regarding the business of distance education, I learned all aspects of creating a business plan, as well as how to apply theory in practice through the development of our community-based project.  I also learned that I can survive large-scale projects, but I at times I need to lean on others for help.

Learning #1: How to persevere through a large-scale project

My previous understanding of the business of distance education was very simplistic: a need was identified, key people worked on the project, and they somehow developed a distance education program!  I had no problem identifying a need in my own community (1.1), but the process required to bring a project to fruition was relatively foreign to me.  I had to carefully think through my ideas and identify all areas of consideration when starting a business (1.2), such as infrastructure, financials, and staffing (6.4).  I had no previous experience writing a business proposal and struggled with some of the terms used along with their application. 

The course was laid out in a linear, scaffolded way to support learners like me with little experience in business. The step-by-step process I followed to complete the assignment was difficult and tedious at times.  When I received my assignments back for resubmission more than once I began to find the whole course an exercise in perseverance. 

My instructor was supportive in providing feedback and allowing me to resubmit my assignment.  I had never been asked to resubmit anything before and fought with feeling inadequate.   I briefly considered not resubmitting the assignment, but I took some time to gain perspective and realized that a resubmission is a normal process followed in business, and I shouldn’t take it personally.

I still feel my final submission was a bit stiff and lacked the mastery I would have liked, but I am glad I put in the additional effort to create a business plan I was (relatively) happy to put my name on.

Learning #2: The best learning and support comes from my peers

A main reason for my decision to resubmit was the continued support and encouragement of fellow students throughout the process (3.1, 4.4).  Some of my peers came from business backgrounds or had experience in the business side of education.  Though we were not required to post in the forum each week, I took full advantage and did so.  Through the forum interactions, I found support from my peers for both developing my concept plan and building my skills in the process.  In this course, the forum was essential for my persistence in the course.  Interestingly, I was happy to return the favour in MDDE 602, where I was able to help a couple of students who had some difficulty with the quantitative research topic.  This was the first time in my program where I really felt like part of a learning community and that I wasn’t alone in my Masters journey.

Learning #3: How to integrate theory and practice in real-life 

Though my plan was used as a starting point to develop a community-based program, it was relatively unsophisticated when compared to how our actual plan was developed. If I could redo my plan, I would reconsider some of my suggestions for community stakeholders, lofty financial goals, and ambitious timelines.

To complete this assignment, some of my research involved communicating with individuals (1.4) closely tied to both the Mennonite community and adult learning opportunities in the area.  While I identified most of the stakeholders needed for the actual project, how we brought everyone to the table to gauge interest and commitment levels was something I had not considered.  I also hadn’t considered all stakeholder perspectives, which would have led me to a couple of other individuals in the community with valuable opinions on the project.

Some aspects of my plan were unrealistic when applied in our community.  My original business plan involved a mobile-based online training program, but this would have taken too long to develop and was outside our budget.  Again, this was planned naively before I had any first-hand experience in the development of online training.  I had also not carefully considered the simplest solutions for my audience.  After discussions with community members and project stakeholders, we decided to begin with face-to-face night classes, and build future supports as needed (6.3).  While I was excited by the allure of online training, the best option for this community was using simple, traditional means of learning.

My business plan showed a six-month development window for each course, but I did not anticipate the amount of time it takes to bring a large group to consensus, let alone develop, test, and implement distance education products.  Looking back, I realize this was an ambitious timeline.  We were only able to pull this off in real-life by using pre-built materials offered by our partner college in Edmonton and enlisting the support of our local school for classroom space (6.5).  If we had to build our own materials and source a private teaching space, our costs and timeline would have been greatly extended (6.2). 

It is still hard to believe that I helped start this little project that could positively impact the lives of many people in my own community.  I was amazed to see how I took the theory learned in my course and applied it to start this program in real life.