Brian Deyo's Professional Portfolio
Reflection for Standard 5 Interpersonal
5. Interpersonal - Interact effectively with others as peers, subordinates and leaders to accomplish goals.
Reflection on Interpersonal Work Product
At the time of this project, I was enrolled in EDTEC 572 with Dr. Wang. The class was divided into teams and my team decided to create a beginning level web-based PowerPoint class for elementary school teachers. Since most of the group members were fourth grade teachers, we chose to teach PowerPoint skills as we made a PowerPoint presentation around the California Gold Rush.
The EDTEC standard I am demonstrating with this project involves effective interaction with others as peers, subordinates and leaders to accomplish goals. As soon as we decided on our work product, the team members quickly determined whose skills would best apply at what stages of the project. One team member and myself were in charge of creating the lesson modules as well as work examples of the PowerPoint projects. Another team member had been a project manager so we felt that he could create the timelines and organize the workflow. The final member of our team was an expert with creating websites so we put her in charge of uploading our content into an easy-to-use website for elementary school teachers. The skill set of each team member complemented the other team members’ abilities to create a very successful team project experience. Everybody had confidence in the proficiency of the other team members as we progressed through the workflow. In the end, we completed our project in half the allotted time.
One problem that arose during this project was creating uniformity in the lesson format, the chosen screenshots, and the style of graphics. Since our team members worked on multiple computer platforms, we had to come together and delegate one person from the team to be responsible for quality control. One person became responsible for the lesson format. Another was in charge of the screen captures and still another handled the style of graphics. This delegation created an organic system of modularization within the team. I would create a lesson, receive the lesson format, and adjust my lesson to the uniform format. In the lesson, I would explain what screen capture I needed and have the person in charge of that aspect send me screenshots to add to my lesson document. During this experience, I learned to trust my teammates as they made decisions throughout the process. I also felt that they trusted me in my ability to make the right choices for the good of the project.
I feel that this work demonstrated my ability to work with other people in a team with a unifying goal. I showed my teammates that they can rely on me under pressure to come through with a quality solution. I also grew as a collaborator because I learned to have confidence in my teammates as we progress through the workflow of a project. This project was an example of my experience in modularized project management and collaboration. As the world becomes more interconnected and as team members collaborate with each other from all parts of the globe, I will draw on this experience to be an exemplary team player. Like my elementary school teachers wanted to say about me, “I work well with others.” This ability will help me complete many collaborative projects as I grow professionally in the world of educational technology.