Microsoft Project 2007
Only one project running this week and for the rest of this year – Expression.
We were finally briefed about the requirements for this project.
It’s going to be a long ride I think!
The details supplied to us about this project were to create tutorial step-lists that show off a range of new features included with the new version of Microsoft Expression Suite. In this case I was following the Expression Web (xWeb) product.
This was an opportunity for me to learn a whole new software product. I was excited, yet to some extent, unknown as to what to expect, as generally, when someone picks up a new project or a software tool – there are always first impressions. My first impression was that xWeb was not bad but could be better. I still preferred my own ways of Web site development. However a complete suite of software with functions that are recognised within all the software packages is always a bonus!
This week, I also received my first official training course. This was in preparation for a course to be launched later in January (a massive one apparently!). The training course was about “How to Create Project” in Microsoft Project 2007. This course was more associated with Project Managers. However, this was a new role to be taken on board for the eLearning team, in the new year. A new solution was raised by Content Master to developing courses. It didn’t just rely on the Project Manager who is assigned that course – but more in particular to the eLearning individual (including me!)
So we had to learn the course in order to understand the workflow and how a course is resourced and put together over time, meeting what are called Milestones. We looked at how to use particular shortcuts, creating timeslots and managing who will be associated with what task. There were links numbers from each task too, so that when one task was complete, the next link would be active and ready to complete.
This also showed the number of days an individual was expected to complete that particular task. We also looked at the different levels of a task and how we can present the project as different views, e.g. Gant chart. We also learnt how to apply constraints to a project, but when necessary over-allocate time. At the end of this course we received a certificate detailing that I had successfully completed this course.