Educational Exhibition Tour in London - Research Proposal Example

Management Summary This project is about a London tour for an educational Exhibition. The purpose of the programme is to conduct educational exhibitions at five different locations in London, in order to exhibit to Grade 6 students the growing career opportunities in the fields of Computing & Communication Technologies. Apart from an allocated budget the event can be got financed by many sponsors. The team dedicated for the project includes experts, who are, themselves, computer professionals. The package includes many interactive ventures, which can help the students attain self-development. The overall budget for this programme is £20,000. The project will start from 10th September 2007. The first exhibition is scheduled to be conducted on 1st October 2007 at Camden, the second on 4 October at Islington, the third on 8 October at Southward, the fourth on 12 October at Lewis ham & the fifth and final exhibition on 17 October at Greenwich. The project is scheduled to be wound up on 21 October 2007. Costs involved in the project are towards payment to staff; purchase of consumables, equipment, expenses towards contingencies and for other resources including advertising and publicity, transportation, food, hotel bills, etc. The details regarding the cost estimates are elaborated under the sub-heading “Cost & Resources of the Project.” The project is expected to meet its desired objective of creating the right approach and attitudes towards computer education among young people. The exhibitions are conducted in different locations situated in area of London. Thus, it can attract more students from different schools who could derive lasting benefits from it, as well as improve their co-curricular projects also. PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT Project Management is a strategic approach towards the vision, mission, and other relevant goals of business or any concern. “Projects should be led in such a way that survival, success and understanding are attained while meeting the schedule and budget as well as delivering the scope. Projects should add value along with adding profits to the organization. Project success also means that at the end, it results in a healthy team.” (Kesiraju and Ostroms 2004. p.84). Objectives of this Project: In this particular project I propose to deal with an educational exhibition tour to be conducted in London; and it focuses on the Careers in Computing and Communications Technology. The scope of the project covers students in the age group of 16 – 18 years, studying in the sixth forum. In recent days, computing and communications have become a powerful technology which has a wide scope because of its application in many fields. The career option in Information Technology (IT) and Computing areas is, nowadays, following an ‘open door’ policy, such that any body having wide range of knowledge and skills is offering a better career in this field. The main purpose of conducting an educational exhibition is to give a clear idea to students about the corridor, which they have to select to obtain a promising career in future. Communication technology which has a say in all human activities, provides a number of career opportunities like: 1. Advertising (i.e. about publicity and promotion). This career includes positions such as accounts executives, media manager, copywriters, etc. 2. Journalism which covers collecting various relevant information and presenting it to the public in an interesting and informative manner. 3. Electronic and mass media. This, again, provides an assortment of career opportunities. Nowadays, communication is treated as an intellectual discipline, and the impact of communications varies from organisation to organisation, as well as from educational institutions to educational institutions, in accordance with their standard and level of education. “Post-secondary education in communication is offered at technical schools, community colleges, colleges, and universities. Cost and programme content are usually the most important factors involved in choosing a school for undergraduate studies.” (Pathways to Careers in Communication. 1914). However, at graduation level, the students belonging to communication technology fields are eager, especially in making inquiries about a relevant topic. Communications and writing skills are the key factors for a career in Computing and Communication Technology. The massive growth in computers and IT fields has modernised the functioning styles of many business enterprises, besides improving the lifestyles of ordinary human beings immensely. The course of BIS (Bachelor of Information System) highly concentrates on planning, improving and providing solutions to industrial problems and the usage of information technology for corporate benefits. “Using a variety of industry standard tools and applications through out the programme, students will complement their knowledge with the practical experience and skills that employers are increasingly seeking from graduates.” (Bradley p.15). While conducting a project with relation to the tour of educational exhibitions, it is essential to take the relevant stakeholders into consideration. Different types of stakeholders make discrete contributions to the project, and stakeholders would include sponsors, producers, technical and financial consultants, consumers, and other influencers. Among these, producers are playing the key role, and they are considered as the project panel or group. This group deals with business analysts, project managers, and other specialized professionals in research work. The project team itself determines the outlook of the proposed product. Business and technical producers should determine the total budget cost of the project. In this case under study, the proposed exhibition’s overall budget is £20,000, which is sufficient to cover all aspects of the project work over the span of its duration. The second important role undertaking among the stakeholders is that of its consumers. They are the end users of the product and the reliance of the final product should be in the hands of customers. However, at the same time, sponsors of the project are those people with sufficient managerial capabilities. Further, the stakeholders become more significant while setting the objectives of the project, as well as at the time of analyzing the risk factors. The stakeholders should also have a clear idea about the overall plans and procedures involves in the project. An effective and positive stake-holding system is essential for developing a successful project. For being party to the project, the stakeholders should make an agreement with respect to their assistance towards the successful completion of the proposed project. The stakeholders should be differentiated as internal and external. The critical success factors in respect of a particular project embody the following: 1. Total cost of the project should not exceed the set budget. 2. The project should completed/conducted within the stipulated time period. 3. The proposed number of relevant problems or defects should specifically be identifiable. In this particular project work, producers are persons from IT fields, software professionals etc; consumers are the beneficiaries, i.e. students. Technical and financial consultants are the personnel providing technical and financial accounting work related to the computing and communications technology field, and finally, the sponsors are offering suitable venues and other relevant financial and non-financial assistance for the exhibition. The main aim of a project manager is to identify and to be conscious of the relevant problems, and providing necessary support in handling the project issues, which will become the key impact of a successful project. Project works are widely applicable in the areas of retail banking, insurance sectors, education, health, research, and development etc. The major reason resulting in the project failures are: 1. Lack of proper planning and business cases. 2. Improper communication and lack of interaction at different levels. 3. Over loading of work with an absence of application of principles of division of labour and work delegation. 4. High rate of aggregate labour turnover. It is very essential to take into consideration the SMART objectives, which are relevant to the proposed project. These include being: ‘Specific’, ‘Measurable’, ‘Achievable’, ‘Relevant’, and ‘Timely’. Among these, the most significant concepts are ‘Specific’ and ‘Achievable’. It is very important that the objectives of the project should be specific and these should be achievable within the time frame. Moreover, the relevant STEEP factors also assume special significance. “STEEP (Solutions To Environmental and Economic Problems) is an innovative interdisciplinary research/education programme that focuses on developing profitable cropping systems technologies for controlling cropland soil erosion and protecting environmental quality.” (Pacific Northwest Conservation Tillage Systems Information Source). Similarly, it is crucial to undertake a SWOT Analysis, and evaluate among strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; the dominant factors which influence the project. Opportunity is a relevant concept under a touring exhibition. This is because, while conducting the exhibitions related to the educational tour in London, in the context of a theme of the project as careers in computing and communications technology, the resultant seminars, workshops and exhibition programmes would generate a lot of employment and learning opportunities in the IT sector in the city of London and its neighbouring districts and suburbs. Careers in computing Computing and computer related professional areas provide the present generation with a wide array of attractive opportunities. Careers in computing involve mastering the use of multivariate tools and activities, which are now being done with the aid of computers. There is no doubt that computers are presently being used in almost all conceivable working activities. As such, describing all the job opportunities available in this sector would be a tedious activity. Therefore, a clear look is being undertaken here at some of the best opportunities. These core career areas would form the major focus point for our exhibition: Computer animators Computer programmers Web developers Security professionals To derive a clear picture of the opportunities I will examine the above professional courses in detail: Computer animator Students of the present generation do not need an introduction to animation techniques. They are very much aware about their favourite comic book heroes and cartoon characters who come alive on the screen because of the animation techniques. This is a demanding field where the expertise of the animators is tapped and put into effective use. The overall demand for professionals required in this field is still not fully met, as this profession is yet to receive full attention from aspiring students. Computer animation involves giving life to still images so that the images show all natural behaviours of the living beings. This is done with the aid of different software meant for that purpose. It makes an image fit into a particular video where it is not actually present. This is how animals are found dancing with our favourite heroes in the movies. Students who intent to take up animation as a career should posses excellent drawing skills. They should have the ability to visualize things and they also require good level of creativity. The employers generally look for candidates who have completed relevant courses in graphic art and multimedia. The incumbents are awarded very attractive salary packages in this sector. The beginners in computer animation are paid around £20000-30000 per annum. An experienced person can expect earn up to £50000 per annum. In large metropolitan cities, the pay scales are even higher. Some of the courses offered in animation are: Three Year Bachelor of Arts Degree in Multimedia Design- Curtin University Three Year Bachelor of Communications Degree in Multimedia Technologies- Edith Cowan University Details of these courses can be obtained from the websites of the respective universities. There are various other certificate or diploma courses offered by various private institutes. Computer Programmer A computer programmer is the master brain behind all the activities involved in computing. The task of computer programmer begins from writing the programme, following up the other activities such as updating and maintaining the programme. The programmer creates programmes as per instructions of system analysts. A system analyst decides what task a computer should perform. The programmer is to design software in order to make computers capable of performing designated tasks. The purpose of computing varies according to specialised organisational needs. While an hospital may use systems for maintaining and archiving the records of their patients, a business organisation may require computer systems for maintaining their accounts. Likewise, the professionals in this field have plenty of employment opportunities. A programmer has two general areas of specializations. First is in the applications where the purpose is to design software meant to perform a specific task. Second is in systems where the purpose is to design software that controls the operation of application software. The salary package ranging from $19, 700 to $58,000 per annum is generally offered for programmers. Usually, system programmers earn more salary than application programmers Web developer Internet has been a very intricate concept during the early stages of its introduction. The general public was ignorant about the use of internet and its operation. As time passed, drastic changes have occurred in this area. It has now reached such a stage where the information on any matter can be accessed within seconds through internet surfing. The information becomes available on the internet through various websites and different publications hosted on internet. The URL addresses associated with the information render access easier. The duty of the web designer is to design and administer websites. A web designer can grab opportunities of designing individual websites for business concerns, educational institutions, hospitals, government, etc. Web developers also design applications for companies for dealing with online customers. A web developer needs to have expert knowledge and experience in hardware, software and other aspects related to computer systems. Knowledge about programming languages and techniques is necessary. They should be willing to take up multiple assignments at one time. A very good salary package is offered to web designers, according to industry standards. Security professional Security professionals have high demand at present as cyber crimes are increasing. The duty of a security professional is to design and implement security measures to maintain secrecy of the data embedded on a system. These professionals are of great demand in the areas where a high level of secrecy is required. The security professional needs to have a very good foresight about the various challenges that can come up. A security professional must be able to develop software, which can detect and destroy the viruses that may affect the computer system. The security professionals work independently, or lead a team. Security professionals, for the complexity and significance of the work done, are highly remunerated. Risks As in the case of any venture, when evaluating a project one should always consider the risks involved in it. A possible risk that can occur is breakdown of the transport, which will cost heavily on the whole process, especially when it occurs during the implementation stage. Breakdown of transport can occur due to any of the following reasons. Break down of the vehicle (technical problem or accident) Traffic problems Bad weather Break down of the vehicle can happen due to some technical problems or due to the vehicle meeting with an accident. In such a case, a new vehicle can be hired from that point so that the intended location can be reached without wasting time. Traffic problems are common. The traffic problems make the team wait in the heavy traffic for long. The best way to deal with it is to start early so that the cities can be passed before the onset of heavy traffic. Bad weather is more often unpredictable. But the probability of its happening is much less. Due to Heavy rainfalls, the vehicle may need to move slowly. Starting the journey according to the weather reports will help to solve this problem The Team Since the success of every event is the expertise, contribution, co-ordination, & co-operation of the total team. The exhibition is being conducted on the topic “Careers in computing and communication technologies.” The team must include different persons who possess expertise in the specific area to deal with different activities. Considering the wide scope of the event, the following persons are included in the team. Computer professionals Sponsors Technicians Financial consultants Students The requirement & relevance of the above team is discussed in detail, as follows: Computer professionals We have seen that the topic for the event is career opportunities in computing and communication technologies. Therefore, the requirement of an expert from computer field is indispensable. It may be professors from any reputed technical institute or any professional working in the respective industry. Sponsors Implementation of the project requires additional funds without pitting more burden on the existing resources. Part of it can be collected from interested sponsors who will also benefit from the advertisement they receive. Since the consumers, the beneficiaries, or the crowd that is expected are students, computer educational institutions etc can be invited for funding the project. Software companies can also be invited for this purpose, as they would stand to benefit from the exposure to their products. Technicians The exhibition involves usage of many electronic gadgets and equipment such as microphones, projectors, computer, sound systems, etc. Therefore, technicians are required for installation and running of such items. Financial consultants The funds also have to be received by way of selling tickets and are to be managed effectively. To do this a financial consultant needs to be employed so that funds could be managed effectively and efficiently. Students Students are the end users and beneficiaries of the project. They do not belong to the initial team. They are seen at the venue of the exhibitions. They attend the session on payment of the ticket fee. Though they do not belong to the initial team, they complete the purpose of the project. Cost and Resources of the project- For conducting a project work related to the exhibition of educational tour in London, it is necessary that, first of all, a budget costing is done. In this project, it is assumed that an over all budget of £20,000 should suffice to meet relevant expenditure. Huge amount of expenditure would be incurred from the stage of installation of the said project until the completion of the exhibition, and such expenses are in the nature of cost and resources so required for conducting the project. There are many areas in which the expenses could be incurred, such as costs in nature of payment made to staff members, material or equipment cost, transportation costs, cost of consumables and contingencies, and other resources, which are miscellaneous in nature. The contingent costs are like provisions, the occurrence of which may or may not occur. The total expenditure based on the aforesaid categories, should not exceed the budgeted estimates of £20,000. Budgeted Expenditure of Costs and Resources of the Exhibition Cost and Resource items (Expenditure) Total proposed cost (should not exceed budget cost of £20,000.) ( £) Payment to staffs. £2,500 Material costs/equipment. £5,000 Consumables. £1,500 Transportation Costs. £6,500 Contingencies. £3,000 Other resources. £1,500 It is very important that the actual amount of expenditure so incurred in respect of the exhibition, should be within the target or budget so set by the project. Otherwise the goals so preset by the project manager will be rendered ineffective. The expenses of staff payment means, providing remuneration to those who are undertaking the supervisory role of the exhibition, especially related to the IT sector. The expenditure in the nature of equipment and consumables is indicative of the use and repairs etc. of the computer accessories. Similarly, the expenses in the form of other resources include certain repairs and maintenance charges and other relevant fee paid to IT technicians. As far as this exhibition is considered, the major source of income of the project should be from initial contributions. The initial contribution or setting up cost of the project is mostly available from either by the contribution of sponsors, or from borrowings. With the help of this seed money, the process of the project or exhibition is going to be undertaken. The concept behind the exhibition is an educational tour relating to the project of careers in computing and communications technology, but the result will create lot of educational opportunities in respect of career guidance and a reasonable margin of profit attainment in future. Work packages and Activities: “The core of expertise offered by staff currently includes a range of flexible skills such as research, collection knowledge, content development, Project and production management, and marketing, as well as specialist expertise to effectively deliver a range of programmes.” (Response to AFC Programmes Review Internal Discussion Paper. General Comments, P.1). In this project, the prime focus is given to the theme of the exhibition that is to identify the available careers in computing and communication technology. The gracious education package comes in the form of a user friendly CDs, proper explanation about the arts, charts, graphs, pictures and other images, curriculum linked activities, and other worksheet matters, which are also beneficial in this regard. In order to avoid the difficulties in conducting the exhibition and project work, there should be a well-settled time plan. (Wills 2003. P.2). Monitoring and Timing of the Project: Monitoring means to make an inspection of a particular situation, which will occur only after a shorter period. The system of monitoring is suitable in an education programme also, which is relevant for controlling the entire function. In this particular project of educational exhibition tour going to be conducted in London; and the show will be held in five important venues in London which are, Camden, Islington, Southward, Lewis ham, and Greenwich. The proposed project is going to start from London, and it will occur on 10th of September 2007. As per the plan layout of the project work, the first exhibition is going to be conducted within a period of four months from the date of starting up of the project work; it means that the first exhibition will be held between the period of 10th of September 2007 and 9th of January 2008. Moreover, it is also important that the tour of exhibition will close within a period of three weeks from the date of first exhibition. Therefore, the first exhibition is going to be held in Camden on October 1st Monday, and the tour will close on October 21st Sunday. The following TABLE indicates about the Schedule of Exhibition: - VENUE. Date of Setup. Date of Exhibition. Date of Winding up. Camden (1st exhibition) Sunday, September 30th. Monday, October 1st. Tuesday, October 2nd. Islington (2nd exhibition) Wednesday, October 3rd. Thursday, October 4th. Friday, October 5th. Southward (3rd exhibition) Sunday, October 7th. Monday, October 8th. Tuesday, October 9th. Lewisham (4th exhibition) Thursday, October 11th. Friday, October 12th. Saturday, October 13th. Greenwich (5th exhibition) Tuesday, October 16th. Wednesday, October 17th. Thursday, October 18th. Therefore, within 21st of October, Sunday, the exhibition as well as the tour will be over. The major theme of the project is to conduct the tour of educational exhibition, in respect of careers in computing and communications technology. Main flow of the project is summarised in the following manner: 1. Project and its programme management. 2. Approach towards the theme of the proposed project work. 3. Development of the programme management in different sectors, such as finance, transportation, mass media and other relevant sectors. 4. Developing professional competency for the project work. 5. Management of high technology programmes and projects, such as IT and Telecommunication. (First Announcement, International Symposium, Project Management: State, Society, Business, Symposium Main Streams and Topics 2007). The main purpose of conducting this project is to widely publicize the theme of the project to more students, for allowing them to get relevant ideas about their future career plans related to the area of computing and communications technology. It is essential to plan and organize the learning outcome of a project. “For each activity within the programme evaluate and review its impact and success in terms of how well students achieved the intended learning outcomes.” (Professionals, Planning and Organizing, Step Three- Evaluate and Review). Conclusion: The project is a touring exhibition to different locations in London. This is an education-oriented project. The core activity in the tour is exhibition, which is to be conducted at five different locations in London. The main activity in the exhibition is the orientation class by experts on the topic “Careers in Computing and Communication Technologies”. The expected crowd for the exhibition are the students of sixth form. So this orientation would help them to plan their future careers in the field of computer technology. This exhibition also focuses on self -development of the students through many interactive sessions. The project commences on 10 September 2007 and is scheduled to end on 21 October 2007. The fund allotted is £20000. The cost estimates show that the provided fund is allotted to different cost centres very effectively. Since the cost estimation has been done on conservative lines, the actual expenditure will not exceed £18000. Thus, this proposal will benefit by saving £2000 of the budgeted costs. But it is expected that this exhibition would have far-reaching and beneficial implications to the young students, whose tender minds could be moulded towards orienting them towards the advantages and benefits of computer technology. Through practical demonstrations, workshops and video playbacks, a lot of useful literature on the latest aspects of computer would be dispensed to the students and this would be an excellent opportunity for them to upgrade and develop their young minds towards the use of computer technology for better academic performance and inculcating a wider understanding of the world around them. There are many areas in computer where young minds need to improve their knowledge and skill sets and this series of exhibitions would help in expanding the horizons of their thinking and learning skills acquired in schools. Works Cited BRADLEY, Denise AO. Computing and Information Technology. UniSA. [online]. Last accessed 10 August 2007 at: http://www.unisa.edu.au/study/progcourses/undgradpdf/computing.pdf First Announcement, International Symposium, Project Management: State, Society, Business, Symposium Main Streams and Topics. (2007). [online]. Last accessed 11 August 2007 at: http://www.animp.it/downloads/IPMA-moscow/Announcement%20PM%20.doc KESIRAJU, Krishnaphani and OSTROMS, Philip G (2004). Project Management Strategic Perspectives. Section2-Project Stakeholders, Project Survival, Success and Sanity. p. 84. Pacific Northwest Conservation Tillage Systems Information Source. Oregon State University. [online]. Last accessed 10 August 2007 at: http://pnwsteep.wsu.edu/ Pathways to Careers in Communication. (1914). National Communication Association. [online]. Last accessed 10 August 2007 at: http://www.natcom.org/pubs/books/pathways/5thed.htm Professionals, Planning and Organizing, Step Three- Evaluate and Review. Careers Wales.com. [online]. Last accessed 11 August 2007 at: https://www.careerswales.com/professionals/planorganise.asp Response to AFC Programmes Review Internal Discussion Paper. General Comments. Public Programmes Branch. [online]. Last accessed 10 August 2007 at: http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:IB6b_eO7q-QJ:www.afc.gov.au/downloads/ssa_public_programmes.pdf+Work+packages+and+activities+of+the+educational+tour+exhibition+project&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=in TEK Systems- A Leader in Technology Execution, and IT Communications Staffing Services. (2006). TEK Systems. [online]. Last accessed 11 August 2007 at: http://www.teksystems.ca/About-TEKsystems/Default.aspx WILLS, David. (2003). Hatched for Schools. Australian National University. [online]. Last accessed 10 August 2007 at: http://www.pica.org.au/art04/04-img/hatched04-img/hatched-ed.pdf APPENDIX 1 Gantt chart showing the schedule of exhibitions ACTIVITY Sep Oct 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Setup C * Exhibit C * Wind up C * Setup I * Exhibit I * Wind up I * Setup S * Exhibit S * Wind up S * Set up L * Exhibit L * Wind up L * Set up G * Exhibit G * Wind up G * APPENDIX 2 Gantt chart showing the budgeted expenses incurred on different dates Sep Oct ACTIVITY Total 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Payment to staff £2500 £1250 £1250 Equipments £5000 £1500 £3500 Consumables £1500 £1500 £4500 Transportation £6500 £2000 Contingencies £3000 £600 £600 £600 £1200 Other resources £1500 £1500 Total £20000 5600 600 600 1250 1200 10750 Read More