User:Carina Bossu/Temp/Communication Plan.doc

Communication Plan

Purpose

A central purpose is to ensure that those interacting with this research project are reliably informed and engaged with issues concerning the scope of project activities, deliverables and their possible consequences. The strategy should ensure that messages, reports, communications tools and events are utilised and programmed into the operations of the project. It is expected that everyone involved within the project should act as an agent for dissemination and communication. It is hoped that this document assist project members in providing opportunities for engagement and communication.

Procedures

Communication carried out by the Research Team members:


 * Formal means of communication:
 * Monthly meetings via videoconference or telephone (establish on 14th Feb 2011)
 * Two face-to-face meeting per year (4 in total)
 * Updates via Google group to all team members
 * Minutes of the meetings
 * ALTC reports
 * Evaluation reports
 * WikiResearcher
 * Informal communication:
 * Emails and telephone calls amongst members

Communication carried out by the Reference Group members:


 * Formal communication:
 * A videoconference or telephone meeting every two month
 * Possibly one face-to-face meeting at the symposium
 * Minutes of the meetings
 * ALTC reports
 * Evaluation reports
 * WikiResearcher
 * Informal communication:
 * Emails and telephone calls amongst members

Tools


 * For the monthly videoconference meeting, the preferred tool will be Skype. The second option will be to use teleconference equipment, where team members will be provided with the telephone number to be called in.
 * The face-to-face meetings will be organised in advance by the research team. The first one will be held in Sydney on 14th February 2011 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.
 * Informal communication will require telephone calls and standard electronic mail.
 * WikiResearcher will the official website of the project and the place where the project updates and progress will be available for the team members and reference group.
 * Google group and Rss feed
 * Reports and minutes of the meetings will be developed in Word and made available on WikiResearcher

Stakeholder Identification

There is a diverse range of stakeholders that could be affected by this project, ether by project process or by project results.

The stakeholders directly affected by the project process are the project team members (please see page 2 for the description of the project team, including their roles and responsibilities).

The key group of stakeholders that will be potentially affected by the project results in the short term are:


 * University PVC(A)s and Associate Deans concerned with learning and teaching: The project will have a positive impact on social inclusion strategies through the use, re-use and distribution of content materials. By showcasing their educational materials by means of OERs, institutions can attract new students, increase the development of new learning materials, stimulate internal innovation and improvement of learning and teaching.
 * Decision-makers involved in developing institutional policies and strategies across the higher education sector in Australia: Provision of a useable, relevant and pragmatic protocol for the adoption, use and management of OERs based on national and international perspectives of current and potential users in relation to the effective use of OERs in higher education.


 * Government: Meet the current political agenda to expand access to learning for learners from all walks of life, promote life-long learning and widening participation in higher education through policy recommendations for HE institutions in Australia regarding the adoption, use and management of OERs.

In the long-term, the stakeholders that will be potentially affected by the project results will be:


 * Academic staff involved in the adoption and development of OERs in HE institutions.
 * Educational designers and other staff who are engaged in supporting the integration of OERs into learning and teaching practice.
 * Learners participating in distance and online learning programs or in any other formal, informal and non-formal learning activities.

Reporting

Within the Project Team

Monthly meetings with the research team will present the opportunity for team members to report to each other on the project activities and progress. Tied in with the monthly team meetings are the minutes of the meetings that will be available on WikiResearcher to all team members, reference group and the project evaluator for access and contributions.

Emails, RSS Feed and Google group can also be used by members as a way of keeping in contact and reporting to each other on project activities being undertaken.

Management Reporting

The official reports required by ALTC are:


 * 02/05/2011 – Progress Report
 * 01/11/2011 – Year 1 (Stage 1) Project Report
 * 01/05/2012 – Progress Report
 * 01/11/2012 – Final Report Narrative
 * 04/02/2013 – Final Financial Report

The project reports will be developed by the Project Manager with the assistance of the research team. The final report will also include the evaluation report.

Given that this is a project about OER, we have a strategic advantage in being able to use an open collaborative model for the design and development of the project and evaluation plan. The research reports, materials and outputs will be released under Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license. This will increase return on investment for the funders and participants. We will also use a wiki model for the planning, execution and dissemination of the findings through open access journals.

Communication Action Plan 

There are a number of engagement and communication methods required and available to the project team to deliver the key messages and disseminate progress on the project activities. With the Communication Strategy, there is a need to formulate an action plan that can be incorporated into the main project plan so that all engagement and communication tasks are allocated and actionable. The following table identifies the frequency, likely communication points and methods to the key stakeholders.

ONB = On a needs basis