The analysis of my project has really had me dig into some issues that I did not see arising when I sat down to discuss this idea initially. I started thinking it would be a simple online module design that would not really take much planning other than just how to disseminate the content and then how to check for understanding. That has become the easy part because of some of the training that was used before and some simple updating to the way it was being taught. The difficult part has become the plan on how the course will run. I have had to talk with the client, an Assistant Criminal District Attorney in a county in Texas, to see how they would like the program to run and to find out their goals. It turns out, they are wanting something that is a bit larger in the number of people that will be completing the training than initially expected. It could possibly be, after some testing with some of the more veteran officers, that is rolled out to the entire force. The issues are more widespread that initially though by my contact in the District Attorney’s office. If the design is right and the content and feedback loop work the way they should, this could be something that they like. Of course, it could also be something the officers have little time for and the entire design process and all the work is for a good idea but not one that is practical. I plan on taking the new information that I learned, that is included in the design document, and really trying to design something that will be time friendly to the learners, the police officers, but still get to the learning objectives set up by the client, the District Attorney’s Office and my Assistant Criminal District Attorney contact. This is something that they are interested in and if the everything works well, could be pitched to the County District Attorney at a future date to see if it is something that could be rolled out in training. Now that I know the scope of the project, it will help in my planning to create something where both parties get what they need in the most time respectful way. I have also learned some of the ways this training has been done in the past. It was always done in person with some technology assistance but nothing more than a digital presentation to aid in a lecture style training session. I believe that using some of the good information from those presentations and using a more engaging approach in an online format can only get more time back to the District Attorney’s office and attorneys but can also be more useful for the police officers that want to help in the prosecution of the cases they started. Many of the police officers want to help the prosecution but do not really understand the importance of their initial report and how much time they can save if done properly. The Assistant Criminal District Attorney that I am working with has said multiple times that the police officers are very helpful when contacted and want to see justice served in their cases but think that the contact after the report being processed is just part of the routine. They do not understand how much time that takes for the Assistant Criminal District Attorneys to contact the police officers to get additional information can add up when you look at the case load in many counties in Texas.
The revolution of information can change many of the training practices in my client’s office. They are still trying to transition from the paper age into a digital information age. They have some areas that are much more advanced than others. They have some systems that have gone digital for their research and some other things but their trainings are still very much stuck in the early 2000s when many were last written. They have not been updated because of the lack of time for the people that work in the office. It would be a project that is additional to their normal task list and no one has really had the time to take on such a task. It is a task that would be time and labor intensive to get originally set up but could change the way the office handles much of their continuing education and training they use to help the system run smoothly.
This project has taken on a new life with the information that I learned in the last week. This could be a big step for the way the office runs many of its trainings.
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