communication:

Course
EDTEC 700 Engagement Seminar

Artifact: ICS training makeover paper

Project Description
During the Fall 2008 Semester, I took a one unit seminar on creating more engaging training. The deliverable for this course was to take an existing training and basically do a makeover on it, to make it more engaging and entertaining. I decided to work with my fellow Coast Guard classmate, Adam Birst, on overhauling the Coast Guard Incident Command System (ICS) training.
ICS, in simple terms, is an organizational system put in place during times of emergencies and natural disasters, such as when hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Originally used and created in California in the 1970s in an effort to better combat forest wildfires, it was an organizational structure that allowed emergency responders and various federal, state, and local agencies to organize into a single chain of command. At present, ICS is used anytime that there is an emergency that requires significant response.

EDTEC Standard
ICS is a shining example of the dimension of communication. As different agencies have their own terms, language, and practices, ICS allows for clear lines of communication. This created a system and structure that could handle any emergency more rapidly and efficiently.
Whenever working on a group project, communication is of the upmost importance. Adam and I went over the makeover in detail, and really analyzed the current training and how it could be made even better. We really had the opportunity to communicate to our classmates and “sell” our training makeover. To accomplish this, we created a PowerPoint and gave the presentation to our class. It was one of the more enjoyable presentations that I have been a part of in this program.

Problems or Opportunities
For me, the main problem was that I was not really an expert on ICS training, although I have taken the required courses during my Coast Guard career. However, Adam was an expert on ICS, as in the Coast Guard, the marine safety specialty personnel are the resident experts on ICS. As an operations afloat specialist, I am more of a responder, and during actual ICS operations, I have always gone where directed by my chain of command.
This makeover conducted with Adam really gave me the opportunity to better understand ICS, and communicating with him really helped solidify the structure in my mind.

My Capabilities
I have always put forth maximum effort when taking on projects, and this was no exception. I feel that because of my keen communication skills, we got this project done in short order. Also, I was able to share my perspectives with Adam from my field specialty, and draw on his knowledge from his.

Lessons Learned
During this course, I really learned a lot about how to make training more effective and engaging. While the material of your training may not be the most exciting to the audience, it is all about how the material is delivered and communicated to the people attending the training.
Also, I learned quite a lot about using PowerPoint when we were creating the presentation. I also learned how to used a great new plug-in for Microsoft PowerPoint called PowerPoint plex. This plug-in works with the newest version of PowerPoint, and allows for a normal presentation to be made more engaging to the audience.