Abstract:

The Information Technology and System Management (ITS) department of the university of applied sciences of Salzburg imparts in its Pool2Bussines program (supported by the EU through the Lifelong Learning Programme-Leonardo da Vinci) a certification training in virtual project management (vPM).

Virtual Project Management (vPM)
For understanding vPM it is necessary to understand the basics of Project Management (PM). vPM could be understood as an enhancement or extension of PM, because it uses the new available telecommunication technologies. vPM is required when one company is not able to do the project by themselves, whatever the reasons may be. High skills are expected from the team members of a vPM and especially from the virtual project manager who has the huge task of planning, developing, controlling and finishing the vPM.

Meanwhile projects take place inside of the same company with workers of this company, vPM take place with workers which are not in the same company, maybe not even in the same country or continent. This leads to several interaction problems which could origin the failure of the virtual project if they are not properly managed. Our program pays special attention to all these critical issues. Our experienced trainers share their experience and knowledge with the learners in order to prepare them best as possible for any situation.

Our methodology
The learners will gain these high skills through our e-learning training. These courses are held as a blend of conventional online and collaborative training methods. High interactivity is expected from the certification learners. Typical situations will be analyzed and experienced in projects by using methods like brainstorming meetings leaded by one of our experts. The learners will take part in discussions which are meant to lead to the acquisition of new concepts, or maybe to improve or actualize concepts. Typical and specific situations will be depicted in these projects, where the learners will take actively part to get the feeling of the situation and realize the difficulties involved in virtual project management and how to deal with these difficulties. Concepts, processes, flow-charts are topics which will be discussed and worked out. This active role of the learners defining the new method of "virtual Interactive Learning" (vIL) has shown better results than just explain the cases in theory.

The learning methods allow high flexibility through the usage of online technology. This allows the learners to have their own rhythm and learning style. Specially prepared learning material will support the learners in their development as virtual project managers. POOL2Business (P2B) is based on self-directed knowledge acquisition and collaborative skills development.

Keywords:

Virtual Project Management, Project based Learning, virtual Interactive Learning (vIL).