Are eCornell classes hard?

I have completed 5 out of the 6 online classes required to earn a Certificate in Project Leadership from Cornell University’s College of Engineering.

My completed classes are:

Introduction to Project Leadership
Project Teams: Mining Collective Intelligence
Dealing with Difference
Earned Value Management
Influence Without Authority


Introduction to Project Leadership was the first class I took. I became familiar with the eCornell online learning environment. I "met" my instructor for several of the classes, Bob Emborski, as well as several students that I would see in later classes.

The course itself contained a lot of information. The main challenge was to learn as much as I could in the two week time frame of the class.

Thoughts on my First Week of Intro to Project Leadership http://myecornellexperience.blogspot.com/2010/04/introduction-to-project-leadership.html

Review of Intro to Project Leadership Class - http://myecornellexperience.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-of-ecornell-class-introduction.html

Project Teams: Mining Collective Intelligence was the most time consuming class for me, because of my need to interact with other students to complete a joint assignment. My frustration with this assignment was a valuable life lesson.

Resources we used in the class - http://myecornellexperience.blogspot.com/2010/05/resources-used-to-develop-ecornells.html

Final Thoughts on Mining Collective Intelligence - http://myecornellexperience.blogspot.com/2010/05/final-thoughts-on-ecornell-class.html

Dealing with Difference class provided information about cultural and personality differences. The assignments were time consuming but very educational. I spent a lot of time doing supplemental reading because the idea of being able to understand the personalities and cultural backgrounds of team members and use that information to build a more effective team is very interesting to me.

Thoughts about what I learned from my Dealing with Difference class - http://myecornellexperience.blogspot.com/2010/06/ecornell-project-leadership-class-how.html

The Earned Value Management class focused first on project control systems and then on employee motivation. The project control systems module introduced me to mathematical formulas for evaluating the progress of projects. The employee motivation portion was comprehensive and introduced a lot of new ideas and theories.

Review of Earned Value Management class - http://myecornellexperience.blogspot.com/2010/06/ecornell-project-leadership-class.html

The Influence Without Authority class was another course with a multiple part assignment, which took time but provided the opportunity for me to evaluate and use the ideas the course taught in a real world situation.

First thoughts on my Influence Without Authority class - http://myecornellexperience.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-influence-without-authority.html

I agree with eCornell's recommendation that students spend an hour a day on classwork. I was unfamiliar with the specifics of many of the theories presented in the classes, so I found the coursework challenging. My instructors were available via email to answer any questions I had and provide guidance and recommendations for supplemental reading. The majority of the classes have multiple part written assignments and group discussions. I highly recommend devoting an hour a day to each class, and not waiting until week two to start participating in the class.

I have found the classes very valuable, and well worth the tuition. I have already used the Eighteen Management Competencies handout to improve my resume, and utilized several of the theories and tools presented in the other classes to educate my colleagues and become a more effective manager.

Additional Tips:

Two Tips to get the most out of Project Leadership Classes: http://myecornellexperience.blogspot.com/2010/04/two-tips-to-get-most-out-of-cornell.html

Study Tip - How to keep track of online class coursework - http://myecornellexperience.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-study-for-ecornell-project.html

Thank you for your time! If you have any questions about my experience with the eCornell Project Leadership classes, please email me at lisson@gmail.com