Creating Your Project Timeline

Preparing for Construction Season

Trail architects do not begin construction without a plan for time, labor, and sequencing. Even the best-designed route requires coordinated effort to bring it to life. Construction happens in phases, materials must be gathered in advance, and certain sections must be completed before others can begin. A clear build schedule keeps the work moving steadily and prevents delays that can stall the entire project.

Designing your OER is only the first step. Bringing it to life requires intentional pacing, task delegation, and realistic deadlines. A thoughtful project timeline transforms your mapped route into a completed trail

Even the best-designed trail fails without a realistic construction plan.

Why This Matters

OER development involves many moving pieces, including drafting, remixing, accessibility review, interactivity building, attribution checks, peer feedback, and revision. Without a structured timeline, important tasks can easily be postponed or underestimated. A clear schedule supports accountability and helps teams coordinate their efforts so that each section is completed in time for launch. Planning the build ensures that your thoughtfully designed route becomes a finished resource that learners can use with confidence.

Scheduling the Trail Build

Congratulations. You have designed your OER from course outcomes to objectives to assessments and content. You now have a complete route plan. Before construction begins, you need a build schedule. A clear timeline transforms your design into coordinated action and ensures the trail is completed on time.

This chapter will guide you in creating two levels of timeline planning: one for your assigned sections or individual work, and one for the overall OER project, whether you are building alone or with collaborators.

Chapter-Level Progress Tracker: Building Your Trail Segments

Whether you are working independently or contributing to a team, each section of the OER requires its own construction plan. Even if development does not begin immediately, now – while the plan is mapped out in front of you – is the time to schedule the work required to complete those pieces.

For each chapter or section, you’ll first need to determine:

• What content must be drafted or remixed?
• Which interactives need to be created and placed in the OER?
• What existing materials require adaptation?
• What training or technical development time is needed?
• Who is responsible for each task, if working in a team?
• When each task will be completed?

Once you have answers to the above questions, you can schedule a Due Date on your timeline for when the chapter or section drafts will be complete. If you are working independently, this timeline serves as your personal action plan. If you are working with a team, it becomes a shared communication tool that clarifies responsibility and progress.

Full OER Project Timeline: Coordinating the Entire Trail System

Drafting chapters is only one part of creating a cohesive, quality OER. A project plan for the overall resource ensures nothing falls through the cracks, covering not just chapter- or section-level timelines but a build, meeting, review, and publishing schedule for the OER as a whole. For individual creators, this keeps the pace steady from draft to implementation; for teams, it keeps contributors coordinated and aligned.

On your Project Timeline, schedule:

• Draft completion dates for all chapters
• Content review periods
• Accessibility checks
• Editing and formatting
• Peer review, if applicable
• Implementation in course for pilot testing
• Publication to repository

If working with collaborators, also schedule regular check-ins to report progress, clarify questions, and confirm shared deadlines.

Determine:

• Who selects and finalizes the numbering of images, figures, and videos?
• Who verifies licensing and attribution?
• Who ensures accessibility requirements are met?
• Who prepares front matter, acknowledgments, appendices, and style adherence?

Before publishing and promoting your OER, plan time to implement it in your course. Piloting allows you to gather student feedback and make revisions before wider dissemination. A clear project timeline reduces uncertainty, supports accountability, and ensures your thoughtfully designed trail becomes a finished resource ready for learners.

Your Turn: Create Your Project Timeline

In this activity, you will schedule deadlines for completion of each of your chapters or sections and then set some deadlines for your overall OER.

Chapter-Level Progress Tracker

Returning to your Map, find the Chapter-Level Progress Tracker columns.

Step 1. Set a Due Date for each chapter or section. This is the date when the draft of the chapter is due.

Step 2. The Status column is used to communicate and track the progress of the chapter or section being drafted. Authors should update the status using the drop-down menu as their work progresses.

Step 3. Use the Notes column to leave comments or questions about the chapter or section draft for yourself or your collaborators.

Project-Level Timeline

Use the OER Project Timeline Template [Website] (or a project management tool of your choice) to schedule key deadlines, team meetings, and reviews for your OER development and implementation plan.

Step 1. Organize your project timeline by time: months, quarters, semesters, etc. [Column A]

Step 2. Set the Key Milestones you plan to reach within each timeframe. [Column F]

Some milestone examples might include:

• Design and map OER plan
• Draft Chapters 10-15
• Review OER
• Pilot OER in courses
• Implement full OER
• Promote OER

Step 3. List meetings, pieces of the OER you plan to work on, and reviews that fall under each key milestone in the Deliverables/Events column [Column C].

Step 4. Set a date by which each deliverable or event should be completed in the Due Date column [Column B]. Due Dates for your OER’s chapters and sections should coincide with the Due Dates from your Chapter-Level Progress Tracker.

Step 5. Track and communicate the progress of your overall project by choosing the appropriate drop-down menu from the Progress Tracker column [Column E]. 

You have now created a clear construction plan for building your OER. Each contributor, whether working independently or as part of a team, should know what needs to be built and by when. Clear responsibilities and realistic deadlines make steady progress possible and help maintain accountability throughout the process. Keep in mind that this is a plan, and you may need to make changes and alter your plan as unforeseen events pop up. However, having the whole plan visualized makes it much easier to make tweaks without starting from scratch. With your construction schedule in place, you are ready to move into the development phase and bring your learning trail to life.