1.3.4 The Organizational Contexts of Past Projects
The educational contexts of courseware, and the technical nature that follows from pedagogical commitments,
must influence attempts to use computers for educational purposes. It seems that no matter what goals
are chosen, and regardless of technical decisions made, widespread use of the computers for education is
relatively rare when compared to other sectors of society. Despite numerous pedagogically convincing
arguments, education has maintained its distance from a broad use of computers as a medium of instruction
across the curriculum . To understand this situation, it may be critical to go beyond the educational and
technical issues, to understand how social and economic factors can influence decisions, as well as be
influenced by educational or technical commitments. Issues to consider within the organizational contexts
of courseware development projects are who makes the software or courseware, what tasks they perform,
what processes or procedures are used to perform those tasks,
and what resources are needed.