3.1 Educational Goals
The first focus of attention within these endeavors was upon the educational goals and
objectives which are set down for the project. Each project in this study emphasized one
or more predominating discipline oriented themes through their goals. Flowing from these
were attempts to employ various forms of computer based representations to improve what
would normally be done in a traditional academic situations. Participants from successful
courseware projects appeared to maintain a focus on their educational goals and made conscious
efforts to employ technology in appropriate ways to meet goals which were not easily met through
more traditional means.
The most apparent commonality across projects choice of goals was a concern for the match
between the type of software and the way in which it would be used. The leaders of the
projects were very careful to be sure that in their enthusiasm for the technology,
they did not overlook the quality of the educational experience they provided,
and did not use technology where traditional methods would have sufficed equally well.