5.2 Resources as Limitations and Opportunities
Throughout descriptions of successful courseware projects there were a series
of factors that were revisited periodically. These factors were four key types
of resources that appeared to impact the successful completion and longevity of
courseware, and corresponded to the major contexts which were explored.
The four types were:
- information and content organization (educational);
- hardware, software, and classroom facilities (technical);
- human (organizational) and
- financial (also organizational).
Each of these areas of resources presented limitations. Acquisition of resources
is an important event that happened early in the project sometime between
conceptualization and creation. The faculty member who conceptualized the
courseware also provided for the acquisition of the informational, technical,
human and financial resources required to initiate the project. The essence of
the initiation of courseware was when circumstances converged such that a faculty
member with an appropriate "vision" happened upon an opportunity to express it
within courseware through a convergence of circumstances in which the either
financial, technical or human resources were available. The "concept" existed
prior to the conceputalization of courseware. What was missing from the
conceptualization was not the concept, but the resources. Opportunities for
resource acquisition presented faculty with a chance to pursue the expression
of their previously existing educational goals. The role of resources during
conceptualization was not as much "that which was acquired" as much as
"that which ignited". After conceptualization, resources influenced the
likelihood of courseware moving from conceptualization to courseware used
by students on a regular basis, as well as how long the courseware project
continued to be used once it was created.