6.1 Relationships Among Contexts of Advanced Courseware Projects
The history of computers in educational settings can be framed in terms of
the three major contexts inherent in the nature of "educational computing projects".
These three areas are educational, technical and organizational.
The goal of successful courseware projects was the continuation and expansion of rich
learning environments. This was achieved by striving to maintain a balance among
a wide variety of educational, technical and organizational factors.
The table below provides an overview of the issues which needed to be considered.
Corresponding Educational, Technical and Organizational Issues
A model of some key relationships among factors was constructed by triangulating
between data obtained through interviews and extensive historical analysis of documents.
The model shown below describes the relationships between decisions about educational
goals, technical characteristics, and organizational structures. The arrows depict
the general order in which the concerns occurred during the projects.
Model of Relationships Among Contexts of Courseware Projects
In the future, courseware projects will be more likely to be successful if they follow the example of the projects in this study. They should attend to the various concerns in all contexts in order to support the continuation of rich learning environments in which all factors are balanced simultaneously. This model provided the basis for suggestions about the ways in which future projects may benefit from the experiences of the projects reviewed in this study.