6.4.2 Resources for Advanced Courseware
In the past, acquisition of resources were treated as a prerequisite to courseware
creation, rather than a continuous need. This research revealed that resources
were directly related to limitations experienced early in a project and continued
to play a major role for as long as the courseware continued to be delivered.
Educational computing initiatives can only thrive on a long term basis in
communities marked by the cohesion and cooperation required to support such complex,
interdisciplinary, and long term endeavors. The dilemma is trying to find ways both
inside and outside of traditional structures to overcome the inherent lack of an
existing support structure for courseware related activities.
The information and content expertise needed for courseware tended to be tied to
traditional departmental academic organizations. On the other hand, technical
resources and knowledge were associated with organizations whose primary mission
was centered around providing computing services or performing research related
to computing. A well established linkage between the source of academic knowledge
and a computing organization appear to be particularly important for these projects
because they employed the new distributed computing paradigm by which different
groups using the system needed to cooperate to maintain stable service. Finally,
providing for the continual availability of human and financial resources to support
courseware was a major challenge which drove courseware projects during both creation
and continuation.