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resources | hopper, 1993

How Educational Goals Made a Difference in Advanced Computing Projects
MARY E. HOPPER, Studio-E, Cambride, MA

[Submitted and Accepted Paper, HyperMedia '93, Ballstate, Muncie, IN]

This presentation will describe the results of a qualitative study designed to identify important themes and problems in educational projects that used advanced computing technology. The following are the four organizations that were studied:
 
The following projects, organizations and participants were the focus of this study:
 
Project: ESCAPE (HyperCard and HyperNews)
Organizations: Educational Research and Information Systems (ERIS, Purdue)
Participants: Hopper, Lawler, LeBold, Putnam, Rehwinkel, Tillotson, Ward
 
Project: TODOR (BLOX) & Mechanics 2.01 (cT, Athena)
Organizations: Athena and Academic Computing (AC, MIT)
Participants: Bucciarelli, Daly, Jackson, Lavin, Schmidt
 
Project: Physical Geology Tutor (AthenaMuse)
Organizations: Center for Educational Computing Initiatives (CECI, MIT)
Participants: Davis, Kinnicutt, Lerman, Schlusselberg
 
Project: Context32 (Intermedia, StorySpace)
Organizations: Institute for Research and Information Scholarship (IRIS, Brown)
Participants: Kahn, Landow, Yankelovich
 
[See the Switchboard for further information.]
 

 
Each of these organizations supported courseware projects that were at a point in their development where they could be analyzed with hindsight by their key participants. This study utilized these participant's recollections, observations, insights and hind sights from publications and interviews.
 
The first part of this presentation will explain the specific relationships that were found between three main areas of concern inherent in the nature of educational computing projects: educational goals, technology, and organizational structures. The findings of this study clearly show that educator's attempts to reach specific discipline or learner oriented goals afforded by new technology, consistently result in particular technical challenges, as well as unexpected challenges related to traditional organizational structures in educational institutions.
 

 
The conclusion of this presentation will describe the model of how decisions about educational goals, technical characteristics, and organizational structures relate. Suggestions will be provided about what should be taken into consideration to avoid unexpected conflicts.
© Mary E. Hopper [MEHopper] | MEHopper@TheWorld.com [posted 00/00/00 | revised 02/02/02]