(helps to define objectives)

What issues we are facing?

• What are the specific issues you are trying to address?
  • Learning issue?
  • Institutional issue? (e.g. organisational, logistic, financial?)
  • Externally imposed pressures?
• How were these issues identified? By whom? Through what processes? Top down or bottom up?
• Who is affected by the issues?
• In what way?

Considering e-learning, rather than traditional learning as a response to a particular issue or issues

• Position audit

• What other non-ICT approaches to similar issues are being tried or have been tried and to what effect?
  • Within the institutional?
  • Elsewhere?
• What ICT approaches to similar issues are being tried or have been tried and to what effect?
  • Within the institutional?
  • Elsewhere?

Taking a coherent view

• Institutional plans and policies

• What policies and strategies for e-learning are already in place in your institution?
• What previous experience does your institution have of e-learning?

Working within institutional parameters

• Who takes the decision to introduce a particular e-learning program, who else must be consulted and who has to approve it.
• What is the level of institutional / management support for this program?
• Is the program conducted in partnership with any other agency?
• What institutional constraints are or were imposed?

Finding out technology options

• Resource audit
• Summary of the advantages and disadvantages of each

• What existing infrastructure and resources exist which can be used to support e-learning? (e.g. networks, libraries and resource bases, ICT technical support, student counsellors etc)
• What range of ICT options were explored?
• What ICT based options were edited out and why
• What ICT based options were selected and why?

Finding out what human expertise is needed

• Staff audit

• What range of ICT options were explored in terms of
  • Availability of staff
  • Staff pedagogical competence (in-house and external)?
  • Staff ICT competence (in-house and external)?

Finding out what it all costs

• Cost benefit analysis tools
• Sources of financial support
• Implications of choosing vendors /technologies e.g. technology lock-ins
• Copies of institutional procurement policies

• What are the costs associated with
  • Staffing?
  • Technology?
  • Materials?

Identifying limitations

• What compromises were made?

Determining who should be involved

• Who participated in the decision making process
• Why and how were these judgements made?
• Was the decision making effective?
• Could they be improved?

Focussing e-learning solutions

• What learning, institutional or externally created problems will remain? (i.e. what problems are you not attempting to solve with e-learning)