You have to start someplace when you are looking a big project.

I had joined The Poynter Institute in 2002 as its “Presidential Scholar.”  One of my tasks was to explore e-learning and how the Institute might use that method of teaching.  I wrote a memo (of course) with a number of areas that should be explored and a desire to make sure everyone saw the scope of such a project and shared some of the same language:

The biggest challenge to exploring any topic is for the stakeholders to develop a common understanding of the scope of a project. Some of Poynter’s faculty and staff might envision e-l,earning as an opportunity to accomplish Poynter’s mission with remote teaching. For others, distance learning could provide a chance to extend the Poynter’s experience beyond the confines of on-site seminars. Still others might see such a program as an opportunity to use collaborative or groupware tools to increase the effectiveness of discussion leaders and other off-site faculty. Each vision is important and each could overlap with the others.

The reference to “the Poynter experience” would echo throughout my time at the Institute. More on that later.