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Assessment 1 Guidelines
Course Title: Financial management of e-learning programs
Case Study / Caught in the Web
The Midwestern town of Benton is nestled among low-lying hills. The people who live in
this secluded area often refer to themselves as the “keepers of the dream.” They have
managed to preserve their past and create a cultural boundary around the town last
serves as a gatekeeper to prevent the influx of high technology and new-wave
discoveries that they believe could threaten the serenity of the town.
The population reflects a balanced ethnic blend of people who work well together. The
community is respected for its work ethic, and the local people take pride in owning their
own land. Some of the Hispanic citizens of Benton have owned land for more than 100
years, and their families maintain the land and produce wonderful crops.
Assume for this case that you are the principal of Benton High School.
THE PROBLEM
The Cruz family members are among the wealthiest Hispanic landowners. They have
resided in Benton for more than 100 years. They own their land, produce bountiful crops,
and have instilled in generations of children the value of learning and respect for their
heritage.
The oldest of the Cruz children is Helena, a junior in high school with a grade point
average of 3.8. She is interested in composing music and hopes to obtain a scholarship
and attend college.
Benton High School is the only high school in the area. There are three elementary
schools and one middle school in the school district. The current high school enrollment
is 523 students, and the focus of the curriculum is on language arts and math. The largest
organization at the high school is the Future Farmers of America. New to Benton High
School is a computer lab, which was donated by a former alumnus who graduated from
the school in 1948. She designated $80,000 in her will for building a computer lab.
Helena was excited about the new lab. She knew that in order to secure a scholarship
for the university she would need technology skills and a computer class on her
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transcript. Even though she had a computer in her room at home, she wanted to use the
lab at school to write her papers and conduct research on the Internet.
You have been serving as the only administrator at the high school for the past five
years. Prior to that, a teacher was assigned as the lead teacher in charge to manage most
of the school affairs. You were not pleased about the construction of the new lab facility.
You felt that the introduction of technology to your small campus would interfere with
the curriculum already established by the teachers. Nonetheless, you accepted the
donation and agreed with the school board to support the construction and
implementation of a technology program at Benton High School. You assigned one of the
math teachers, Ms. Calmly, to supervise the lab and wished her well in developing the
program. You informed her that unless there was a major problem, you would prefer that
she take care of all the computer lab affairs.
Ms. Calmly set up the computer lab and recruited a few parent volunteers to assist the
students. She appointed one of her most enthusiastic students, Helena, to be in charge of
helping other students learn the technology.
One of the first projects Ms. Calmly assigned her students was to develop a Web page.
She considered this a safe assignment and thought that it would take her students at least
a semester to develop the Web page and post it on the Internet.
Of course she underestimated Helena’s interest in promoting the use of the
technology. Within two weeks Helena had developed a Web page. She decided that
because no one else at the school was familiar with the internet, she would post her Web
page herself. In order to promote her school, Helena posted one of the weekly bulletins
that you mailed home to parents of the high school students.
Helena failed to read the entire bulletin before posting it. At the bottom was a message
from you. You wrote, “We are in dire need of musical instruments and cannot hold our
seasonal holiday play this year without more instruments. Please deliver any musical
instruments that you no longer need to the school office as soon as possible. There is no
need to call.”
By Monday morning of the following week, Helena was receiving messages on her
Web page inquiring about the request for donations of musical instruments. These
inquiries were coming from all over the world. In addition, the school office had received
53 phone calls and 10 letters asking for information about the solicitation. Within six
weeks, total strangers had donated 62 flutes, 16 French horns, 7 trombones, 5 guitars, and
9 sets of used drums to Benton’s music department.
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Source: Hanson L. H. (2001) Preparing for Educational Administration Using Case Analysis. Prentice
Hall: New Jersey.
Please answer the below questions:
1. Summarize the case. (2 Points)
2. Identify the problem in a single sentence. (1 Points)
3. How are you going to handle the situation with Helena? (2 Points)
4. While you are reading the case study, identify the relevant concepts to the
session/s and elaborate upon them. (3 points)
5. What plans do you have for the musical instruments that are on their way to
Benton? (2 Points)
6. How can you turn this into a positive experience? (2 Points)
7. What influence, if any, do you think the posting of the School Web page on the
Internet will have on the town of Benton? (3 Points)
Total Marks: 15%
Deadline: 1st March 2018
Good Luck
