Far too many worthwhile innovations die when the funding that was available to get them started runs out. The AECT Project has been designed to avoid this all too predictable fate by incorporating a broad-based ownership and four separate and viable sources of revenue.

Broad Ownership

We believe that the best way to guarantee a long life is to provide a service that is valued by a variety of concerned and influential partners. We are designing the project to meet critical needs felt by teachers, school administrators, school boards, educational professional associations, professors involved in teacher education, and Deans of teacher preparation institutions. We are confident that these stakeholders will all make significant contributions to the project, and will all receive significant benefits that help them achieve their missions. This broad base of support will maintain the revenue streams described below.

Revenue Streams

The project will be supported through the first three years of its existence by funding provided by the U.S. Department of Education's PT3 Project and matched by the partners in this project. After this important startup phase, the project will need to generate enough income to guarantee its ongoing development. We intend to do this through four revenue streams:

• Revenue from Online Courses
• Revenue from the Certification of AECT Reviewers
• Revenue from Royalties on Courseware
• Revenue from Corporate and Philanthropic Organizations

Each of these is described briefly below.

Revenue from Online Courses

The AECT Project will negotiate agreements with Penn State University and other institutions of higher education with significant strength in the delivery of online coursework, through which the project will receive revenues for developing, marketing, managing, teaching, and maintaining online courses offered through the institution. These courses will be offered with oversight by academic programs from that institution (such as the Instructional Systems Program at Penn State) and will bear graduate credit for successful students. A "win/win" relationship between the institutions of higher education and the AECT Project will ensure the viability of this revenue stream.

Revenue from the Certification of AECT Reviewers

Only AECT certified reviewers will be authorized to verify that teachers have successfully completed the top-level performance standards leading to certification. These certified reviewers must all pass through an online training process, for which there is a small fee. (See "How You Can Get Involved.") The revenue from this source will supplement the greater revenues generated by the other sources, but will support important project work.

Revenue from Royalties on Courseware

The AECT Project will develop instructional materials and services that will be offered to teacher preparation institutions for use by their students. These will include websites and other instructional resources available on CD-ROM. These resources will be packaged and sold to campus bookstores for use by students in teacher education courses, and the AECT Project will receive a percentage of the revenues involved.

Revenue from Corporate and Philanthropic Organizations

Although the other three revenue streams described above will be sufficient to support the life and expansion of the project, we will also encourage contributions from corporate sponsors and major philanthropic agencies, so that the project can accomplish more, or reduce costs for the services described above.

We are confident that these sources of revenue will allow the ongoing growth and development of the AECT Project.