Course Number: 81821 Number of Credits: 3
Course Description:
WebClassroom will seek to develop the necessary skills and knowledge
to effectively use the World Wide Web for content delivery and course-centered
interaction. Easy-to-use software for web page editing, graphical design,
and web servers will be introduced. Principles of designing effective
World Wide Web-based instructional materials will be discussed--
especially the importance of maximizing the levels of student-student and
teacher-student collaboration/interaction. Practical implementation tips
will be examined along with the research that supports the practices of
web-based learning.
Readings in course texts, use of online materials, computer-mediated
discussions, and the instructional model of the course itself will provide
students with the background resources necessary for success. Each participant
will be required to develop extensive examples of web-based curricula for
a course that they teach.
Normal Days, Times, Location of Class: The course will be delivered asynchronously through the World Wide Web. There will be no course meetings in which teachers and students gather at the same time and place.
Normal Semester/Term:
January 14 - 27. Course Warmup (Preliminary activities to identify
and work through any technical problems).
January 28. Course Begins (Start of Dana College semester).
May 21. Course Ends (End of Dana College Semester).
Prerequisites. Participants must:
Have access to electronic mail and be able to send, receive, and read it.
Have access to Netscape Communicator 4.0 (or better) and be able to use it to browse the world wide web.
Be a self-regulated learner with a desire and initiative to learn new instructional practices.
Optional but highly recommended. Have access to a Connectix QuickCam
digital camera. The $99 grayscale version is more than adequate. Note: Other
digital cameras are acceptable if the participant is capable of using it
without assistance. Only the use of the Connectix QuickCam will be supported.
Intended Outcomes: This course will develop the skills and knowledge
an educator needs to successfully deliver a course through the medium of
the World Wide Web; or supplement a traditional course curriculum with
web-based resources and instructional strategies. These skills and knowledge
will fall under 3 major threads that will be continually be addressed throughout
the duration of the course:
-- Technology. Participants will use personal computers and software to:
• create documents and make them available to students through the World Wide Web
• create computer-mediated discussion forums for communication, interaction, and collaboration.
-- Instructional Design. Participants will use the skills and tools mentioned above to develop effective online instructional materials and activities by integrating:
• principles of design and organization for electronic documents
• principles from educational research on web-based instruction
and computer-mediated communication
-- Practice. Participants will develop “classroom management” skills
that are unique to an online learning community. These skills include:
• strategies for encouraging and maintaining quality participation from
all students
• modeling and promoting the ethical use of online resources
Assessment Tools and Criteria for Standards of Achievement :
Online Discussions. The frequency and quality of individual’s contributions to the electronic interaction will be noted. Criteria: Each participant should post to the course’s discussion forums at least six times a week. Posts should relate to the topics being discussed and should reflect significant thought on the subject being addressed.
Discussion Leader Responsibility. Each participant will be responsible to initiate and guide an electronic discussion session on an assigned topic. Criteria: In accordance with a predetermined schedule, each participant will (at the appropriate time) initiate a new discussion thread by posting a thought-provoking quote or question. The discussion leaders will also monitor the thread frequently to keep the discussion active and on track. At the end of the discussion time period, the leader will post a single page summary of the interaction.
Research Plan. Each participant will develop a one-page plan to make a comparative investigation of some aspect of web-based learning and its effectiveness. Criteria: The focus of the proposed research should be clearly defined. The research plan should be reasonable in scope and should reflect standard educational research methods.
Major Project. Each participant will develop extensive online “courseware” for a class that they are teaching or plan to teach in the future. The courseware can be for a class to be taught entirely online or courseware that supplements a traditional course. Criteria: The materials for the final project should end up being about 20-25 web pages. This is a rough estimate and is negotiable. The courseware should reflect the design, organization, and instructional principles emphasized in the course materials and discussions. All links should be active and working as well as all images.
Course Reaction Paper. At the end of the course each participant will be asked to write a 1-2 page analysis of their experience taking this web-based course. This paper should take a simple form of pros and cons as compared to a traditional classroom experience. Criteria: Honest account of their perceptions during their participation in this course.
Teaching Methodology: Instructional method for this class will stress active involvement and frequent course-centered interaction. Background information, resources, and assignments will be made available to class participants through a series of web pages. Teacher-student interaction and student-student interaction will be conducted asynchronously by means of a computer-mediated electronic discussion forum. The final “courseware” project will be the major focus of the class, with all activities leading up to the effective development of these online instructional materials.
Required Text:
Web-Based
Instruction. Badrul Huda Khan (editor).
Other Bibliographical Resources (Optional).
Designing and Writing Online Documentation. William Horton.
Web-Teaching: A Guide to Designing Interactive Teaching for the
World Wide Web. David Brooks.
Assignments and Grading Procedures:
20% Online Discussion
10% Discussion Leader Responsibility
15% Research Plan
50% Major Project
5% Reaction Paper
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100%
Academic Integrity Statement :
The sharing of ideas flourishes in the environment of the Internet. Yet advances in information technology (such as the World Wide Web) also allows the theft of intellectual property to flourish. Another individual’s creation--phrases, sentence structures, paragraphs, artwork---all can be copied and pasted into your own document in seconds. This use of someone else’s intellectual property, without the originator's permission or an appropriate citation, is unethical and illegal. It will not be tolerated in this instructional setting.
Needed Library and Technical Support :
Little support from library services will be required. Assistance from computer services, however, will be very important. This course will blend technological skill and instructional theory. Delivered as it is though a distance learning model, it is important that each participant have a local resource person to provide limited assistance when online counseling and trouble shooting is unable to resolve technological problems.