  |
|
     Communication   |
Course Goals: Discuss and develop strategies for managing web-enhanced courses. Participants will draft a web exercise incorporating the management guidelines developed in discussion. The workshop will conclude by considering strategies for incorporating web experience in a teaching portfolio. Pre-workshop assignment:
Course Outline:
|
I.
Introduction
Now that we have discussed potential
uses of the web and learned to identify and organize the key elements of
a course site, we will consider stragtegies for managing web-enhanced courses.
As instructors we may play a variety of roles in our classes, today we
will examine our role as manager of the learning environment. As
manager of a web-enhanced course we will have to balance our control and
guidance of our students with the flexibility and freedom they require
to become active, independent learners.
We will begin today's workshop by reflecting on the way we currently teach, e.g. how we present content, encourage interaction, assess students' progress, and manage class projects and assignments. We will then discuss ways our traditional methods might be modified through technology and how these modifications can potentially enhance our students' learning. Following this discussion we will consider managment issues and suggest solutions to common management difficulties presented by the web-enhanced course. In the second half of the workshop we will review several web-based activities in preparation for creating our own web-based exercises. You will then be given lab time to work on the activities your proposed on the bulletin board. We will conclude today's workshop with considerations on integrating your experience with technology into your teaching portfolio.
II. Mangaging Your Web-Enhanced Course
One of the advantages of working with technology which is often overlooked is that it encourages us to reflect on the way we teach, or have taught in the past. If we are dedicated to enhancing learning through technology it is important that we use technology as a means to achieve our pedagogical goals rather than viewing it as an end in itself. Our goal as instructors is not to technologically enhance our courses, it is to pedagogically enhance them with the help of technology.
A. Reflecting on How You Teach
The first step in developing strategies
for enhancing learning through technology is to reflect on our current
teaching methods. Take a few moments to think about how you currently do
the following:
1) Deliver content
2) Structure student
to student interaction and/or collaboration
3) Structure instructor
interaction with students
4) Structure student
projects and assignments
B. Adapting Your Teaching Style to an
Online Environment
In small groups, discuss the following questions related to adapting
your teaching style to an online environment. Brainstorm at least two suggestions
for each question. Think about the activity you proposed on the bulletin
board and the other ideas you saw posted there.
1) How can course content be delivered online (types
of materials, formats)?
2) How can interaction among students be structured
and nurtured online?
3) How can an instructor's interaction with students
be structured online?
4) How can student projects be adapted to an online
environment?
C. Summary & Discussion of Enhancements
to Learning
As a group we will now summarize the methods you have brainstormed
and think about how their technical modifications might enhance learning.
(link
to worksheet)
| Course Goals | Traditional Methods | Technical Modifications | Possible Learning Enhancements |
| Content Delivery
|
|||
| Interaction
|
|||
| Student Projects
& Assignments
|
D. Web Management Issues and Solutions
In order to fully take advantage of the web's potential for enhancing
learning it is necessary to consider management issues. We have outlined
some of the common difficulties instructors face when integrating the web
into their teaching and offered some tips to help you address them.
1. Managing Web Resources
| Situation # 1: I want to distribute a required text via the web by linking it to my course site. |
| Situation # 2: I put my syllabus online and love the flexibility it gives me. I can now add resources throughout the semester, allowing me to customize my course as it evolves to incorporate student's interests as well as emerging events. I feel my course is more learner-centered and up-to-date as a result. |
Issue 2: My students don't look at the great resources I collect
for them.
Solution: Make sure you integrate the resources you add into
class discussions. Try developing a paper or project assignment around
the online resources. Students need to realize that these resources are
not extras, the only way they will do this is if you reward them for the
time they spend reviewing them.
| Situation # 3: I found a great web site for my class and linked it to my page. I planned a whole lesson around the site. |
Issue 2: The university server went down during my class.
Solution: Have a low tech back-up plan. Consider saving the
page locally. Once again, this alters the nature of the text and limits
hypertextuality.
2. Managing Web Interaction
| Situation # 1: I have supplemented my regualar office hours with a few online office hours a week. |
| Situation # 2: I want my students to visit a few professional listservs in my discipline, but I'm afraid the level of discussion might be a little over their heads. |
| Situation # 3: I set up this great online discussion forum for my students, but no one is using it. |
Issue 2: Students don't know how to use the technology
Solution: Review using the bulletin board, listserv, email,
or chat room at the beginning of the semester, or when you introduce the
assignment. Link instructions for using the online discusssion forums to
your course site.
3. Managing Web Activities
| Situation # 1: I ask my students to find resources on the topic we are discussing in class and encourage them to incorporate online materials into their research papers. |
Issue 2: Students do not differentiate between different types
of web sites. They give a personal page on the civil war as much credibility
as an article by a well known scholar in an electronic journal.
Solution: We cannot forget that we need to teach our students
critical thinking skills, regardless of the source of our materials. Be
sure to teach students how to cite web resources, so that you can check
their sources. Northwestern has compiled a site with tips on evaluating
web sites at: http://faculty-web.at.nwu.edu/uc/cmarshik/EngA11Exer1.html
| Situation #2: I have moved my journal writing assignment to the discussion forum. |
Issue 2: I'm a foreign language instructor. The foreign language
characters don't work in my email.
Solution: Have studenst use an email program that does recognize
internatinal characters and supply them with the numerical
or key combination codes. Think of alternatives. In German use can
use the vowel + "e" combination for umlauts. In French you might try using
an apostrophe after a vowel to indicate an accent.
Issue 3: I want my students to work on their writing skills but
email seems to be genre of its own. Their writing is fragmented, informal,
and punctuation is out the window. I'm going to scream if I see another
emoticon ;)
Solution: Let students know when you want them to write more
formally.
| Situation #3: Instead of a final paper I have required my students to create a web project. |
Issue 2: I'm not qualified to teach the technology my students
will need, and I don't have time to teach myself.
Solution: Try team teaching with a member of academic computing
when you introduce the technology. Find out what the students already know,
they may be more advanced than you think.
Issue 3: My students are getting carried away with the technology
and are losing sight of the content of their projects.
Solution: Make it very clear to students how much of their grade
for the project you are willing to base on technological skills. However
do not discount the technological aspect of the project completely. If
technological skills do not count for any part of the grade you might as
well stick with a more traditional project. Set strict deadlines for your
students and review drafts of their projects so that you can keep them
on track.
III.
Web Exercises
When creating web exercises it is important to resist the temptation
to reinvent the wheel. Instructors have been developing web materials for
several years. It would be foolish not to learn from their innovations
as well as their mistakes. Before we begin developing the ideas for web
activities you posted to the bulletin board we will take a few minutes
to walk through a sampling of web exercises created by our collegues.
A. Try a Web Exercise
We have collected several web exercises which incorporate a variety
of online learning strategies. Browse the exercises, choose one to try,
and go through it together with a partner.
Web Exercises:
1.
GEOG 4823, Urban & Regional Planning
Exploring the WWW for Planning-Related Information. Online worksheet
with links to relevant resources. Responses to be collected manually in
class.
2. Advanced
Ear Training & Sight Singing
University of Texas at Austin School of Music. The creators write:
"This web site will allow you to practice and to perfect your ability to
discern the difference between what you see and what you hear". Quick Time
sound files.
3.
Interactive Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Hypertext exercise. The creators write: "This a "modifiable" text that
allows readers to annotate passages and create discussion forums. In exchange
for presenting the text as an open surface, we ask that readers approach
adding links or commentary to the text seriously. We welcome all contributions,
but expect responsible participation".
4.
Hello Dolly
The creators write: "Hello Dolly! Out of the blue, researchers from
the Roslin Institute announced that they had successfully cloned a lamb.
The next day, the Pope denounced the discovery as a lack of respect for
life". The scientific community hailed the discovery as a break through
for mankind. Your task will be to analyze the differing perspectives, and
draw your own conclusion about the social, economic and political effects
of cloning on individuals, families and communities. You will be assessed
on how you support your conclusion, communicate effectively, and collaborate
with your peers".
5. Calculus
One Minute Papers
Quick papers submitted via email on topics such as "How would you use
triple integrals to solve world hunger?" Sample responses archived on web
site.
6. French Grammar
Exercises
University of Texas, Austin. Form-based exercises on basic grammar
principles. Immediate feedback with corrected answers provided.
B. Evaluate a Web Exercise
Consider the following in your evaluation:
Could the activity be done as well or better without the Internet? How?
| Course:
Goals of Course: (refer to worksheet #2 from workshop 2) Goals of Activity:
Instructions:
Technical Tips:
Resources: |
Back
to Top