Designing & Teaching Your Online Course

Designing & Teaching Your Online Course
David L.Wong Faculty Resource Center Santa Barbara City College Copyright 2004 All images copyright WebCT or Sarah Horton & Patrick Lynch
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(This is also a good place to take notes)
Table of Contents
PREFACE PLANNING AND DESIGN Characteristics of Online Teaching Online course development cycle What is WebCT? Getting Started CREATING COURSE CONTENT Reading and Writing Content for the WWW Primer on the use of text and images on the WWW Characteristics of dynamic media Multimedia and web-based learning research Saving Word docs as Web pages Universal Accessibility and Flexible learning GETTING TO AND AROUND YOUR ONLINE COURSE Getting to and into your online course Navigating in your online course ADDING COURSE CONTENT Getting your web pages into your online course Approaches to organizing your online course files Getting your syllabus into your online course Creating a sequence of online course content Adding an external or internal link Adding an assignment using the assignment tool Adding course content support tools DESIGNING YOUR COURSE HOME PAGE Adding a WebCT tool to the upper tool bar Customizing your home page colors and (re)positioning icons Adding a course title and daily routine to course home page ONLINE ASSESSMENT ONLINE COMMUNICATION ONLINE COURSE MANAGEMENT REFERENCES 59 61 65 67 73 77 81 41 45 47 49 51 53 57 37 39 21 23 25 27 31 33 7 15 17 19 3

Preface
The philosophy of the Faculty Resource Center (FRC) is to empower teachers, to help them develop the skills and confidence in combining teaching strategies with technology to meet their respective goals and needs. Faculty members become interested in online course development for a variety of practical and personal reasons. Some see it as a means to teach from home and save on commute time and their nerves. Others see it as a means to stay involved in the teaching process. We recognize that when faculty members undertake online course development, they bring past teaching experience and content knowledge to bear. Consequently, the FRC tries to help teachers bridge past experiences with new ones and, in time, new experiences begin to inform and influence old practices. Our primary goal in supporting teachers online course development is to help them construct a teaching environment that can be shaped or re-shaped as the need arises without ongoing FRC support. After all, teaching is a dynamic process and the environment must be designed so that teachers can react to the varying exigencies that occur in the classroom. The purpose of this short guide is to provide some assistance in teaching the basic mechanics of constructing an online course while simultaneously introducing teachers to some of the factors that may affect their pedagogical decisions. The guide is by no means a step-by-step guide in using all the tools available in WebCT. Not only would that require an exorbitant amount of time, it would be foolish because software vendors like WebCT make changes to their software on a regular basis. Besides, WebCT provides an 800 plus page instruction manual in electronic form. Anyway, we wish you the best of luck on this new experience and your new teaching endeavor.

Characteristics of Online Teaching

Distance education is not a new phenomenon (Sabba, 1999; Moore & Kearsley, 1996). As early as 1910, educators used print technology in combination with the United States Postal Service as a means to provide what Odell (1910) called "Correspondence Education." Later in the 1970's and 1980's, electronic media such as audiotape, videotape and closed circuit television were utilized in conjunction with print as a means to deliver course content. But in recent years, the "scope, content, and delivery of distance education are dramatically different, largely in part, to the growth of the Internet (IDC, 1999)" and its associated forms of web technologies such as computer-mediated communication (CMC). Distance education even it has its own terminology and conceptual metaphors such as "transactive learning" (Raschke, 1999, p. 16) which suggests that distance education teachers, in some respects, might be influenced by the literature of the field. So, one could argue that prospective distance education teachers' sense making of the virtual classroom is likely to be influenced by the demands of the particular classroom environment (Doyle, 1986) and what occurs during the preactive (planning) and active (interactive) phases of teaching (Jackson, 1968). But are traditional classroom teachers' preparation and experiences suitable for teaching in virtual or online classroom? The purpose of this article is to talk about online instruction within the framework of research about teaching in the traditional, or on-campus classroom, since teachers appear to draw on their past experiences in the traditional classroom in order to make sense of teaching in the online classroom (Wong, 2003, Conrad, 2004). Online instruction, for the purpose of this article, refers to the Internet or web-based presentation of content as well as the use of asynchronous forms of communication rather than older, distance-based education such as telecourses which make use of televised content and synchronous forms of communication to interact with students. What is a classroom? A classroom context refers to the tangible context that the teacher and student use to make sense of the activities. It includes the temporal boundaries, i.e., the duration of the event, the physical milieu such as the arrangement of participants in classroom space, and the program for action for the activity, such as seatwork, group work, etc. Teachers and students in the traditional college classroom have been indoctrinated to the activities and the contexts in which they take place (Lortie, 1975). However, in distance or online education, time frames sometimes extend beyond hours to days where the teacher and student interaction are often mediated by a computer. When group activities do occur, they often do so in virtual, i.e., online space. These differences may require some online students develop a new sense making of the online classroom context that has few tangible things in common with the traditional classrooms other than the artifacts that the students and teacher produce. The classroom setting has "distinctive properties affecting participants regardless of how students are organized for learning or what educational philosophy the teacher espouses" (Doyle, 1986, p. 394). In particular, there differences in the physical features of the online and traditional classroom environment. Physical Features of the Classroom A traditional college classroom has many of the following items sometimes arranged in a particular order with activities taking place in particular locations within the classroom. There
Some initial thoughts on the
are:
desks overhead projector vcr & tv whiteboard computer (one or more) projection screen
An online classroom, however, often uses computer and web technologies to mediate all if not most of the interaction between teacher and students. Some examples of items commonly found in the online classroom are: computer web pages bulletin board chat rooms link to external web sites quiz or assessment tools student grade book Thus, all online instruction is mediated by some form of technology while in the traditional classroom technology may be ancillary to instruction (Moore & Kearsley, 1996). The physical features of the traditional classroom also appear to have an effect on student and teacher interaction (Adams, 1969; Adams & Biddle, 1970). "These investigators found that students who sat in the action zone in the front and center of the room (seats were arranged in traditional rows) interacted most frequently with the teacher (Doyle, 1986, p. 402). Brooks, Silvern, and Wooten (1978) also found that secondary students who sat in the social-consultative zone (front and center) received a more permissive and interactive style of communication from the teacher, while students in the public zone (middle and back of the room) received more lecturing and one-way communication (Doyle, 1986, p. 402). This evidence begins to support the contention that a students location in the classroom does influence access to classroom events and, when a choice is given, some students seek locations that enable them to be active participants in these events (Doyle, 1986, p 402). But, in the distance or online classroom when computer-mediated communication (CMC) is utilized, all physical positions appear equi-distant from the teacher. Some researchers argue that this occurs because all familiar social and physical cues are absent in the CMC environments creating more of a leveled playing field for participation (Romiszowski, & Mason, 1996). However, Fabos and Young (1999) argue that there may be new equity problems introduced with the use of CMC technologies. For example, poor typists may be at a disadvantage in participating in discussions, etc., because most CMC technologies require keyboarding skills. Students new to online instruction must depend on the social norms for participation that they learned in the on-campus classroom as a framework for online participation. Any differences in teacher expectations or social norms must be made explicit by the teacher if the rules, procedures, and routines for participation are different. Rules, procedures, and routines From almost the first day of school, students are taught the rules and procedures for completing
activities related to management and instruction in the classroom. What makes classroom activities efficient is that over time students are taught routines for completing activities whether they are of an instructional nature or not. These routines serve to guide the students understanding as to the required expectations for behavior during the event, and are suspected to reduce the students cognitive load during the event so that the student can focus primarily on the content. From a classroom management perspective, routines reduce off-task behavior because they make classroom activities less susceptible to breakdowns during interruptions since participants know the normal sequence of events (Yinger, 1980, in Doyle, 1986). In the online classroom, the routines for completing classroom activities may not be that universal. For example, in the traditional classroom, after students arrive and roll is called, students expect the teacher to cue them verbally and non-verbally as to the type of participation structure, e.g., lecture, recitation, etc., that will be used. However, in the distance learning classroom the norms for interacting in some distance education classroom may not be that universal. Thus, what learned routines and cues from students experiences in the traditional classroom can they draw upon in order to make sense of the online classroom? After all, many of the cues and routines students understand are based on their 12 or 13 years of experience as apprentices of observation in the traditional classroom (Lortie, 1975). So, how can online teachers establish a routine for their students? In other words, what process are students supposed to follow each time they log into your course? In the online classroom, teachers have to explicitly state the daily or weekly tasks students are to follow each and every time they log into the class; otherwise, students are likely to spend more time on less important or off-task activities. Online teachers can list the daily routine on the course home page, e.g., (1) read the announcements, (2) check your email to see if Ive sent you mail, (3) check the course calendar to see the activities listed for the week, and (4) begin the class activities which are the weekly activities learning module. There are also differences in how teachers maintain order and transition between classroom activities in the two classroom environments. Communication and Order in the Classroom Order is a function of the communication competencies of its participants. In the traditional classroom, teachers must be able to send signals to students in the form of verbal and nonverbal messages to communicate the students progress in the activity, and transitions to other activities. The communication not only includes direct verbal messages, it includes covert messages sent by such cues as tone of voice, change in pitch, facial expression, or chains of questioning and responses. Over time, they [the students] must correctly interpret signals that mark a shift in expectations from one kind of lesson to another (e.g., from discussion to listening), from one part of a lesson to another (e.g., from the introduction to the turn-taking part of circle time), or from one time to another over the year in the same subject (e.g., math work in September and in December)" (Green & Smith, 1983, pp. 355-377). But what happens in the online classroom? Are the patterns of communication different from those patterns in the traditional classroom? And, if so, do students know how they are supposed to participate socially? Patterns of communication Each participation structure has its own set of discourse rules for interaction. In order to be a
competent participant, the student must know what context he is in, when contexts are changing, and what behavior is appropriate in each of those contexts (Mehan, 1980, Erickson and Schultz, 1981 in Weinstein, 1991, p. 495). Thus, the patterns of communication appropriate for one structure, e.g., recitation, may be different for another, e.g., group work. In online education, there has been a mixture of different types of studies investigating the interaction patterns in classrooms ranging from studies about gender differences to studies about interaction and collaboration in computer-mediated communication (CMC) environments. For example, Harasim (1989; 1990) and Ahern, Peck, and Laycock (1992) investigated teachers and students frequency, volume, and communication patterns using computer-mediated communication environments in the distance education or online classroom. Harasim (1989) found that the interaction patterns changed from the initial pattern at the beginning of the course. For example, in online discussions, most of the students messages during the first few days of instruction were in reference to the reading assignments. Over time, the pattern changed in that the students messages referenced other students messages rather than the textbook readings. Harasim (1990) also found that in the online classroom the ratio of teacher to student communication was about 20 to 80, while the converse is typically true in the traditional classroom. Hartman, Neuwirth, Kiesler, Sproull, Cochran, Palmquist, and Zubrow (1995) determined that the use of CMC tools to support collaborative writing and learning did not replace traditional forms of communication, and that the less able students communicated more with teachers and classmates electronically than more able students. Ahern, Peck, and Laycock (1992) determined that when a conversational style of discourse is employed, there is a higher level of student participation and a more complex interaction pattern occurs. Still other researchers have made recommendations about the roles that distance teachers and students should assume in order to be successful in the online classroom. For example, Everett and Ahern (1994) found in their examination of CMC as a teaching tool, that the role of the online teacher is more like an orchestra leader than a drum major. Willis (1994) and Romiszowski and Mason (1996) have suggested that the online teacher assume more the role of a facilitator, and they also suggested that students should take a more active role in their learning. According to Mason and Kaye (1989), the integration of CMC into distance education classrooms has had a rather large effect in that CMC inevitably affects the ways other media are used, because it opens up the potential for doing new things, or doing old things in new ways (p. 22). Wong (2003) and Dillon and Walsh (19920 also found that teachers who redesign traditional course activities for online instruction spend a great deal of time thinking about the way they teach in the traditional classroom and the types of changes they need to make in the activities in order for them to work in the online classroom. Over time, teachers experiences in the online classroom begin to inform their practice in the traditional classroom. Now all of the aspects of teaching and the classroom that have been discussed to this point begin to provide a picture of the complexity of the relationship of teaching and the classroom environment. Nearly three decades ago, two prominent educational researchers attempted to describe the characteristics that were common to all traditional classrooms and the behaviors that successful classroom teachers were said to exhibit.
Complexity of the classroom environment Two of the most prominent studies in classroom management research in the last three decades are works by Doyle (1977; 1986) and Kounin (1970). Doyles (1977) longitudinal study was an attempt to describe the complexity of the classroom environment by identifying the characteristics that were persistent, distinctive, and common to all classrooms. Doyle (1986) found that classrooms are crowded with people, activity, and interruptions; many events take place at the same time; and there is little time available for a teacher to reflect before acting or even anticipate the course of events. In addition, classroom groups meet regularly over an extended period of time so that rules evolve for the behavior of teachers and students and decisions at one point have consequences for action in the future. (p. 139). Doyle (1977) labeled these characteristics as multidimensionality, simultaneity, immediacy, and history (Doyle, 1977, p. 139). In the online classroom, however, these characteristics appear to differ in the following manner. To begin with, there is no physical classroom, but one could argue that the online classroom is busy with activity and people and that many events take place at the same time. For example, students can send email to each other, post to a bulletin board discussion, complete an online assignment all at the same time, but generally these actions take place over longer time frames. The interruptions that occur are in the students or teachers individual environment rather than the physical classroom. For example, at home a student could be logged into the online course while inviting a friend to dinner on the phone. A teacher who suspends her online activity to work with her child likely would never do so in a regular classroom. So the first two characteristics of multidimensionality and simultaneity are also true to some degree for the online classroom. In the online classroom teachers generally do have more time to reflect before acting, though they may not be able to anticipate the course of events. To a large degree, teachers depend on the students to follow a course of action laid out for them that week without the physical monitoring and intervention of teachers. So the characteristic of immediacy, i.e., the fact that there is little time available for teachers to reflect or act in the traditional classroom, may not be that relevant to the online classroom. Finally, students do meet over extended periods of time just like they do in the regular classroom; however, some students may not necessarily know the social norms for participation that theyve grown accustomed to in the traditional classroom because they have little or no history in being an online student. For the most part, our students bring years of formal classroom experience to our classrooms, but for many, the online classroom is a new experience where the ground rules for what is socially acceptable and expected have not been clearly defined. Thus, online teachers have to be clear about the social conventions for acceptable behavior. Kounins (1970) work laid the foundation for what has become a research-based consenus concerning the characteristics of successful classroom managers [teachers] (Brophy, 1999, p. 46). Kounin (1970) essentially compared the behaviors of successful and unsuccessful classroom managers and determined that effective managers exhibited the four following behaviors: (1) overlapping teachers ability to simultaneously handle more than activity at the same time, and respond to the needs of individual students while sustaining group
activities; (2) withitness teachers ability to communicate that he/she is consciously aware of all parts of the classroom and at all times by continuously scanning the classroom, and intervening when appropriate to disengage students inappropriate behavior; (3) movement management or the ability to provide pace, variety, and smooth transitions between activities; and (4) group focus or the ability to involve as many students as possible in each activity (in Doyle, 1986). Kounin (1970) showed that effective managers succeed not so much because they are good at handling disruption when it occurs, but because they are good at preventing it from occurring inn the first place. In the online classroom, it may be easier for teachers to simultaneously handle more than one activity at a time, i.e., overlapping, because the time frame for the activities is generally spread out over longer periods of time, e.g., three hours for the traditional classroom versus two days for an online activity. But, responding to individual students while sustaining group activities may be more difficult than one would think given the fact that the class members do not necessarily meet at the same time. An online teacher may have to return to the groups activity on some regular basis in order to monitor and assess the groups progress in completing the activity and this isnt always possible or desirable from the teachers viewpoint. The second characteristic, withitness, may be significantly more difficult because there is no one physical classroom to scan for activity. An online teacher has to move in and out of the classrooms tools, in order to monitor whole group activity. Also, the activities generally take place over longer time frames and the teachers ability to communicate that she/he is consciously aware of all the activity on some regular basis requires more verbal, e.g., email or bulletin board announcement, rather than non-verbal communication, e.g., stern look to off-task students. Third, the movement management characteristic may also be a more a difficult skill to develop because the online teacher has to rely more on the students doing their part in order for the activity to proceed. For example, in the regular classroom, a teacher may lecture, move to an initiate-reply-evaluate (IRE) sequence, and then return to the lecture depending on students verbal and non-verbal responses. But in the online classroom, a teacher will often assign a textbook reading, post a question to a bulletin board, but then have to wait for students to respond to the question in order to determine how to proceed with instruction. Finally, group focus in the online classroom in some respects may be an easier skill to develop because there is evidence to suggest that more students participate in online group activities than they do in the traditional classroom. The traditional classroom generally has three to four students who provide leadership in terms of answering questions and leading class activities. But in the online classroom, more students tend to participate especially when participation is required and graded (Wong, 2003). Online teachers can also make use of student tracking information systems to track which students have attempted and completed and which they have not. The changing roles for teacher and students in online instruction Moore and Kearsley (1996) suggest that the online teacher's primary role should focus more on the facilitation of student interaction rather than the presentation of classroom materials. Also, in online education, learner autonomy and self-directedness are key concepts while in traditional instruction the instructor is both the "authority within a particular discipline" and is the "originator [or disseminator] of all academic content within the learning space" (Raschke, 1999, p. 16). Since most online courses require that participants depend upon some form(s) of technology in order to interact with the content and with each other, the effectiveness of online teaching is
somewhat dependent upon how well teachers and students can use the technology involved. "This means that you must not only understand the limitations and the potential of each piece of technology (and in some cases how to operate it) but also [for teachers] know the teaching techniques associated with successful use of that technology" (Moore & Kearsley, 1996, p. 126). Traditional classroom teachers must therefore be able to plan, interact, and reflect on their planning and interaction with respect to these differences. The orchestration of activities such as monitoring, pacing, and transitions in the online classroom are also different because of the temporal and physical differences in the classroom settings. Remember, students and teachers meet asynchronously instead of face-to-face, and content is generally presented in some form of text rather than orally. These differences, in turn, are likely to influence and be influenced by how the online teacher makes sense of what is occurring in the online course. Collins and Berge (1996), after a number of years of conducting studies in computer-networked environments, made a series of pedagogical, social, managerial and technical recommendations to help online teachers make sense of the new teaching environment. But recommendations such as dont lecture, be mindful of the proportion of instruction contribution, and provide swift feedback for technical problems are likely to be foreign concepts for many traditional classroom teachers. Instead, were more likely to see a replication of traditional classroom activities in the online classroom until teachers and students begin to re-conceptualize "ways of teaching and learning in order to exploit the potential for enhancing classroom goals" (Hartman, Neuwirth, Kiesler, Sproull, Cochran, Palmquist, and Zubrow, 1995, p. 51). Rubin and Bruce (1990) also suggested that "...in general, teachers and students create new practices that reflect complex and situation-specific combinations of old and new approaches" (p. 2). Over time, teachers experiences online may begin to inform their teaching practices in the traditional classroom as was indicated in a study by Wong (2003). Hence, researchers might find it interesting to examine that which teachers reflect on as they go through the process of designing and teaching their online course. As the narratologist Roger Schank (1990) said, "we need to know how people do the ordinary things, not the extraordinary" (p. ix).

The online course development cycle

There are two online course development cycles. The first begins in the spring semester with teachers completing the construction course during a two week period between spring and summer terms in preparation for a fall offering. The other cycle begins in the period between spring and summer and teachers work over the course of the fall in preparation for a spring offering. Thus, either cycle includes a summer workshop. Online course approval Requires that you complete and submit the online course approval form PRIOR to the beginning of training. Basically, you stipulate the rationale for constructing your proposed course, and you MUST get the signatures of your department chair, division dean, online college dean, and online college director. Other meetings youre required to attend During the fall or spring terms, TWO individual meetings per month with the FRC staff in order to help you resolve course development problems. And, at least ONE group meeting per month as a review of course tool use Compensation Faculty members generally receive a stipend for participating in the Online Institute if it is the first time developing an online course. The dollar amount depends on the portion of the course that is going to be developed online. For example, if one is developing a three-unit hybrid course that is 60% online, then the stipend would be based on 60% of a three unit course. Submission of course modification/new course form to the colleges curriculum committee The deadline for this varies. For courses to be offered in the spring, the deadline is usually the last week in August or first week in September. For courses to be offered in the fall, the deadline is generally late February or early March. Contact Anita Cole at X2217 or cole@sbcc.edu in the Academic Senate office for more info re the deadlines.

What is WebCT?
WebCT, short for Web Course Tools, is an online classroom environment software package. Its a container to house your course materials. Its also like a web portal in that it provides a way for you to integrate a variety of tools such as a bulletin board, email, quiz system, and grade book into one environment under one login. Students, in effect, log into your online course and access any of the tools or materials that you have made available. Here are a few examples of the six types of toolsets that teachers can incorporate into their courses:
Course construction Faculty can construct web pages using any variety of web page construction tools and upload them individually or in zipped format to their courses. Faculty can also write HTML or paste HTML into WebCTs page construction tool. Once the content has been uploaded, faculty can create a Table of Contents (content module) to establish a particular sequence of instruction. Content modules can be restricted to specific students or be released to the class as a whole. Teachers can develop assignments in the assignment tool that are only available specific dates and times. Assignments can be written papers, web images, etc. Finally, faculty can upload their syllabi or they can make use of WebCTs syllabus maker tool.
Course content support (associated with individual pages of content WebCT provides a number of course content support tools to help teachers scaffold students understanding. Teachers can create course glossary, list goals for activities, provide a means for students to Take Notes online, or create hyperlinks to support class activities.
Course communication WebCT offers a variety of tools for teacher-student and student-student interaction. There are bulletin boards, chat rooms, and internal email for personal communication. There is even a synchronous white-board for simple drawings, slide shows, etc.
Course assessment WebCT has a number of formative and summative assessment tools to measure student satisfaction, e.g., survey tool, check student understanding, e.g., self-tests, and as means for formal assessment, e.g., quiz/exam tool.
Course Management Online teachers can use the course management features to access the online grade book, make a backup of the course materials, or track student access to course content pages.
Student Tools WebCT provides a number of tools to help students keep track of their progress and performance in class activities. Heres a partial list of student tools: My grades or marks (their released grades) My progress (how much content they have completed) Take Notes
Getting started
No one really starts from scratch teaching online. Weve been socialized from an early age as to how we should behave and participate in traditional classroom activities (Lortie, 1975), so much so that when teachers begin teaching in the traditional classroom, their past experiences as students serve as a framework for guiding them in organizing and structuring classroom activities. Subsequently, when traditional classroom teachers begin to design their first online class, their experiences in the traditional classroom serve as a starting point for organizing and developing online classroom activities. Traditional classroom activities and materials are often repurposed for the online classroom. Online course development is not typically a fast process. Generally, its been our experience that teachers regardless of skill level spend time about 70-80 percent of the time planning and organizing their course materials and about 20-30 percent learning the mechanics of the online course management software such as WebCT, Blackboard, etc., as well constructing or repurposing materials for their new online course. More importantly, the online course development process provides teachers with the opportunity to think critically about their teaching. Like other institutions, weve developed a template to help faculty with planning their online course. Essentially faculty members construct a two-column table (see Table 1) that lists the week-by-week activities that take place in a traditional classroom in one column. In the second column, teachers list what they propose to do week-by-week in their online classroom. This process gives online teachers a means to examine and compare the current and proposed online activities with the FRC staff. This activity is also helpful in preparing the course modification form required by the Colleges Curriculum Advisory Committee. Table 1. Comparison of traditional vs. online classroom activities Topics Topic A Traditional classroom Week 1 Lecture on ABC In-class discussion of ABC Homework assignment Textbook reading Answer questions in handout Online classroom Week 1 Reading assignment Bulletin board discussion Homework Assignment Textbook reading Answer and submit homework via email Week N Reading assignment Bulletin board discussion Web Assignment Submit homework via WebCT Assignment tool
Topic B
Week N Lecture on XYZ In-class discussion of XYZ Homework assignment Textbook reading Answer homework questions

(This is also a good place to take notes.)
Writing and Reading on the WWW

Jakob Nielsen, Sarah Horton, Patrick Lynch and many others have written countless [some empirical, some not] articles on writing for the Web. My attempt here is not to try to summarize their work but point out a few interesting bits of phenomena. Most teachers write for the Web in the same style they were taught to write, i.e., in pyramid-like form. Weve spent a minimum of 18 years learning how to write this way so asking us to change now may be more difficult than you think. Generally, we start with some introduction that includes a topic or thesis statement followed by a body of evidence to support the thesis statement. Then somewhere later we draw our conclusion and write a summary based on the evidence or examples in the body.
However, there is some evidence (Nielsen, 1996) to indicate that web users do NOT read on the Web. They in fact scan as in the following:
When Web users scan something on a web page that interests them, they slow their scanning down and then may read, if at all, in order to get to the details that interests them. Nielsen and others (1996) also found that if web authors wrote more like journalists, the likelihood of users getting to information increased. Journalists, in effect, write in inverted
pyramid form with the summary statement first, then important information from the body of the text followed by less important information.
Why? Because Web users may not ever get to the summary since theyre only scanning and rarely reading. Also, theres some evidence to suggest that students are more engaged in reading online text and perform better on subsequent transfer tests when the text is written in a conversational rather than academic style, i.e., formal prose, of writing (Clark and Mayer, 2003; Ahern, Peck, and Laycock, M., 1992; Harasim, Calvert, & Groeneboer, 1997). [y]ou should use some firstand second-person constructions (that is, involving I, we, me, my, you, and/or your (Clark and Mayer, 2003, p. 145).The belief is that the former promotes a more, relaxed effect as readers are drawn into the conversation. Also, you want to write with sufficient informality so that the learners feel they are interacting with a conversational partner but not so informally that the learner is distracted or the material is undermined (Clark and Mayer, 2003, p. 138). Resources: How users should consider writing for the WWW http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/index.html
Primer on the use of text and images

The use of Images on the WWW Images on the WWW, though interesting, may actually slow access time and create more problems for the user; Images on the web or in multimedia tend to fall into one of two groups, decorative or instructional (Rieber, 2000). Decorative images are useful for getting the user's attention or providing some thematic link throughout the material. However, they serve little instructional value. Example 1:
This image has little instructional value unless one were trying to describe the basic shape of a palm tree. Example 2:
These images are part of WebCT's casual style icons. They have a stylistic look to them so that one can sense that they are part of one thing. Instructional images are actually designed to provide some instruction. They can reduce memory load by incorporating text within the image to help the user make sense of the material. Readers don't have to spend as much effort converting verbal information to pictorial form in memory. Example 1: What users see on a 640 X 480 screen without scrolling.
Organizing images on the page -- A page full of text is difficult for users to scan. Break the text up visually in blocks or chunks so that viewers can more easily scan the pages in order to glean what is important. Also, objects located near each other are generally perceived to be part of a whole or gestalt. So, group objects together if you want people to perceive there to be an association.
Characteristics of dynamic media Dynamic media can provide more information
Audio and video on the WWW
Audio and video presentations are more than just an alternate form of presentation for students with different learning styles. They can be used to provide information, e.g., threedimensionality, motion, that is crucially missing in static forms of content. For example, a video of a baseball player swinging at a pitch in slow motion can provide more information than a linear static set of pictures. The video can be played forwards and backwards. It may provide more detail about the change in the relationship of objects in the visual portion of the video, e.g., batters stance as he takes a swing at the ball. Video/audio also tends to convey a sense of immediacy. The audio portion of a presentation can also provide crucial information, e.g., intonation, voice inflection, cadence, accents, etc., that would be difficult to simulate with text. Streaming vs. rapid-start files If one decides to use video or audio, one has to consider the content and the distribution limitations. For example, audio and video on the WWW are subject to bandwidth limitations. Computer modems are limited to 56K dial-up connection (33 K/sec) speeds. As a result, the video portion of the picture is small (see example below) and the sound quality is similar to AM radio. Cable modems and DSL modems can handle larger bandwidths than computer modems. Thus, the video portion can be larger, i.e., more visual information is available, and the audio is generally of better quality. There are generally two methods for distributing your digital video/audio files. After a video/file is digitized, it can either be streamed but there is a greater chance in terms of sound or picture loss when network traffic increases. Video/audio files can also be distributed as rapid start movies that download as a file to the students computer, but this provides little or no protection in terms of piracy or copyright. The method depends on a variety of factors such as the quality of your content, the size of the video window, the potential problems that may result if video or audio content is lost during transmission, etc. The following are examples of the approximate size of the video portion of digital movies based on the bandwidth limitations of students Internet connections. Note, An audio file when streamed or downloaded will only show the control bar and not the picture portion of the window. To see live example, go to http://instructors.sbcc.edu/nunez_p/movies/chpt1.htm Example 1. -- 56 K (dial-up speed)
Example 2. -- DSL/cable modem speed
Example 3 -- Video/audio and slide shows can sometimes be combined to create a single presentation but this takes a long time to create and requires FRC staff help in order to make it work. (example below has been reduced to fit this page) http://streamer.cit.utexas.edu/esi/webcast.php?redir=archive_kelley.html
Multimedia and web-based learning research

Multimedia Learning research Richard Mayer and colleagues (Mayer, 2001; Clark and Mayer, 2003) have conducted over 100 experimental research studies over the past 10 years focusing on the differences in learning retention and transfer with respect to the use of images, text, and animation in instruction. The following are from some of the results of his studies, in brief, with recommendations about multimedia design. Their theory of multimedia learning is based on the following assumptions. Note that can you can read their article in more detail (including examples) at the following online journal website. Both the text and image are copied from (Mayer and Moreno, 2000) at http://imej.wfu.edu/articles/2000/2/05/index.asp#2. (a) working memory includes independent auditory and visual working memories (Baddeley, 1986); (b) each working memory store has a limited capacity, consistent with Sweller's (1988, 1994; Chandler & Sweller, 1992) cognitive load theory; (c) humans have separate systems for representing verbal and non-verbal information, consistent with Paivio's (1986) dual-code theory; (d) meaningful learning occurs when a learner selects relevant information in each store, organizes the information in each store into a coherent representation, and makes connections between corresponding representations in each store (Mayer, 1997). Figure 1 depicts a cognitive theory of multimedia learning with these assumptions.
Drawing is also an excerpt from Mayer and Moreno (2000) Mayer et. al (2001) and Clark and Mayer (2003) developed the following series of principles for multimedia and e-learning. Spatial Contiguity Principle Sometime texts are organized so that the textual information and its corresponding picture are physically separated by a number of pages. This causes the reader to have to flip back and forth between pages while trying to retain either the text or picture information in short-term memory. Thus, you should place corresponding words and graphics near each other. Temporal Contiguity Principle This principle is somewhat analogous to the spatial contiguity principle. Students learn better when verbal and visual materials are temporally synchronized rather than separated in time. Coherence Principle Sometimes teachers add information to their presentations thinking that addition of materials will
increase the chance of student engagement. Thus, adding interesting material can hurt learning. Split-Attention Principle Students who have to watch animated visual information while concurrently reading textual information split their attention between reading the text and watching the visual portion of the animation. The presentation should use audio instead of text so that the students can listen to the audio using their auditory channel while viewing the visual information in their visual channel. Students learn better when the instructional material does not require them to split their attention between multiple sources of mutually referring information. Modality Principle This principle holds true at least for students who are not hearing or visually impaired. Students learn better when the verbal information is presented as audio narration rather than onscreen text. Redundancy Principle We often think that we should include multiple forms of the same content to appeal to students different learning styles. However, Mayer et. al (2001) found that presenting words in both text and audio narration can hurt learning. Personalization Principle Students tend to be more engaged in content and learn more deeply from multimedia lessons when the speaker uses conversational style rather than formal style. Multimedia Principle: Students learn better from words and pictures than from words alone. On screen animation, slide shows, and narratives should involve both written or oral text and still or moving pictures. Simple blocks of text or auditory only links are less effective than when text or narration is coupled with visual images. Web-based e-learning principles and guidelines According to Clark and Mayer (2003, most e-learning activities tend to be one of three general types (p. 274). There are show and tell activities where the goal is to inform students, tell and do activities where students are required to perform a task or procedure, and problem-solving activities where students are supposed to solve a problem. Exhibit 14.1 A Summary of e-learning guidelines Type Best use for Training Goals Show and tell -- Receptive Inform Tell and do Directive Problem-solving guided discovery Procedural Performance Far transfer or problem-solving performance
Examples New hire orientation Product updates Computer end-user training Bank loan application Analysis Sales skills
Before we design content, we first need to determine what the learning outcomes are for a given activity or set of activities. We can then determine if the content type matches the type of activity we have planned. In Clark and Mayers (2003) below, compare the types of content with the types of interaction for the example given.
Table 9.1 Interactions for Five Types of Content in E-learning Content Type Interaction Description Fact Use the fact to complete a task. Provide a job aid for memory support. Concept Identify a new instance of the concept. Process Solve a problem or make a prediction.
Procedure Principle
Perform a task by following steps. Perform a task by applying guidelines
Example: Web page creation Use the codes on your reference aid to access the application Select the Web page that applies effective design features. Predict the impact of a miscoded page property specification on the final Web page output. Select the text font from the pull-down menu. Design an effective Web page.
Clark and Mayer (2003) and I also suggest a number of other guidelines that teachers should consider in designing online course or e-learning activities. 1. Incorporate student learning outcomes (SLOs) so that students know where to focus their efforts (Clark and Mayer, 2003), (Wong, 2005). Student learning outcomes can be placed at the beginning of each week of activities or each new topic that is introduced. 2. Use authentic online activities and assessments. According to a review of the literature on authentic activities by Reeves, Herrington, and Oliver (2002, p. 3), authentic activities have the following characteristics:
Authentic activities have real-world relevance -- Activities match as nearly as possible the real-world tasks of professionals in practice rather than decontextualised or classroom-based tasks. Authentic activities are ill-defined, requiring students to define the tasks and subtasks needed to complete the activity -- Problems inherent in the activities are illdefined and open to multiple interpretations rather than easily solved by the application of existing algorithms. Learners must identify their own unique tasks and sub-tasks in order to complete the major task. Authentic activities comprise complex tasks to be investigated by students over a sustained period of time -- Activities are completed in days, weeks and months rather than minutes or hours. They require significant investment of time and intellectual resources. Authentic activities provide the opportunity for students to examine the task from different perspectives, using a variety of resources -- The task affords learners the opportunity to examine the problem form a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives, rather than allowing a single perspective that learners must imitate to be successful The use of a variety of resources rather than a limited number of preselected references requires students to detect relevant from irrelevant information. Authentic activities provide the opportunity to collaborate -- Collaboration is integral to the task, both within the course and the real world, rather than achievable by an individual learner. Authentic activities provide the opportunity to reflect -- Activities need to enable learners to make choices and reflect on their learning both individually and socially. Authentic activities can be integrated and applied across different subject areas
and lead beyond domain-specific outcomes -- Activities encourage interdisciplinary perspectives and enable diverse roles and expertise rather than a single well-defined field or domain. Authentic activities are seamlessly integrated with assessment -- Assessment of activities is seamlessly integrated with the major task in a manner that reflects real world assessment, rather than separate artificial assessment removed from the nature of the task. Authentic activities create polished products valuable in their own right rather than as preparation for something else -- Activities culminate in the creation of a whole product rather than an exercise or sub-step in preparation for something else. Authentic activities allow competing solutions and diversity of outcome -Activities allow a range and diversity of outcomes open to multiple solutions of an original nature, rather than a single correct response obtained by the application of rules and procedures.
3. Provide lesson self-checks to help students assess their knowledge and identify their skills gaps. (Clark and Mayer, 2003), (Wong, 2005) 4. Provide practice and immediate feedback (Wong, 2005) 5. Set minimum limits of individual participation for course activities (bulletin board discussion, completing course activities to keep students on-task) (Wong, 2005) 6. Make periodic use of classroom assessment techniques (CATS) early in the lesson periods to assess student comprehension (Wong, 2005) 7. Follow multimedia/e-learning principles when designing course content (Clark and Mayer, 2003), (Wong, 2005) 8. The conditions of practicing a skill should match as closely as possible the use of the skill in real life. (Clark and Mayer, 2003) 9. Spaced practice of a skill over a longer time frame is generally better than repeated practice of a skill during an intensive time period. (Clark and Mayer, 2003), (Wong, 2005) 10. Provide opportunities for students to self-reflect on the applicability of the knowledge or skills they are learning. (Clark and Mayer, 2003) 11. Use worked examples (step-by-step demonstrations of how to perform a task or solve a problem) as practice problems for novice learners. (Clark and Mayer, 2003) 12. If problem-solving skills are taught, they are best learned if they are taught in the realistic problem-solving context in which they will be used. (Clark and Mayer, 2003) 13. Cognitively model or think out loud when teaching students how to solve a problem. (Clark and Mayer, 2003), (Wong, 2005) 14. Create activities that require collaboration among learners. (Clark and Mayer, 2003)
Saving word documents as web pages

Word processed documents are NOT web pages. I would say that the vast majority of teachers who create web pages are creating them from word documents that they use as handouts in the on-campus classes. Obviously, there are advantages to this approach. However, you should be aware of some of the caveats as well. You can control the position of information on a word document better than a web page. Web pages are ONLY approximations because students or viewers control how the browsers, e.g., Netscape, display information. When you save a word-processed document as web page, it saves a COPY of the word document as a web page. Do NOT choose the Save as single web page option if you are using Microsoft Word 2003/2004. It creates an MHTML file that will not work with WebCT. Sometimes when you save a word document as a web page the icon for the document will change from a MS Word icon to an Internet Explorer icon. Don't worry, the web pages will be viewable in all web browsers but the exact placement of information on your web page will not likely be the same as it is on the word document.
If you're an Apple user, notice that word documents and web pages also have different suffices. Web pages MUST either use the suffix .htm or .html in order for a web browser to display it properly. File suffices are automatically appended if you are a Windows' user. Files that are uploaded without a suffix cannot be viewed in web browser. WARNING: Your file or folder names CANNOT have any blank spaces, apostrophes, forward slashes, or dashes in them. Rename the file BEFORE you save it as a web page if your word document file's name contains a blank space, apostrophe, etc. For more info, review the primer on naming files and folders for the WWW at http://frc.sbcc.edu/frc/tutorials/dirprimer.html. When you insert an image or word art into a word document and save the file, the result is ONE file. However, when you save a word document with an image as a web page, it saves the word document as a web page and the accompanying image separately in a folder with the web page. Note that the folder has a similar name to the web page file name. In the example below, my word document titled "index.doc" is converted to a web page with the name "index.htm" and its accompanying folder is created with a similar name.
Consequently, if your web page has an image, you MUST upload both the web page and the folder with the image. One common problem teachers have if they use MS Word to make pages is finding the image folder once the web page is saved. Save your web pages to your computer desktop, if possible, in order to make it easier to find your file. Save your home page with the title or name index. Save all your other web pages but make sure that each of their names are different from one another. For example, your home page will be called index but other pages can be titled page1 and page2, etc. There should be one web page for each word document that you saved as a web page. Example: If you save these three word documents as web pages
you would end up with these web pages (shown below) and their respective folders. Remember, when a word document with an image is saved as web page the folders are automatically created by Microsoft Word. So the web page index.htm has at least one image and the web page page2.htm has at least one image. The images are located inside the folders.
TIP: Save your word document and web page in the same folder because MS Word creates the folder with the image in the same folder that contains the original word document.
Flexible learning & universal design

Flexible learning is based on the idea that from the beginning of the course design and development process, teachers should consider providing multiple forms of course content in order to appeal to students with different learning styles, and in order to reduce the risk of creating learning barriers that can occur when only one form of media is used. The KEY ideas of flexible learning are: "Learners_ capacities are not inherent; capacities are defined by the interplay between learners_ abilities and the tools they use. Traditional classroom materials and media, like books and speech, come in _one size_ for all, but they do not fit everyone. Inflexible media actually create barriers to learning. New classroom media, like digital text, sound, images, and the World Wide Web, can be adjusted for different individuals and can open doors to learning" (Rose & Meyer, 2002).
David Wong 1/29/07 8:25 AM

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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) -- http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm requires that all publicly-funded entities and programs provide a reasonable accomodation for students who have a disability. As a result, SBCC staff and faculty have an obligation to provide an accommodation to students who can provide documentation that verifies not only their disability but also current educational limitations in college. The documentation will relate directly to the requested accommodation. The documentation must be from a licensed/certified professional such as a medical doctor, neurologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, audiologist, ophthalmologist, or learning disabilities specialist. DSPS students have various types of disabilities. The types of typical accommodations are required to provide for online students range from extended time for online tests to providing alternate forms of media if assistive technology software cannot read online documents or media. In 1998, an amendment to section 508 -- http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm of the ADA was passed. The purpose was to strengthen and clarify the law with respect to electronic and information technology. As teachers, we have an obligation to make sure that the electronic materials we develop do not create barriers for students. Some simple things we can do to web pages are: Provide meaningful alternate text for all web images Construct tables so that the header/row information can be read by a screen reader and so that the headings/row information make sense Provide table captions and summaries Provide transcripts for web videos and plan for video captioning for all video/disk formats If color is used to differentiate info, there must be an alternate way for vision-impaired students to see the distinctions Keep electronic versions of word documents handy so that if students with disabilities request them, you can send the electronic versions to them promptly.
Workshop Activity: 1. Go to Cast's Teaching Every Student Tutorial on creating flexible web pages located the following web address: http:// www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/index.cfm Log in as wong@sbcc.edu password is the same 2. Then search for: "Chapter 3: Why We Need Flexible Instructional Media " which is in the TES / Ideas & Information >> Teaching Every Student TOC >> Chapter 3 3. Take a look at how Chapter 3 is designed. Notice the many different options provided for users such as printing the current web page, taking notes about the current web page, etc., as well as the multiple forms of media such as movies, text, etc. 4. Then take one of your activities and outline how you might add other media formats and/or add options for your students such as taking notes in order to make your activity more flexible for learners. The point here is not to suggest that you need multiple formats of media for every activity you undertake; however, when other forms of media and options are available, you may wish to consider including them in the activity's design.

Getting to and into your online course.

Teachers can access the WebCT login page directly or they can access their homepage via Campus Pipeline (CP). Students should access their online courses via CP. WEBCT ROUTE Step 1. WebCT Vista makes use of java VM so choose the Check browser link on the login page BEFORE you log in the first time to Vista. A new window will appear with either checkmarks indicating approved browser settings or Xs indicating that you need to make some changes to your browsers preferences. To access the WebCT login page, go to: http://vista.sbcc.edu Step 2. Type in your login ID and password. Your login convention is as follows: login ID: firstinitialfirstnamelastname password: firstinitialfirstnamelastname (you may have to append a 1 to it, e.g,. firstinitialfirstnamelastname1) example: John Doe login ID: jdoe password: jdoe Note: login IDs and passwords are case and space sensitive so please be careful. You will be required to change your password if this is the first time you are using WebCT Vista. CAMPUS PIPELINE ROUTE Step 1. To access the CP login page, go to: http://cp.sbcconline.net Step 2. Type in your login ID and password (ID is the same but password may be different). Step 3. Choose the My Classes tab, the term or semester using the pull-down menu.
Step 4. Then choose the link for your course under the Courses Im Teaching heading. Choose the link for your course. This will open a new window with your course home page loaded into the window. Note that students have to choose a link which takes them to the http://www.sbcc.edu/vista login screen. Their user ID is the same as their password.
Warning: All students except your fake student must log in via Campus Pipeline. Also, the login convention for students is DIFFERENT from your convention.
Navigating in your online course

Step 1. There are three views available in your online course. They are the fake student or web demo student view, the teaching view, and the build view. Generally, you have to be in the Build view to make any changes to course tools, content, etc. You must be in the teacher view while teaching the course, e.g., sending email, posting info to the bulleting board, etc. Note that each section has one fake student. As a course section/designer, you have access to all three views with your ONE course login.
You change from student to designer view by selecting the radio button for that view. The buttons are located under the title for your course. The Build tab allows you to add or edit content in your course. The Teach tab allows you to interact with students. The Student View allows you to see the course as your students would see it. Each online course section is given one fake/demo student so fake student logins are NO longer necessary. You can take tests in WebCT Vista Quiz tool or submit assignments just as real students by using this View. Step 2. Essentially, there are FIVE ways to navigate within your online WebCT course. Note that NOT all of the WebCT course tools may be visible. Choose the MORE TOOLS>> link at the far right and top end of the toolbar menu to see any other tools that are available. Option 1. Upper toolbar links
Option 2. Action menus are icons that allow the user to move forward and backward through a sequence of content in a learning module. (l to r -- retrace, back or previous, next page, add bookmark, and take notes icons, respectively)
Option 3. Breadcrumbs are links that display a trail of your most recent travel inside your course. You can backtrack where you've been by choosing one of the breadcrumb links. In the example below, you can see you are currently in an assignments file (boldface type) but you were currently on the course Home Page just prior to linking to the assignments' page. To navigate to the Home page, just choose the Home page link in the breadcrumbs.
Option 4. Icons on the course home page
Option 5. USE the GO TO pulldown menu to navigate to course modules or organizer pages.
Getting your web pages into your online course

Before we get started, heres a short little primer about naming files and folders on the WWW. a. ALL files uploaded into your course must have an appropriate suffix. Note that Windows XP, NT, users do not need to add the suffixes to web pages if you are using Microsoft Word to develop their web pages. For web pages, use .htm or .html suffices Example: assignment1.html For images, use .gif or .jpg or .png suffices. Generally, drawings, illustrations and graphics are saved in the gif image format while the jpeg format is reserved for photographs or continuous tone images. Example: mystatute.jpg For movies, use the real media format and .rm suffix if possible. Example: mymovie.rm For word documents, use .doc suffix *Example: my_document.doc *Note that Word documents are not viewable on the web except for those Windows users who use Internet Explorer and MS Word. Therefore, when one chooses a link with a file that has the .doc suffix, the browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) will generally prompt you to download the file in order to view it. b. Do NOT use BLANK SPACES in file or folder names. If you must have a space in a file or folder name use an underscore, but not a hyphen nor a forward nor a backward slash. Example: module_1 (for a folder titled module 1) c. Case sensitivity is important in a unix operating environment so name all your files and folders using all lower case letters to prevent any problems with accessing files. Example: the file titled game.htm Game.htm Step 1. To upload files into your course, choose the Build Tab, basic view sub-tab and then the File Manager link in the upper tool bar.
Step 2. Browse for the file on your hard drive/zip disk and then choose its destination folder. The [destination] folder is the folder where you want the file to go. Generally, your files should
go into the my_files folder if you do not have a particular place for them. Using the file manager, you are limited to uploading ONE file at a time into your course unless you compress several files into a single compressed file use zipping software first. You can also upload files/folders via the Add Network Place function. Choose the WebDAV info button and copy the address. Then add a new Network place and paste in the address. A login window will appear. Type in you WebCT user ID and password. After you successfully login, youll see a new window with your files/folders inside. For more help on WebDAV, choose WebCTs contextualized help link.
In other words, you cannot upload a folder of files unless the folder has been compressed as a single file. Finally, choose the Save button to upload your file. This uploads a copy of the file into your course. But your file is still not available for viewing until you make a link to it.
Step 3. Create a new folder -- You can also create folders in WebCT using Create Folder button. Remember, Vista is based on unix so folder or file names should NOT have blank spaces, forward slashes, dashes, etc., in their names. Use an underscore if you need to separate words.
Step 4. Move a misplaced file -- If you upload a file to the wrong folder, dont worry. You can move a file by selecting the checkbox next to the file and the MOVE button. Heres the tricky part, you have to navigate to the correct folder by choosing your course folder in left handnavigation menu; otherwise, you might upload your file to the wrong location. Youll see a confirmation that the link to the original file will be broken if your course was developed from a master template. Choose OK.
Step 5. Renaming or deleting files and folders in WebCT.
You can rename a file by choosing the pencil icon
in the row of the file you want to rename.
You can also delete a file by choosing the icon in the row of the file you want to delete. If a files name is italicized, then you must break the link between the shortcut, i.e., italicized file name, and the original file which is at the course template level. Choose the break link to break the course link. You CANNOT rename a folder in Vista at this point in time. icon
Step 6. Create a new web page instead of uploading an existing file -- Note you can also Create a New HTML file by choosing the Create File button at the bottom of the File manager screen. You can type plain text or HTML into the form blank, or you can choose the circular HTML tool creator radio button. This will open a new window thats like a word processor window. The HTML creator tool simulates a word processing application but it really only has a few features.
Approaches to Organizing Course Files

Here are some examples for organizing your course files in WebCT. Remember, you can create folders in WebCT and save or move your web pages into them. The important thing here is consistency. Once you choose or develop a structure, use that structure to organize your folders/files throughout the development of your online course. The folder/file structure in your online course should resemble that structure on your hard drive. If you put all your files into the ONE my-files folder [see below], then it will become difficult if not impossible for you to find and replace course files as your course grows in size.

Getting your syllabus into your online course

Step 1. Choose the build tab, basic sub-tab view. Add the syllabus tool to the upper tool bar. You have two choices here. Either upload a syllabus file into your course or use Vistas syllabus maker web form. If youre uploading a syllabus file into your course, be sure you saved it as a web page and not a word document before you upload it. Then choose the Browse button and browse for the syllabus web page you uploaded.
Step 2. Once you locate the file, select the circular radio button next to the syllabus file and choose the Add Selected button.
Step 3. If you choose the built-in syllabus tool, then you must choose the circular radio button for the built-in syllabus tools (see below).
Then youll need to fill in the form blanks and add the categories to the syllabus, e.g., Instructors name, homework assignments, etc., after the syllabus tool loads. For detailed instructions on using this tool, choose the WebCT Help link in the upper right hand window of Vista. Vistas help is contextualized so youll get the help for the syllabus online tool.
Creating a sequence of content
(learning content module)
A sequence of content or learning content module is like a table of contents with links to web pages youve developed, links to a specific topic in the course bulletin board, a link to an external web address, or a link to a specific quiz. Any of the content in a content module can be hidden or selectively released to specific students based on a variety of criteria, name, last grade in quiz, member of group, etc. Step 1. To create a learning content module, choose the build tab, basic view and choose the add learning module link in the left-hand menu. A submenu will appear. Choose the Create Learning module button.
Step 2. Type the name of the learning module, e.g., course contents, topic a, and choose the save button. To add a link to a web page, choose the Content File >> link in the left-hand menu, to add a link to a quiz in the quiz tool, choose the Assessments>> link, etc. Step 3. You can reorder the links in your learning module by choosing the checkbox next to the item you want to move, and then choose the above the link where you want to move your icon and change its setting to hidden icon or you can delete the link link. You can hide the link for an item by choosing the instead of visible; you can preview the item by choosing the
to the item (note this does not delete the file or item itself, just the link to it) by choosing the icon.
You can selectively release content as well by choosing the selective release map icon in the lefthand menu. Choose the Help link in the upper part of the WebCT window for more detailed instructions on learning content module design.

Adding [external or internal] links

Not all course content is sequential. Teachers can add hyperlinks to external web sites or to single web pages inside their course. Step 1. To add an external link, choose URL link in the left-hand menu.
Step 2. Choose the CREATE URL button and type in the links address and its respective descriptor or title. Then choose the SAVE button. Step 3. Type in the web address or select the web page you already uploaded into your course. Remember, Web addresses should contain the full address, e.g., http://www.sbcc.edu. As an option, you must also decide if you want the web page to open in a new window other than the one your class is in, or in the same window. Choose open in a new window in order to reduce navigation problems. Step 4. You can add a link to a SINGLE, not sequence, web page by choosing the Content File >> link in the left-hand menu. Then choose the file from the list of files that appear. This will put a link to that individual file on your course home page. WARNING: Choosing a link in the left-hand menu adds a link to a SPECIFIC file, bulletin board topic, assessment, and NOT a link to a list of quizzes, bulletin board topics, assessments, etc. If you want students to access all of the items in a tool, they must do so via the link in the upper tool bar.

Adding an assignment
Assignments are but one means that teachers use to assess students understanding of course content. Assignments in online courses vary in structure, e.g., from webquests to written papers, and in form, text to Powerpoint presentation. If you are going to require students to submit assignments, there are at least four questions to ask yourself: 1. In what form is the submitted assignment? In other words, is the assignment going to be a written paper, an image, a Microsoft Powerpoint presentation, etc? 2. How long is the assignment? In other words, how many pages in length is the document on average, and how large is the file if it is not a written document? 3. Are you going to give feedback when you return the submitted assignment? What type of feedback, i.e., hand written comments, drawing, etc., will you be providing? 4. How critical is it for you to control the access and deadline for submitting the assignment? The answers to these questions will to a large degree determine which WebCT tool you use, if any. For example, if the students written submissions are two pages or less and they are for credit/no credit, it may be simpler to have the student send the assignment in the body of the email rather than attach the assignment as a word document. Why? Because assignments in the form of word documents require the teacher or tutor to download the assignment for each of the students in order to view the assignments. However, if youre the kind of teacher who likes to write your comments on the students papers or you want to include your proofreading marks on the paper, it may be too restrictive to have to TYPE your comments. If you want to use the assignment tool and the assignments are relatively short, then have the student paste the assignment in the assignment submission form blank using <P> to separate paragraphs. There wont be any text formatting but the <P> tag will separate paragraphs. Second, if the written documents are long, it may make more sense to have the students send the assignments via paper mail with a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) so that you dont have to print them out and so that you can write your comments on them before returning them. Also, if youre going to have long written assignments, be sure to give your students plenty of lead time to get them written and submitted. Third, one problem with using email to submit assignments is that it is difficult to control the deadline for submission in that students will email you their assignments PAST the deadline date, i.e., sort of analogous to slipping the assignment underneath your office door. In order to control the in/out date for assignments, teachers can use WebCTs assignment tool to control access to the assignment, i.e., when its available and when deadline for submission ends. Note that WebCTs assignment tool only works with word documents. Fourth, if the assignments form is anything other than a word document or a web page image, youll likely need software in order to view the assignment. So, once again consider the following factors when constructing an assignment: a. form of submission (written e-paper, image, web page, etc.) b. length or size of the submission (long written paper or large image file)
c. form of teacher feedback (handwritten comments, drawing, etc.) d. control of access to and deadline for submission (when they can first access the assignment and the deadline for submitting it) Step 1. Creating an assignment using the assignment tool Add an assignment using the CREATE assignment button or link. There are two types. Students can submit their assignments in the form of web pages OR some other form which might be a word doc, a web image, etc. Web assignments MUST be compressed using some form of zip software, e.g., Winzip, Zippist, PKZip, etc.
Step 2. Type in the title and instruction set (must be only a few sentences long at this point in time) or attach an instruction set, i.e., what they are supposed to do.
Step 3. Decide who will be assigned the assignment, i.e., individual or group assignment.
Step 4. Set the due date and cutoff date. A cutoff date is the last date that an assignment will be accepted but it will be marked LATE by WebCT. Decide if students can retrieve the assignment before the due date by checking/unchecking the box.
Step 5. Enter the numeric or alphanumeric grade and choose the checkbox so that WebCT creates a column in WebCTs gradebook for the assignment.
Step 6. Set the publish control which allows you or you and the student to publish their assignment so that other students can see it in the class.
Step 7. You cannot RESET an assignment for a student during the semester but you can change the due and cutoff dates if these dates/times have not already passed. Step 8. You cannot duplicate an existing assignment other than creating a new one and copying and pasting the info from the old one into the new one. Step 9. You cannot download ALL students attached assignments at a time like you could in the old version of WebCT. To View students submitted assignments, choose the TEACH tab and the Submitted tab in the Assignment tool dropbox.
To grade a students assignment, choose the submitted sub-tab and the link for the assignment next to the students name. If the assignment is the type where the student submitted his assignment via the assignment tool form blank, then read it, assign a grade and write a short comment. A student can then access the graded assignment via the graded subtab in the assignment tool or see his/her grade via the my grades link.
Note, students can see their individual grades ONLY so dont worry about confidentiality here.

Adding Course Content Support Tools

WebCT offers a variety of tools available to support students varying skill levels and knowledge sets. The purpose of these tools is to provide the teacher with a means to scaffold students understanding. All of these tools can be part of a Media Library collection. Heres a small sample of the types of content support tools available in WebCT.
Course content support (which can be associated with individual pages of content) list not complete below Glossary terms Video or audio files (film studies files, famous speeches) Image databases (photo examples, art history works) Workshop Activity: Many introductory courses introduce new terminology to their students. In the regular classroom, its easy to define a term for a student, but in the online classroom youre like to get the same question more than once. For this activity, construct a simple glossary of terms that you use in your course pages. You can add a glossary in two ways. As a global tool that students can select when they have a question, or you can provide a link from within one of your web pages directly to the definition itself. This makes it easier for the student to find the definition without browsing through the glossary. For this activity, well choose the latter approach. Step 1. In order to associate a term in the glossary with the same term on a particular web page, change to the build tab, basic view sub-tab. Then choose the Add Media Library Collection link in the left-hand menu. Add a name description for your collection. If its a glossary, add the name glossary and a description of the types of words to be found in the glossary.
Step 2. Then choose the CREATE entry button to add a term one at a time. Add the title, description, browse for the file if its an image or video to uploaded, enter the keywords
separated by commas, and select the checkbox of the column you want the new term to be associated with.
Step 3. Under the more options link, choose the type of linking. Manual will allow you to add links to instances of your terms in your uploaded web pages. Automatic first instance will make a link to the term in the first instance of every web page and all instances option will make a link to the term in all instances of all web pages.
Step 4. To manually unlink terms in your web pages, choose the media collection. Then choose the checkbox next to the terms you need to update. If you need to update the links for all the terms in a collection, choose the table header row and choose the update links button.
Remember, you can always choose the help in WebCT for creating the Media Collections by choosing the help link in the upper right hand side of the window.
Adding a WebCT tool to the upper tool bar

Course homepages dont come with tools already in place. You decide which tools to make available to students. Generally, once the tools are added, they become accessible via the course upper toolbar. Step 1. To add a WebCT tool, choose the link for the tool in the Add to Course Toolbar row. This will place a link to the tool in the Course Toolbar row below.
Step 2. To add or edit content in the tool, choose the link for the tool and the go to tool option will appear. This will open the tool in the existing browser window.
Step 3. To remove a tool in the toolbar, choose the tool (one mouse click) and the Remove option. To move the placement of the tool left or right in the upper tool bar, chose the left or right green Move arrows. Note that in the teacher or student view, only four tools are visible at any one time until one chooses the MORE OPTIONS link.
Finally, students cannot access any tool that you do not make available in your course.

Customizing your course home page

Step 1. To customize your course home page, e.g., change icon sets, etc., choose the Course customization link in the left-hand menu.
Step 2. You can change the course colors, icon sets, or page layout (number of columns of icons). If youre unsure, then leave it alone.
Step 3. Generally, you want enough contrast between the foreground info (type) and the background (color of page) so black type on a white or gray background is sufficient. You can change the color of the screen or header colors by moving the slider controls left and right. Note that this is a very, generic approximation. There are other more complicated options that you can employ but talk with the FRC staff in order to use them. If you make a mistake or change your mind, choose the RESTORE DEFAULT button.
Step 4. WebCT provides six different icons sets. To change an icon set, choose the icon set button and then the circular radio button to the left of the icon set. You can also choose to have links to the tools instead of icons on your home page. Note that it is NOT generally a good idea to mix icon sets, nor is it a good idea to design your own icons unless you are knowledgeable about web image design.
If you decide to mix and match icons, choose the SINGLE icon you want to replace in the set with your mouse and the replace option that appears in the dialog box window. This allows you to locate the icon you uploaded previously in your course.
Step 5. The icons on your home page are in an invisible table. You can change the number of columns by choosing page layouts and the number of columns pull-down menu in the lower right hand side of the window. In the screen capture below, there are four columns of icons.
For more info on course customization, choose the WebCT Help link in the upper right hand side of the WebCT window.
Step 6. You can move icons on the course home page by choosing the icon and its respective MOVE up, down, or left-right green arrow keys.

Add a title and daily/weekly routine to your course home page

You can add a course title to your course home page in the build, basic view mode. Choose the pencil icon to the right and above your icons to add a course title.
You might also want to list the routine that students are to follow each and every time they log into your course. Otherwise, your students are likely to be less organized and be playing with all the different course tools and content rather than being focused and on-task. You can type HTML into this blank provided you select the HTML checkbox. You can also choose the HTML creator which will open a window with a simple, pseudo-word processing window to create your text. If you do not select either the HTML creator or the HTML checkbox, then the text will retain the paragraph or line spacing only.
You may also want to add a footer below the icons to add copyright info, or announcements, etc.

Online Assessment
What is assessment? Assessment is the "process of collecting data in order to gain an understanding of students' strengths and weaknesses in order to make appropriate educational decisions" (Salvia & Ysseldyke, 1995, p. 26). The data we collect come in a lot of different forms such as quizzes, exams, questions we ask students, and non-verbal feedback. Given Salvia and Ysseldyke's definition, we make assessments all the time without necessarily assigning a grade, don't we? Among other things, teachers look to see if students are: * * * * * * engaged in content or class activity behaving appropriately for the activity under the influence of something other than your enthralling lecture understanding the goal or objective of the activity comprehending the content itself participating in the activity
Global, educational, and instructional objectives As teachers we use course objectives to help us clarify the goals of instruction for a particular class. Course objectives can be categorized into three different categories and differ with respect to scope, i.e., generality vs. granularity, purpose and time frame. Global objectives are written for the institution level, educational objectives are written for the curricular level, and instructional objectives are written for the lesson level. *Table 2.1. Relationship of Global, Educational, and Instructional Objectives Level of Objective
*From (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001, p. 17).
Here are few examples of global, educational, and instructional objectives. Note that as we move from global to instructional objectives the level of granularity changes and the number of possible instructional tasks that could be used to complete these objectives narrows. Instructional objectives and student learning outcomes are similar in nature. Global objective example: Develop the concepts of fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals and use models to relate fractions to decimals and to find equivalent fractions. Educational objective example: The ability to read musical scores. Instructional objective/student learning outcome (SLO) example: The student is able to cite three causes of the Civil War. Sometimes students have difficulty assessing their success with an activity because they don't understand the objectives or outcomes of the activity. So, when you design a course activity, be sure to (re-) examine the student learning outcomes for that activity. Do you believe your students understand how they are going to be assessed given the wording of the outcome or objective? Will they be given an opportunity to reflect on their success before you present new course content? From the SBCC SLO website... Both outcomes and objectives are used to describe the intended results of educational activities. The difference between the two is their level of precision. Outcomes express intended results in general terms. They describe broad learning concepts such as interact productively with others, questioning, write effectively for a specific audience or purpose. By contrast, objectives describe specific knowledge, attitudes, or skills a student should possess within a larger outcome area. Because of their more precise focus, objectives tell us more specifically what needs to be assessed, and thus are a more accurate guide to suitable assessment measurement tools. For example, demonstrate respect for others when interacting with classmates on class projects would be an objective within the larger domain of the interacting productively with others outcome area. Where do you place your written student learning outcomes? At the beginning of a course topic (learning module) -- see example below...
What type(s) of assessment are you conducting? Before you create an assessment, you have to make sure that the assessment you're creating/conducting matches the type(s) of assessment you want to perform. For example... Cognitive assessment is "focused on measuring students' higher order thinking abilities, attitudes, and communication skills" (Reeves, 2000, p. 107). Performance assessment is defined as methods that require learners "'to demonstrate their capabilities directly, by creating some product or engaging in some activity'" (Reeves, 2000, p. 107). Portfolio assessment is "any method by which a student's work is stored over time so that it can be reviewed in relationship to both process and product" (Reeves, 2000, p. 108).
Is the assessment authentic? Furthermore, shouldn't your assessment be authentic? In other words, where possible, shouldn't the assessment you conduct require students to be "effective performers" with the knowledge rather than just testing to see if students can "recognize, recall, or plug-in" what was recognized? See Grant Wiggins The Case for Authentic Assessment website for more information. When do assessments occur? Formative vs. Summative Assessment When teachers talk about assessment, they often talk about formative or summative assessments. Formative assessments are assessments that are made during the course of instruction. Summative assessments are assessments that are made after instruction takes place.
How online assessment differs from regular classroom assessment? In the regular classroom, teachers make subjective assessments as to the whole classs or groups understanding of course content while in the process of presenting that content. The assessments are often based on students verbal questions and responses as well as their nonverbal behavior, e.g., facial expressions. In the online classroom, non-verbal feedback is absent. Thus, teachers end up relying more on the products of students work in order to make an assessment. This, of course, makes it more difficult for teachers to intervene when problems in comprehension arise. Consequently, online teachers need to use some additional means to assess students understanding before the graded assignment or exam is due. As you can imagine, no one tool is sufficient to help teachers assess students understanding and progress in the course. Rather, it is through the combination of a variety of tools and strategies that teachers will be able to more accurately assess students in a timely manner. Teacher-student feedback Teachers in on-campus classrooms have to come to rely on immediate, face-to-face interaction that occurs over regular time periods, e.g., 50 minutes, one and one-half hours, etc. In an online course, teacher-student feedback does not occur face-to-face, i.e., generally mediated by text, and the interaction may take place over hours if not days, i.e., it's generally asynchronous. Since non-verbal communication in the on-campus classroom constitutes the majority of communication (93%) according to some researchers (Mehrabian (1971), what can online teachers do get a sense of the entire class' understanding before the exercise or assignment is due? Like on-campus teachers, online teachers can employ Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS) in order to get written feedback from the entire class of students. For example, an online teacher can send an email to all his students with the subject line muddiest point. In the body of the email, the teacher can ask students to write what they each believe is the muddiest point of the textbook reading assignment. When the students respond, the teacher can compile the students responses and can quickly get a sense as to students' confusion about the reading. Since students are REQUIRED to complete the CATS soon after the reading or activity is assigned, the teacher can intervene and correct students' misunderstandings before new content is presented. Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS) strategy (1993) Tom Angelo and Pat Cross Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS) is one useful means of assessment students to determine if and to the degree theyre getting it. The purpose of the
assessments is to give the teacher a sense of the whole classes understanding of the activity. Some generic examples of CATS activities are: The Minute Paper--asks students to respond to two questions: (1) what was the most important thing you learned today?; and (2) what question remained uppermost in your mind at the conclusion of the reading, etc? The Muddiest Point--asks students to write what ONE thing was the muddiest point in today's activity? The One-Sentence Summary--asks students to write one sentence that addresses, who, what, where, when, and why in a one sentence summary. Now, it may not always be that convenient to perform an assessment in this manner. WebCT has a variety of formative and summative assessment tools to help you assess your class. They are: 1. Surveys(formative or summative) used as a means to collect data or to initiate a discussion re some topic. Surveys, by default, are anonymous. 2. Self-tests(formative) short multiple choice/true-false tests embedded into the course content itself. Short-tests are graded, i.e., correct/incorrect, but the results are NOT recorded. Self-tests can be used to help students check their understanding PRIOR to any formal exam or quiz. 3. Quizzes or exams(formative or summative) can be timed or un-timed multiple choice, true-false, short-answer, or combination exams. These are very similar to the types of exams/quizzes you have either administered or taken. 4. Individual performance reports (formative) In the teach tab mode, choose the Performance reports link. Then select the students individual name and run a report about his/her activity. The report will contain last login/first login info, the number of bulletin board posts read/posted, scores on quizzes or exams, number of assignments completed, etc. How do students access the exams, surveys, or self-test exercises? You can provide a link off an individual page via the Action menu or off you can put an icon on the home or organizer page which links to a list of quizzes in your course. You can also put a link to the assessment from within a learning content module. Though self-tests are always available, quizzes can be timed for scheduled release and closure, and restricted from unauthorized access. Teachers can also monitor students' exam submission (who took the quiz, who didnt) via the Quiz tools management or the student management grade book feature. 5 Steps in Constructing Quiz/Exam Assessments Here are five simple steps for building an assessment in WebCT Vista:
Step 1 --- Add the questions to the questions database * Choose BUILD Tab >> Content Inventory link * Scroll to bottom and choose Questions database * You can add questions to the database by category or topic, or you can create topics with names similar to the quiz titles, e.g., quiz 1, etc. * Choose the Create Question pull-down menu to create a question type and its green arrow right arrow button Step 2 Choose assessment link * * * * * Choose new assessment button Choose assessment type, self-test, survey, etc. Choose Add existing questions' link or Create a new question. Add questions to your assessment Rearrange the order of your assessment questions if necessary
Step 3 Set the settings for your assessment, e.g., duration, dates of availability, etc. * * * release Choose build tab or Tool tab via Teach mode Choose the link for the assessment If you want your fake demo student to take a quiz or survey, then you must selectively the assessment to the student.
Step 4 Take the assessment as your fake demo student * * * Change to student tab Choose assessment link Choose begin assessment
Step 5 Review the students' submissions if applicable * Choose teacher tab * Choose assessments link * Choose the graded sub-tab to see who has completed the assessment * Choose the triangle (expand all) link for the assessment that you want to review. This will show you a list of the students who have attempted the assessment, their scores, etc. * You can view each student's individual attempt, OR you choose the assessments' report link to run a report as to how ALL students did on individual questions, etc. Workshop Activity: Construct a simple assessment using the process mentioned above. The process for entering quiz/exam questions/answers is similar but they are entered into your quiz/exam database. This allows teachers to create question-answer banks. Thus, teachers can enter a question/answer set once that can be used in more than one quiz/exam.
Online Classroom Communication

Communication in the online classroom differs from communication in the regular classroom in the following ways. Most communication in the regular is face-to-face and occurs in synchronous, i.e., real time, and is face-to-face. In the online classroom, communication is generally in text-only form, i.e., is not face-to-face unless both parties are using videoconferencing, and can be both synchronous and asynchronous. Generally, most communication theorists agree that 90 +/- 5% of communication is non-verbal, which means that a lot of what gets communicated happens in the non-verbal channel. The non-verbal channel is where much of the feedback between teacher and student is communicated. Given the above, the asynchronous/synchronous nature of communication can cause some communication problems. Teachers need to be cautious about the frequency and clarity of their communication in order to avoid misunderstanding. The group dynamics are also different in online instruction. Whereas in the on-campus classroom, social status sometimes determines who is holding the floor or leading the discussion, online communication tends to be more democratic because the social cues are not that visible. For a more detailed tutorial of online communication, go to the following web address: http://frc.sbcc.net/FRC/academy/cmc/0.html The discipline, activity, and tool are factors that affect online collaboration or discussion. 1. What is the goal or purpose of the activity? Some of the questions one might ask are: What constraints does the computer system place on the activity? What mechanisms will I put in place to force participation? Will the questions* posed lend themselves to online discussion? How will I provide feedback to students on their performance? Which tool or combination of tools should one use? *CAVEAT: Try to construct questions that dont easily lend themselves to yes/no answers. If the questions are in the yes/no format, then make sure that you ask students to justify their answers. 2. Which computer-mediated communication (CMC) tool is best suited for the activity? In the online classroom, communication occurs via one of three tools. Theres the chat tool [synchronous], the bulletin board tool [asynchronous], and email [asynchronous]. a. Chat(many to many and synchronous)--requires that the teacher/students be logged on and in the course in order to communicate but folks can be geographically separated. Chat is often considered chaotic because its difficult to direct the flow of conversation or follow a line of thought. However, it can be useful for activities where the order of how the information is posted does not matter and for topic areas where students are likely to already have an opinion, e.g., Roe vs. Wade, religion, pornography, etc. Some students and teachers like chat because it gives them the sense that they really are talking to someone rather than just leaving messages for someone like in an email or in a bulletin board. Chat can also be good when students need to finalize decisions or reach consensus on a discussion because the synchronicity of the system lends itself to the immediacy of the moment.
Here are a few other typical types of activities where a chat tool may be useful. online office hours quick question and answer or review session brainstorming icebreaker activity student socializing
Heres an example of question and review use for a combo chat room/whiteboard. Type your question in the whiteboard. Note that the return or enter key does NOT give you a return for your text. You have to use the ][ key to add another line of text. The students and teacher type their responses in the chat message box at the bottom of the screen.
b. Bulletin board (Many to Many and asynchronous) BB form is generally limited to text though one can post images or dynamic media as part of their posts if they know a little HTML, etc. Bulletin boards better lend themselves to reflective types of activities. BB discussions when they work usually produce very diverse responses from students, i.e., idea generation. As teachers, our responsibility is to weave together the students responses so that the students can see the relationships between their comments, i.e., idea linking, or organize an activity where students are required to examine the relationships. Here are a few ways to help students see the links between responses: through teacher summary statements
students generate concept maps as part of idea linking activity through student (group leader) summaries
One of the problems with BB discussions is it takes MUCH longer for students to reach consensus on a topic or idea. If students are required to reach some consensus on the discussion, they can meet in a chat room after their bulletin board discussion occurs in order to reach a decision. This second post discussion activity is known as idea re-structuring. c. Email(One to Many or One to One and asynchronous)--does not require that teacher/students be logged on and in the course at the same time in order to communicate. Some possible uses individual communication with students classroom assessment techniques short written assignments where the in/out control of assignments is not important
Email is an asynchronous form of communication often used to communicate information between individuals. Some teachers also use email to send announcements when they are not sure that the students will read messages posted to a public board. More recently, teachers are having students submit short written assignments in the body of the email rather than as attachments so that the assignments dont have to be downloaded in order to view them. Some advantages and disadvantages of WebCTs email system are: don't need to keep with students' changing email addresses cannot receive external email from students outside the class cannot receive other miscellaneous email from people outside the class select all or individual students as needed offers NO rules for sorting email internal email only [cannot receive external email] only teachers can delete email once sent tools for organizing your email are primitive method of forwarding your email is primitive communication lacks affect? o using emoticons or acronyms o using purevoice attachments
SUGGESTION: So that your online students dont send email to both your WebCT and Campus Pipeline accounts, set up autoreply rule in Campus Pipeline (CP) to tell your online students that you will NOT be checking your email in CP, but rather in WebCT only. Otherwise, students will be emailing in both places (CP and WebCT), which can increase your workload dramatically. 3. When students participate, how do you lead or control the flow of events? set time limits for participation set minimum level for participation Publicly praise good responses so that students can see examples of GOOD responses. Deal with poor responses privately via email with students
4. How do you give students feedback on their performance?
As you do in the traditional classroom, publicly praise students for good comments. Be aware that grammar and spelling are often poorer in electronic communication than they may be in written documents. Moreover, it may be more important that students participate that worrying about the former. Teachers and teaching assistants often assess or assign a grade for participation, which is another means of providing feedback. 5. Should students be given a grade for participation in bulletin board activities? You bet. In fact youre likely to get mostly lurkers if you dont require participation. As an example, after you post a question for students to answer, require that your students additionally post a reply to at least two other students responses. Anecdotally, weve found greater participation from class members as a result. Workshop Activity: On your week-by-week outline, indicate, where its appropriate, which communication tool you plan to use for each activity youve listed. Then add the tools to your home page, course menu, or action menu. WebCT Communication Tools Helpful Reminders Note: When a bulletin board or email icon is highlighted (green flag next to link), it indicates that someone has sent you at least one new message since the last time you or your students logged into the course. Communication tools can be selectively released so that they are not always accessible to ALL students nor are they accessible for ALL time periods. In order to selectively release a tool, go to the home or course organizer page; change to designer option view; choose the radio button next to the icon; choose the edit link radio button and choose the go button below it. Then set the dates or individuals for release. For email tool: You MUST have a mail tool icon or link in order for students or you to access your WebCT email. You or your students CANNOT receive email from an outside email account Email inside WebCT can be forwarded to an external email address provided that the server is configured to do so. There are no additional logins/passwords for getting to your email. The teacher can create folders into which mail can be moved. Email can be manually deleted at any time during the term by the TEACHER only.
For bulletin board tool: You MUST have a bulletins' tool icon or link in order for students or you to access your WebCT email. You can create conferences or TOPICS into which ALL students or only selective students can post. Only the teacher can create new topic folders Post questions as you need to rather than front-load the course Only the teacher can make topics private. Only the teacher can change the status of a private or public room. The topics can viewed as threaded or unthreaded
The teacher or students can search the bb by user or by topic. Note that when searching, a second window is opened on top of the bb main window. The results of the search are loaded into the main bb window. After search content has been found, the teacher or the students can select the posts and compile them into a web page for printing or for online review. Students can post anonymously The teacher can move posts from one topic folder to another.
For Chat tool & Whiteboard tool: You MUST have a chat room tool icon or link in order for students to access any of the rooms. Each course has a maximum number of four single rooms and one room for the entire course. This configuration cannot be changed. The max number of users in a chat room is currently recommended at 12. Requires Netscape or I.E. 6.0 or later. Java must be enabled in the web browser. See WebCT's page on browser configuration at: http://webct.com/browser.htm You can copy text FROM the chat into a word processing application, but not into a chat room. Logs of room activity are also available for the teacher to review. Students should have ONLY one room open at a time. In order to change rooms, quit the current room before entering another room. The teacher can rename the rooms; the use of underscores is recommended if more than one word is needed in the name. You can import images and create a simple slide show in the whiteboard tool. This works a little quirky for Apple users but decently for Windows users Example: Room One can slightly modify the look of the main chat room login page.
Online Course Management

Course management in WebCT refers to the set of functions that helps teachers monitor student progress such as setting up and configuring your online grade book, tracking how often students access content pages in your course, or creating a backup copy of your course. The following activity will focus on exploring your online grade book in the course management system. Step 1. To access the course grade book, change to the TEACH tab, course-view sub-tab, and then choose the Grade book link in menu above the homepage icons. Step 2. The grade book has four different views. Theres the graded view for which includes the students names and all GRADED activities. The members view includes your students names, etc. The View ALL view contains both the Graded and Members info. The custom view is a custom view that you can create with the columns that you want to view. The SCORM grades view is for content that was developed using a SCORM compliant application like Toolbook, Authorware, etc. Generally, youll be working in the GRADES view most of the time.
Step 3. A list of students names will appear if you have any students enrolled in your course. Note, that teachers CANNOT add students to their online courses. The students names get added automatically through the last day of official adds, i.e., end of second or third week of classes. Teachers can DELETE students from their course but if they do so the data for the students whose names were delete will be gone FOREVER, i.e., no retrieving or backup will exist. Send the students name, student ID, and course section to the help desk at online@sbcc.edu to have your students names removed from your course. To EDIT one students info, choose the students last name. Note that you may have to scroll right and left to see all of the info for a particular student.
Step 4. You can create NEW columns in your grade book. Choose the create column button. You can create alphanumeric columns, e.g., to record students phone numbers, numeric columns, e.g., number grades or to be added into subtotals, etc., calculated columns which can add up numeric columns if you entered a formula for adding them, or a selection list, e.g., credit, no-credit activity.
Step 5. Data can only be entered into those columns that have an EDIT link underneath the column title. To enter a single grade for a student, go to the row of the student and column of the activity and choose the - - link. A dialog box will appear for you to enter and save the grade.
To enter a number of grades for all your students, choose the link of HEADING of the column and small dialog box will appear. Choose the Edit Values option and a new window will appear with form blanks for you to enter each of the students grades.
Step 6. Columns can be moved right or left in the grade book using the reorder columns button. This function will allow you to reorder the display of the columns left to right. While reordering the columns, you can also hide columns from your view in order to make your scrolling left/right to a minimum. Note that hiding columns hides it from your view not your students view.
Step 7. In order for students to see grades you have MANUALLY entered into the grade book, choose the Column settings button. Then choose the check box for column you want to RELEASE to students and choose the RELEASE button at the bottom of the window. Note that you can release more than set of grades at a time.
Step 8. You can download a copy of the data in your gradebook for import into a spreadsheet or grade-keeping program by choosing Export to Spreadsheet button. This allows you to download a text-file of your students grades for import into Excel.

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Designing &amp; Teaching Your Online Course

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Designing &amp; Teaching Your Online Course

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Designing & Teaching Your Online Course

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Characteristics of Online Teaching

Some initial thoughts on the

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The online course development cycle

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Writing and Reading on the WWW

Primer on the use of text and images

Characteristics of dynamic media Dynamic media can provide more information

Audio and video on the WWW

Example 2. -- DSL/cable modem speed

Multimedia and web-based learning research

Perform a task by following steps. Perform a task by applying guidelines

Saving word documents as web pages

Flexible learning & universal design

David Wong 1/29/07 8:25 AM

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Getting to and into your online course.

Navigating in your online course

Option 4. Icons on the course home page

Getting your web pages into your online course

Step 5. Renaming or deleting files and folders in WebCT.

You can rename a file by choosing the pencil icon

in the row of the file you want to rename.

Approaches to Organizing Course Files

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Getting your syllabus into your online course

Creating a sequence of content

(learning content module)

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Adding [external or internal] links

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Adding Course Content Support Tools

Adding a WebCT tool to the upper tool bar

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Customizing your course home page

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Add a title and daily/weekly routine to your course home page

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*From (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001, p. 17).

Online Classroom Communication

4. How do you give students feedback on their performance?

Online Course Management

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in Higher Education, Volume 25 (pp. 562-567). Jamison, ACT: HERDSA.

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