“The Cost of Liberty is Less than the Price of Repression” (~W.E.B. Dubois)
Melanie R. Fagert, Ed.D.
Indiana State University
Department of Industrial Technology Education


Course management software (CMS) is an often expensive approach to creating an on-line teaching and learning environment. In contrast, a teaching/learning interface can be developed using basic web design software. After a particularly harrowing semester in which teaching and learning were impeded by CMS, this presenter took things into her own hands and developed a template that could be used to deliver web-based and web-enhanced instruction.

Metros & Hedberg (2002) note that “functional, usable, communicative, and aesthetically appropriate user interfaces” play an important role in helping learners to access, both physically and intellectually, content material (p. 192). Similarly, consistent layout and clear navigation were among the factors Swan (2001) noted as key to design of web-based courses. With a high level of skill in instructional design, a moderate level of skill in web-page design, a knowledge of the pitfalls encountered (by the instructor and the students) in courses she had taught using CMS, and a commitment to facilitating learning, this presenter set about creating a template that instructors could use to deliver web-based and web-enhanced instruction.

The product of these efforts can be viewed at http://isu.indstate.edu/fagert/Classes and at http://isu.indstate.edu/busby/ITE698/ITE698index.htm.

If you have questions or would like access to a “blank” copy of the template, you can e-mail the presenter at tchmrf@isugw.indstate.edu

References

Metros, S. E. & Hedberg, J. G. (2002). More than just a pretty (inter) face: The role of
the graphical user interface in engaging eLearners. The Quarterly Review of
Distance Education, 3(2), 191-205.

Swan, K. (2001). Virtual interaction: Design factors affecting student satisfaction and
perceived learning in asynchronous online courses. Distance Education, 22(2), 306-331.