Cyberspace and Beyond: One View on the Possibilities of Course Web Sites
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From my first journey into cyberspace, I have been fascinated by Web page design and awed by the creativity of those who maintain sites on the Internet. In fact, designing my own page began appearing on my own overburdened "things to do" list. Unfortunately, it kept falling further down that list, being replaced with more imminent and ultimately more feasible activities. For instance, I realized early on that this goal was further from my reach because, in order to design Web pages, it was necessary to have a certain facility with html language. If you have ever tried to write html, you know that it requires its own set of skills, and linearity is definitely high among them. Being a non-sequential type, I soon lost patience with the speed at which I was able to proceed with my Web page production. Then I took a position at Ball State University, where I learned that the computer programmers of this world have actually taken to heart the idea behind "user friendly." What this means for the layperson is that there is Web design software available that acts more like a word processor, thus eliminating the need for understanding html language. All you need to know is how to type. For documents already written, knowing how to cut and paste or scan are useful skills as well. Most Internet browser software companies have Web page composer options. The purpose of this article is to describe my experiences with incorporating Web page design and management into an undergraduate course in educational psychology. While references to particular technologies refer to that available at BSU, it is possible to find similar technologies at most universities. It’s important to locate the right technology person to help you translate what you want to do into what is possible with the technology at your institution. This project served as my initiation into the field of technology integration. Eager to create a Web site for my course, I contacted the computing services department. Because I’d missed the mini-course offered in Web page design, they directed me to an online tutorial about the possibilities available. It really was as easy as that. The first step in integrating technology, which for the purposes of this article means a Web page for a course, is to think about what you want to do with the Web page. My idea was to provide a place where students could find information about the course in particular and the field of educational psychology in general. I polled my classes to see what they wanted and what experiences they had in other courses using Web pages. They agreed with my ideas, but we were also able to brainstorm a more expansive list of possibilities which included having the following items available: a syllabus, class overheads, class notes, the video case studies used in class, an electronic gradebook, updates for projects and assignments, a list of links related to the class, a chat room, and e-mail. Some of these ideas were easily integrated into the page, some put on hold, and some are not available. Like me, the students had varying degrees of comfort with Internet technology. The range was from those who maintained personal Web pages to those who had never surfed the Web and did not use e-mail. An ancillary goal of this project was to try to provide interaction on the Web page for all students to increase their knowledge about and comfort using technology. We maintained the Web site as a class. Although I performed the administration, I encouraged feedback from the students, and they influenced many design features of the site. For example, they offered suggestions for items to include on the table of contents, updated me on new links, and made design suggestions that included clip art and color alternatives. I periodically took time in class to solicit updates or simply discuss places they have been on the Web. I allowed these discussions to stray a bit from education-related sites. It was important to me that they explore their own interests and share as a group the new things they learned. We developed an Internet scavenger hunt to be incorporated into the fabric of my future classes which can also be used when the students become classroom teachers. Ball State’s computing services department had designed a template system for course Web page design that is very easy to use. After identifying yourself and the course number for the Web page, you simply select the number of sub-pages you will need. The application automatically sets up a site using a frames layout, complete with a personalized introduction and e-mail button linked to your account. The frames layout has three boxes. Along the left border is the table of contents, on the right hand side of that is a larger area for the body of the page, and along the bottom is a strip that includes an e-mail button and chat room icon (if you choose to include that option.) Managing and administering the class site was not difficult. Maintaining a Web page, at least for a faculty member at my institution, involves having a folder on your computer that contains documents that make up each page of your site. You work on your own computer to update these documents whenever you want to add or delete information on the Web site. You then save the documents on your computer and transfer them to your directory on the university’s Web server. A technologist in the area of faculty support should be able to explain exactly how this works at your institution. As noted above, Ball State offers its faculty an on-line tutorial that explains the process, which I used. It is also possible for faculty to work with instructors in a class setting to accomplish the same end. Although all you need to know is how to open documents on your PC, a working knowledge of e-mail and some experience with the World Wide Web are helpful. Many of the options that the class decided would be useful proved feasible. The first item on our table of contents was the syllabus. Working in the composer software package of our Internet browser, I cut and pasted the syllabus from my word processing program and downloaded it to the server. The class had agreed that it would be helpful to have access to the overhead transparencies that I use in my lectures and discussions. Since these have been provided by the textbook publisher and carry copyright disclaimers, this request raised issues of intellectual property. Our librarians generally handle such issues in connection with materials for more traditional distribution, such as the dissemination of material from books. Publishers are hesitant to grant similar requests for distribution of materials on a Web site, not only because of the novelty of the technology but also from the point of view of security. Information on Web sites is, in many cases, available to all, potentially infringing copyright. Limiting access to a page which includes material from published sources – that is, requiring the students enrolled in your class to provide a user id and password before they can see the page – may address publishers’ concerns. Publishers are open to electronic distribution as long as access is restricted, particularly where such distribution is made to students who have already paid for the accompanying textbook. Next, the class requested that we publish class notes used for each lecture. To date, I have not been able to accommodate this request either, but for a different reason. I do not lecture from notes. In addition, I wrestle with the idea that this may encourage absenteeism by providing full accounts of the class material to those who prefer "independent study." In class, I reinforce the material with activities, case studies, and video vignettes which I believe are more important to learning than anything I have to say: I want students to attend class for those experiences. This request is still under consideration. Students also asked to be able to review on the Web the video case studies we use in class, but this option is not yet available via the Web. Standards for Internet video are still under development: this idea is on hold until technology catches up with our dreams. That said, the students and I were able to agree on a few options that did become available on the Web site. First among these is the electronic gradebook option. Again with help from computing services, students have access, via a protected folder, to their grades. We use a point system in our class. Keeping track of their grades had often caused students angst, eliminated by having almost instant access to their grades. Unfortunately for the professor, someone had to enter these grades in the electronic gradebook. Previously I had used a computer spreadsheet to calculate my grades: I simply needed to get used to the new system. One difficulty I personally encountered had to do with my grading system, a point system which is superimposed on a traditional A, B, C gradebook system. For example, we can see that the 10 out of 10 the student receives on a quiz is an A, but that tells us nothing about how many more of the 100 quiz points toward the 350 total class points he or she needs to get an A in the course. I eventually kept two grade books: one for the convenience of my students, the other for my own sanity. I have filed requests for alternate grading systems have with the gradebook’s developers. Another page on our Web site gave students information on possibilities for their projects. This page contained descriptions of projects that had been carried out by other students in the past and suggestions that I had come across in conversations with colleagues, as well as ideas from current students. Since this Web site was used by three sections of the same class, it gave the students an opportunity to capitalize on the creativity of people both in and out of their section. There was also a page for assignments and more information related to the chapters currently being covered. I updated this page sporadically as I got information. Of all the pages on the site, this was the one I felt needed my attention most frequently because we were using a new textbook that semester, and ideas for each chapter were still evolving. The page contained activities and assignments for each chapter as well as links to relevant information that might increase the students’ knowledge. A new option offered by the BSU library, which I have yet to incorporate, would have been a link to a full-text version of a reserved article from the library’s server. The library would facilitate this by securing the copyright permission for an article placed on reserve, scanning the article, and placing it on their server. The faculty member’s name would appear on the library Web site along with the list of reserved articles; students would then select the appropriate article to read the full text. I plan to incorporate outside reading into the next generation of this course. The final page on the class Web site was a page of related links, divided into different categories according to the needs of students and my own interests. For example, students could link to lesson plan sites or various professional organizations. I personally have an interest in gifted education and maintained a list of related links. The students and I continually updated these lists as we all found interesting sites to visit. One activity I plan to incorporate is to have students explore the Internet and find a Web site of particular interest to them for each category of the links page. Another option that students found interesting was chat rooms, live interactive areas of the Internet which enable students to type messages to anyone sitting at their computer and also using the chat facility at that time. These tend to promote spontaneous interchanges of thoughts and opinions, much like open discussions in classes. One negative aspect of chat rooms is that participants may make inflammatory remarks anonymously. This could cause awkward situations, which may not occur in face-to-face discussions that are mediated by the professor. Chat rooms are "open" 24 hours a day, making it possible and even probable that discussions may degenerate. I have no immediate plans to incorporate Internet chat into my course. Discussion groups are another option, one that could provide an interesting alternative to chat rooms. They do not require simultaneous interaction: students can log on and off and view others’ responses to questions and comments, adding their own views to the list. Identifying authors of opinions is easier in a discussion group. The professor can answer questions and direct feedback to individual students, allowing others to benefit from the discussion. I am exploring this option for a smaller class where I would provide a discussion question for students to respond to. One could also require students to provide the discussion questions for their classmates. This option necessitates a fair amount of diligent monitoring and feedback on the part of the professor. It could, however, offer a quiet student the option for participation and interaction with classmates. The above discussion is based on the experience my class and I had with incorporating technology into a traditional classroom. The Web site provided students with adequate information regarding the class and, I hope, the field of educational psychology. Some may argue that it only skims the surface in terms of proper use of the technology. Keeping in mind that it is a work in progress, I have plans to improve the site for use with another class. For example, the current version of the site does not provide students with the notes they requested on material covered in class. Next semester I will include an outline of relevant material covered during class and required for assessment. Another area that I will update is the section on outside readings and links to relevant information associated with each chapter covered. I will also investigate and possibly pilot the idea of a class discussion group. For those interested in such a project, I suggest beginning small and letting your needs dictate how much innovation you try to incorporate. Some may find that a page including a copy of the syllabus and a list of activities or topics for each week is adequate for their needs. You may want to use the page to keep students updated on assignments and due dates. As you become more comfortable with the technology and more aware of what is available at your institution, you will find yourself expanding very quickly. You may even want to explore other institutions’ sites to monitor developments in the use of course Web sites. Time has been the enemy for me. As a new faculty member, I simply do not have as much time to spend on this project as I would like. Having one year with this course under my belt, I can now take some of the initial energy I expended on the day-to-day activity and transfer it to the further use of technology. Stay tuned. |
