March 2000 — Features
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Web-Enhanced Lecture Course Scores Big with Students and Faculty
5) Remember to create a snapshot of the course at regular intervals. The snapshot records files and student hits per page and per student.
6) In the first lecture class, I surveyed the students as to their computer skills and experience. Questions that could be asked: Do you use e-mail? Do you regularly access the Web? Have you used a search engine? How fast is your modem at home? My results: 21 out of 25 students had used the Web, 24 out of 25 used e-mail, 23 out of 25 had a computer at home (20 out of the 23 computers were Pentiums).
7) Before the semester begins, post a link to the WebCT student manual on the course Web site. Add a welcome page, a welcome e-mail and a welcome message to the Bulletin Board. Hide the icons not needed immediately, to reduce complexity and confusion. Fill in dates on the calendar.
8) Make sure that you visit the Web site as a student, to get a feel for what they will experience throughout the course.
9) Consider printing out hardcopies of course information, and what you will do if someone refuses to use the Web site. Think about how you will handle students who want to pick up the course two to three weeks into the semester.
10) As I had a lecture presentation twice a week, and I continued to keep up on the Web site hits per student, I did not find a problem with “lurkers.” These are students who semi-drop out of a course without officially withdrawing. This can be a major problem in distance education.
11) There may be technical concerns if you are to use the Web in the classroom. I had a setup with the following arrangement. The University computer was connected to my laptop with an Ethernet connection. The laptop was then connected to a video projector to show the Web page or a CD-ROM animation in the classroom. In addition, I showed segments of VHS tapes, which required a VCR, amplifier and connections to the video projector. It is surprising how many unique cables are needed, how many visits to computer stores were required to purchase my own cables, and how many switches there are on the video projection system.
12) In WebCT, when printing out student names and grades, you may have to print using the “landscape” setting on your printer and even then you may have to hide certain columns to fit over 8 columns of grades on the page.
