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What We Learned About Coach<strong>in</strong>g Web Sp<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g Faculty<br />

Faculty feedback from the first Institute for Instructional Technology module served to ref<strong>in</strong>e the direction of<br />

faculty Web page support <strong>in</strong> two areas: the structure and content of future Web Page Development tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g<br />

events and adjunct Web page support services for faculty.<br />

When IIT sponsored its next Web Page Development module several changes were made to the curriculum. A<br />

fourth day was added to provide tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g time <strong>in</strong> the use of FTP, to provide additional tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> a few<br />

advanced HTML concepts (e.g., backgrounds, tables), to expand the mentored hands-on workshop periods, and<br />

to make time for peer critiqu<strong>in</strong>g of the pages under development. A fifth day was added <strong>in</strong> which standards<br />

for cit<strong>in</strong>g electronic resources were offered and Website evaluation techniques were covered. In the Website<br />

evaluation techniques session, participants were taught to look for the elements of scope, authority, bias,<br />

accuracy, timel<strong>in</strong>ess, permanence, added value, and presentation. This enables them to more objectively<br />

review their own Web pages for these elements.<br />

Tier Four: Teach<strong>in</strong>g Technologies<br />

Tier Four targets a specific population of faculty who are teach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the campus' electronic classrooms or who<br />

have requested <strong>in</strong>structional technology assistance for their classes. The electronic classrooms, called<br />

Teach<strong>in</strong>g Theaters (http://www.<strong>in</strong>form.umd.edu/TT/), are advanced electronic classrooms with well-<strong>in</strong>tegrated<br />

hardware, software, and network<strong>in</strong>g. Software tools have been developed to enhance the collaborative learn<strong>in</strong>g<br />

environment available <strong>in</strong> these classrooms. With the <strong>in</strong>troduction of the Web, additional capabilities now exist<br />

for faculty us<strong>in</strong>g these facilities to support collaboration both <strong>in</strong> and out of class. The Teach<strong>in</strong>g Technologies<br />

office (http://www.<strong>in</strong>form.umd.edu/TeachTech/), which manages these facilities, works <strong>in</strong>dividually with the<br />

faculty member to develop his/her course materials and student projects utiliz<strong>in</strong>g the campus' <strong>in</strong>forM server<br />

and a Teach<strong>in</strong>g Technologies webserver. The Teach<strong>in</strong>g Technologies Webserver provides <strong>in</strong>teractive Web<br />

capabilities (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g cgi script<strong>in</strong>g) and supports <strong>in</strong>dividual student projects. Student projects are created<br />

<strong>in</strong>dividually and/or collaboratively depend<strong>in</strong>g on the particular course.<br />

Web pages are provided for all the courses that are held <strong>in</strong> the Teach<strong>in</strong>g Theaters that l<strong>in</strong>k to the course<br />

description and syllabus plus the <strong>in</strong>structor's home page, if available. Another feature added to the pages this<br />

current semester is WebChat(tm) discussion pages. WebChat(tm) is a real-time fully multimedia chatt<strong>in</strong>g<br />

application for the Web. Users can quickly <strong>in</strong>corporate images, video and audio clips, and "hotl<strong>in</strong>ks" <strong>in</strong>to their<br />

chat. This tool has supported discussions of topics both with<strong>in</strong> and outside of class. It has also allowed the<br />

support of a collaborative project between an Art History course be<strong>in</strong>g taught <strong>in</strong> the Teach<strong>in</strong>g Theater and an<br />

Art Studio course be<strong>in</strong>g taught <strong>in</strong> a traditional classroom. Art History students were required to write a textual<br />

analysis of an image which was then given to their Art Studio team members. The Art Studio students then<br />

had to create the image from the textual analysis without hav<strong>in</strong>g seen the orig<strong>in</strong>al image. Discussion about the<br />

process and f<strong>in</strong>al results were conducted over the Web us<strong>in</strong>g WebChat(tm).<br />

Most of the faculty us<strong>in</strong>g the Web support provided by Teach<strong>in</strong>g Technologies have gone through the <strong>in</strong>tensive<br />

week(s) of the Institute for Instructional Technology mentioned above. Support for develop<strong>in</strong>g materials is<br />

provided prior to the semester they are go<strong>in</strong>g to utilize the materials. Each faculty member has the opportunity<br />

to use both <strong>in</strong>structional experts and comput<strong>in</strong>g experts to develop courses taught with <strong>in</strong>tegral use of the Web<br />

and other <strong>in</strong>structional technology on a daily basis.<br />

A vital part of Teach<strong>in</strong>g Technologies is its support team. The team <strong>in</strong>cludes both technical and pedagogical<br />

experts. At least one support person is present dur<strong>in</strong>g every use of every electronic classroom. Instructional<br />

support is provided to the faculty member prior to and dur<strong>in</strong>g each semester to assist <strong>in</strong> preparation through<br />

group and <strong>in</strong>dividual tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g. Additional group sessions are organized for the exchange of ideas and<br />

experiences. These classrooms offer unique research opportunities <strong>in</strong> such areas as the study of classroom<br />

behavior, teach<strong>in</strong>g strategies, comparative methodologies, and effectiveness of technology.<br />

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