Papers in PDF format

examples of the many good discussions can be accessed at:
http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/nethowto/articles/forum.
The scope of the final assignment is very broad. Students are asked to construct a WWW site which will
incorporate the research they have done into a WWW resource or a user friendly tutorial. Students can create a
unit or lesson plan which has the intended audience accessing archives and files all over the world; or a WWW
site could be developed which sets up research for a paper in another area of study or for a thesis; or an on-line
lesson plan that will satisfy the general requirements of Alberta Curriculum can be set up. It is crucial that
students clearly define their audience and demonstrate why this resource will be beneficial to them. This is
important because it helps them focus on a specific topic and audience and it also sets up the marking criteria.
The most important consideration is that the final project must be incorporated into the students current work
or area of specialty. A number of our students’ final Web pages can be viewed at
http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/nethowto/articles/final.
Observations & Recommendations
There is no doubt in our minds that a very effective and efficient instruction can be delivered over the Web
and that this course has moved in the right direction. Student learning, as evidenced by their comments and
their assignments, was similar for students in the on-line version of the course and those in a F2F mode. We
have learned a number of things while designing and delivering the course:
• the instructor should have taught the course previously in a F2F mode in order to design the course
effectively
• use good adult learning principles (learner control of content, pacing & sequencing; alternative methods of
learning; self-selected assignments)
• provide good student-student and student-instructor communications
• be prepared to deal with students who find the technology “gets in the way of learning”
• make the course load as quickly as possible
• take advantage of other people’s work (other resources on the Web)
• allow students to help each other and to discuss things among themselves without feeling the need to
“guide” all discussions, but provide fast feedback to students who are encountering problems.
• expect that the workload will be significantly higher than for a F2F course on similar material.
• be prepared to continually modify your course pages
• always remember, and remind your associates and students, that there are less cues in computer mediated
communications than in F2F communications; what is said with a smile can sound harsh when printed
• enjoy the experience - it is different, but it is teaching!
References
[Montgomerie & Harapnuik 1996] Montgomerie, T.C. & Harapnuik, D. EDPSY 497/597 - The Internet:
Communication, Accessing & Providing Information. Edmonton: University of Alberta.
[http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/nethowto].
[Levine 1995] Levine, A. (1995) Writing HTML: a tutorial for creating WWW pages Maricopa Center for
Learning and Instruction. [http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/lessons.html].