Web-Enhancing On-ground Courses

Welcome!

Why Web-Enhance?

Strategies for Saving Time and Money and Improving Learning Outcomes

Web-Enhancement Opportunities

Course Administration Post-class Lecture material Supplemental Material Assessment Faculty-Student Communication Student-Student Interaction

Opportunities for Web-enhancing courses exist in several areas:

Course Administration

Online Syllabus - Benefits Save copy expense Easy access for students at any time from

anywhere Eliminates need for replacing lost syllabi

Orientation - Benefits Provide course orientation information in

written form for easy access Assures that all students have access to

course policies and procedures, whether they come to the first day of class or not

Reduces the amount of class time needed for covering orientation information

Course Administration

Calendar - Benefits Provide schedule of exams, due dates, etc. Use for announcements, changes in

schedules, etc.

Course Administration

Grade Book - Benefits Maintain grades electronically Automatic posting of grades for assignments

submitted online and quizzes Computer computation of total points and final

grades Provide students with access to grades for

individual assignments and total points any time from any place

Course Administration

Course Record Keeping - Benefits If WebCT used for class email, assignments,

quizzes/exams, etc., a record of class activity maintained electronically in one place.

Course can be downloaded at end of semester for permanent record of course, on CD-ROM or hard drive.

Easy to go back and confirm/verify specific events/interactions.

Course Administration

Supplemental Material - Benefits

Electronic Reserves Eliminates time spent photocopying materials

for handouts Reduces the expense of duplicating handouts

for students. Allows students to access reserve readings

from home Assures compliance with copyright laws Library staff digitizes and organizes material

into a web page for easy access

Publisher Materials and Webliographies Many publishers have companion web sites

with supplemental course materials Study aids Activities Additional readings and relevant links

Provide Webliographies with links to supplemental readings or relevant web sites on the Internet.

Faculty developed Student developed

Supplemental Material - Benefits

Lecture Notes/Power Point Presentations Provide access to PowerPoint Presentations

or Lecture notes for students to review Eliminates the need to provide hard copy of

materials for students Encourages students to listen/interact more

actively in class PowerPoint presentations can be narrated to

add sound. Reviews for exams

Supplemental Material - Benefits

Other examples:

Items used each semester in class lectures (diagrams, maps, photos, illustrations) can be posted in WebCT for in-class reference or after class review.

Study Questions can be posted pre- or post-lecture.

Link to APA or MLA guidelines for writing papers.

Samples of student papers

Student Assessment

Quizzes/Exams - Benefits Non-graded self-quizzes to help students

assess their own level of understanding Graded exams and quizzes

Non-proctored Proctored

Machine-scored true-false, multiple choice. Instructor-graded short answer/essay.

Grades automatically recorded in grade book.

Written assignments/papers - Benefits Students submit work electronically Time-stamped, ability to easily identify and

respond to work submitted late Incorporate comments/corrections easily using

standard Word features Easily check for plagiarism/purchased papers

by using “Turnitin.com” Grade is automatically posted to grade book

Student Assessment

Faculty-Student Communication

Email - Benefits Email all students or selected student(s)

without having to create distribution list Reduces volume of email in your govst.edu

email account Reduce chance that student emails are lost

amidst ‘junk’ email in your govst.edu email Permanent record of all email communication

with students in the course Eliminates telephone tag with students

Faculty-Student Communication

Discussion Threads - Benefits Provides mechanism to respond to student

questions between class sessions Avoids answering same question multiple times Allows all students to benefit from answers to a

student’s question

Student-Student Communication

Discussion Threads – Possible Uses Study groups Cooperative/Collaborative Projects Peer review of student projects Pre-class posting to enhance class discussion

Judy Lewis

Addiction Studies

Web Enhancement

A Conservative Approach

What did I do first?

I put my syllabus on line—but handed it out also in case the students didn’t know how to log in.

I put my oodles of handouts on line—but I handed them out also in case the students didn’t know how to download.

But I was having fun so I put jiggly icons with bobbing heads on my course home page.

What did I do second?

I stopped handing out my syllabus in paper form.

I stopped handing out hard copies of my handouts.

But I also stopped having jiggly icons because this was getting to be serious business.

What did I do 3rd?

I told my students to take part in discussion topics but I didn’t grade them on it. (Didn’t work too well.)

I told my students to e-mail me and one another within the course WebCT because we don’t open e-mails from hotchick @ yahoo.com. (Worked better.)

What am I going to do now?

Have required discussion postings because they’re great—vastly superior to on-ground discussions.

Require the students to turn in all assignments via the assignment tool because it’s great---they never get lost and they always get recorded.

Maybe get some more of those icons with the bobbing heads now that we’re having so much fun.

Robbie O’Shea

Physical Therapy

Power Point Presentations

Advantages: Students can access material before and after

class Decreased printing costs to department Students can print according to their preferences

Disadvantages: Students can access material before class! Students may be tempted not to show up for

class

Quizzes

Advantages: Grading and record keeping may be easier Relevant practice of test taking for the national Board

exams Saves paper and printing costs

Disadvantages: Importing of questions can sometimes cause havoc Difficult to change questions on the fly Cheating a concern if exam isn’t proctored

Calendar

Advantages: Keeps students on track Easy to directions to offsite class meetings

Disadvantage: Need to remember to publicly post entries

Electronic Reserves

Can link relevant articles for students to access

Helpful when students are off campus for fieldwork

Bulletin Board

Allows students to be connected to one another while they are off campus for internships and practicum experiences

Faculty can post topics of interest to stimulate group discussion among students

CI’s can post questions regarding clinical practice for group discussion

Tony Fontana

Accounting

Benefits and Advantages of WebCT:

Communication Flexibility Resources Accessibility Availability Reinforced Learning Knowledge/Skills Evaluation/Feedback

Caveats and Disadvantages of WebCT

Lack of face to face for online Technological and compatibility/skills Technical difficulties Discipline Data Management Environmental/Cultural Academic Valuation