Loyola College in Maryland
	Creative Teaching with Internet Technology
	Barbara F. McManus, January 13, 2000

To put what follows in perspective, be sure to read New Technology Getting Mixed Grades in School.

PART I: PRINCIPLES

In this site, short supporting quotes and notes will appear in a small, pop-up window; when you have finished reading, close this window to return to the main page. Links to large external sites will appear in the main browser window; use the Back button to return to this page.

Necessity of incorporating internet technology in teaching and learning today

• Internet skills are important for employment, quality of life, etc.; our students need to master them no matter what their field or profession.
• Like reading, writing, or mathematics, internet skills need to be applied across the curriculum. It is my contention that they are best learned through practice in many different areas, not taught in isolation.

Combination of technology with personal contact and support is optimal for pedagogy ^{1, 2}

• For faculty: community is absolutely crucial for faculty seeking to successfully integrate technology into their teaching, including hands-on, discipline-specific teacher training; practical, project-based activities; just-in-time advice and help; long-term mentoring and support ^{3, 4}
• For students: internet technology must be thoroughly integrated into the structure of the course (content, learning goals, assessment); the best assignments bring the fruits of internet use into the classroom

Advantages provided by the internet

• Motivational power: “positive addiction,” time on task, enjoyment and sense of satisfaction (though these are not automatically created simply by using technology) ^{5, 6}
• Resource-based learning: potential to link many different types of resources and provide a guided path through them; potential to provide access to many primary sources, archival materials, databases, etc. to facilitate original research ⁷
• Collaborative learning: ease of communication and collaboration even across distances; challenge to idea of exclusively personal “intellectual property” ⁸
• Control over learning: students can choose time, place, and pace of learning ⁹
• Interactivity: potential for choosing how to pursue and synthesize information, for commenting on information, for self-assessment quizzes, for contributing information ¹⁰
• Publication: potential for easy and inexpensive publication of student work for classmates and even for a worldwide audience ^{11, 12}
• Updatability: infinitely changeable, can be kept very current

Difficulties encountered in using the internet for teaching

• Time and learning curve: always assume that preparation of materials will take you at least twice as long as your wildest estimate; be prepared for frequent problems with the technology and with students' use of the equipment; internet sites and computer software change so rapidly that you must frequently refresh your materials and skills ^{13, 14}
• Differential access: even if your institution provides excellent facilities and support, some of your students will not have good access to functioning equipment and to the internet
• Cost: providing equipment, facilities, and adequate support staff is very expensive; do not assume that increased technology will save the institution money in the short term (though it may ultimately provide a better education for the money) ¹⁵

Designing Internet Projects and Assignments

• Be aware of what tools are available and of how others have employed these in teaching; the tools and examples we are looking at today will get you started, but there is a wonderful site for more in-depth perusing, Teaching with Electronic Technology, by Michael L. Hall, University of Maryland; see also the University of Washington's fine (if unfortunately named) site Teachnology & Webagogy.
• Find out what kinds of resources relevant to your discipline and course topic are already on the web.
• Think about how these tools and resources would enable you and your students to do something new, or to do something old in a new and better way, or to do something in a way that would be more interesting and engaging to the students (and to you!).
• As you begin to design one or more internet projects, draft learning goals for these assignments that are directly related to the objectives of your course; this will ensure that the projects are integral to the course, not simply technological bells and whistles. It is especially important that your students understand why they are doing these assignments and how they fit into the course as a whole. ^{16, 17}
• Make sure that your students understand how to use the tools you are asking them to employ. ¹⁸
• Outcomes assessment is particularly important to find out if the new types of assignments are accomplishing their aims; also, graded assessment will convince the students that these assignments are essential parts of the course (for an example of specific outcomes goals written for a computer literacy course, see “Computer Skills for Information Problem-Solving: Learning and Teaching Technology in Context” by Michael B. Eisenberg and Doug Johnson).

PART II: PRACTICE

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)

Asynchronous: Advantages of these tools include independence of specific time and place requirements, ease of student-teacher and student-student communication, promotion of thoughtful discussion, ¹⁹ facilitation of student collaborative projects, online submission of assignments and file sharing, and the potential to actively involve students in the production of learning. There are few disadvantages, though sometimes students require incentives to participate, discussion can develop slowly, and there is a potential for inappropriate comments. ²⁰ For more information, see Diversity University's summary of the main characteristics of Archived Messaging Systems; the more detailed discussions of E-mail and Mailing Lists and Computer-Mediated Communication in JTAP's Guide to Online Tools; and Nancy Chism's Handbook for Instructors on the Use of Electronic Class Discussion.

• E-mail
• Archived Messaging:
  • Course Listserv
  • Message Board

Example of a simple use of course-specific e-mail lists: I posed a challenge to the students in two concurrent courses; participation in the discussion was optional and I later put the discussion on the web so that the students could see how their peers in the other course responded.

Example of a complex, multi-college course discussion board: This Archaeology course, given by the Associated Colleges of the South, could not have taken place without internet technology; participation in this discussion forum was a required and graded part of the course. To view the discussion, click here, then click on Guest, then select Online Archaeology Seminar.

Synchronous: Advantages of these tools include the immediacy and spontaneity of real-time communication, ability to brainstorm and receive immediate responses, lack of expense (if using text-based conferencing) and, in the case of MOOs, potential for role playing, resource creation, and imaginative immersion in other times, places, languages, and cultures. ²¹ Scheduling, however, can prove difficult, the tools work best with relatively small numbers of participants at a time, and technological lag or slow typing can impede discussion. Video conferencing is still awkward and unreliable unless all parties involved have access to very expensive technology (and sometimes even then). For more information, see Diversity University's summary of the main characteristics of Text-Based Conferencing, Lingua MOO's list of MOO teachers for such subjects as writing, English, computer programming, microbiology, dentistry, languages, and this description of several online articles. V.R. Sites gives some idea of the number and variety of educational MOOs available; the Diversity University MOO hosts classes and activities for many different institutions.

• Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
• MOO, MUD, MUSH, MUSE, MUVE
• Audio Conferencing, Video Conferencing, Audio/Video Conferencing

Example of an international VSNS Biocomputing Course conducted on Bio MOO, including Biocomputing in a Nutshell, which introduces the handbook Biocomputing for Everyone that was compiled by course participants, and subsequent courses and course materials.

Example of a MOO created for the teaching and learning of classics through the VRoma Project; connect via the Web Gateway and follow instructions for connecting as a guest or browsing anonymously.

Computer-Managed Learning Environments: Also called Virtual Learning Environments, these pre-packaged programs provide a single interface that incorporates many technological tools for online delivery and management of courses, typically including various types of asynchronous and synchronous communication, web pages, file-sharing, online quizzes and tests, etc. Normally these packages are adopted institutionally. They can provide tremendous savings in time for faculty and familiarity and ease of use for students, though the single interface can give a “cookie cutter” look and feel to courses. Examples of popular programs are Blackboard's CourseInfo (adopted by Loyola College), WebCT, and Web Course in a Box.

World Wide Web

Designing Web-Based Assignments: These are a few types of assignments; the possibilities are nearly endless.

1. Finding and Evaluating Information on the Web: Knowing how to locate information on the web is a crucial skill that everyone should possess, not only for academic and professional success, but also for many facets of daily living. It is very important that students be taught how to search effectively and how to evaluate web sites when found, but this can be accomplished via resources already on the web:

• “Searching for the Grail? Power Searching with Digital Logic” by Jamie McKenzie, From Now On 7.4 (January 1998). Written in a lively and engaging style, with clear explanations, good examples and links.
• Finding it On Line: Web Search Strategies by Debbie Flanagan. A well-designed tutorial describing various types of web search tools and effective search strategies, including practice exercises and a scavenger hunt. Her use of terminology may be a little daunting for younger or less sophisticated learners.
• Search Engine Showdown by Greg R. Notess. A very detailed, current, and comprehensive discussion and comparison of most search engines, including reviews, search strategies, statistics, etc. Not intended for the novice.
• A Student's Guide to Research with the WWW by Craig Branham, Saint Louis University. Clear, well-designed, and student friendly.
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet by Elizabeth Kirk, Milton Library of Johns Hopkins University. More detailed information, including some useful practical steps for finding information about authorship, publishing body and currency if these are not specified.
• Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages, a useful, printable chart provided by the Cornell University Library.
• The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources--Examples. Part of a general site on evaluating web sources by Susan E. Beck, New Mexico State University Library. Information on evaluation is rather sparse and pages can be slow to load, but this page is useful because it provides four three-example sets of web sites of varying quality and reliability.

Sample search/evaluation assignment that can be used in any type of course.

2. Using the Web as a Research Tool for Critical Essays: Besides being able to locate web sources and evaluate the quality and accuracy of their information, students also need to learn how to cite web sources and how to integrate them effectively with print sources. Citing Electronic/Internet Resources, by Marsha Keenan of the James G. Gee Library, provides an up-to-date collection of links to various citation styles. For examples of this type of assignment, see Research Paper Guidelines for American Legal History II (Sally Hadden, Florida State University) or Research Paper for International Law and Business (Albert D. Spalding, Wayne State University).

3. Applying Analytical Frameworks from the Course to Analyze/Critique the Internet Itself: This type of assignment uses the internet as a field for critical analysis rather than as an information tool; the internet offers an easily accessible, convenient, and inexpensive way to practice their analytic skills on the world outside the campus. This type of assignment can also effectively integrate the classroom and the internet if coupled with an oral presentation, as demonstrated in my Gender in Cyberspace project.

4. Using Student Web Publishing as an Assessment Device: Besides helping students to develop a valuable skill, web publishing can be a powerful incentive for students to produce high-quality work, to learn the importance of paying attention to details, to learn how to direct their work to a particular audience, and to develop writing and synthetic skills. An example is provided by my Ancient Rome final examination . The University of Warwick's TELRI project is sponsoring a number of pilot courses based on the incorporation of web-based resources and student web publishing; see, for example, this preliminary report on intermediate French or a more recent series of case studies (available in PDF format). In the French course, project directors reported that the student web publishing was successful in “increasing communication in the target language; providing a purpose and focus for expressing and exchanging meaning; enabling independent learning.”

5. Using On-line Databases or Resource Sites: The internet is a rich source of primary materials that are organized but not digested or interpreted—data, archival materials, case studies, statistics, etc.—that make it possible for students to learn about and actually conduct original research with primary sources in a way that was rarely possible before. Some of the sites even include educational tutorials, such as the following outstanding web sites:

• DNA Learning Center's Bioforms
• guided topics from the University of Virginia's Valley of the Shadow Project
• the tutorials that accompany Oxford University's Virtual Seminars for the Teaching of Literature: World War I Poetry site
• the Virtual Economy model of Biz/ed, a British business and economics service for students, teachers and lecturers
• the geophysics tutorial, including animations and interactive problems, provided by the Earth Monitoring Station of the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Geological Sciences

When designing assignments that require students to conduct research in primary sources available on the internet, it is very important to provide structure and guidance (the amount will of course depend on the students' level and expertise in the discipline).

• Make sure that students know why they are conducting this research, both in terms of the goals of the course and their training in the discipline.
• Help students design interesting and appropriate research questions that are supported by the materials available.
• Provide a guided path through the primary materials—the more novice the students, the more detailed the path. The sites listed above provide good examples of such guidance, as do the lesson plans available through the excellent humanities EDSITEment web site.

Creating Web-Based Course Resources: This is more time consuming and requires some specialized skills (much less so if using a computer-managed learning environment), but enables you to harness the internet for the precise needs of your courses and to share your materials with other educators and students as well as with the public at large.

1. Providing an Online Syllabus: While a “typed-style” syllabus is better than nothing, it does not take advantage of the real potential of the internet. The addition of color, graphics, and a hyperlinked structure can make the course seem much more appealing.

2. Providing Supplementary Links: Linking to resources available elsewhere on the web is extremely easy in an online syllabus. However, it is important to contextualize the links. Do not simply provide long lists of linked web page titles with no other indication of their role in the course. It is much better to target the links to specific topics or assignments, to give some indication of what the linked page contains, and to specify whether visiting the link is required or recommended for enrichment. Link only to sites that you have evaluated for accuracy and suitability for the course; sites that are unattractive, too superficial, or too complex will discourage students from using the resources.

3. Providing Online Course Resources: Again, “typed-style” lecture or reading notes, while useful as printed handouts, do not really take advantage of the web's potential and can in fact be very difficult to read on a screen. Hypertext, on the other hand, offers wonderful opportunities to provide multi-layered paths that combine many different types of resources, including images (very important for today's visual learners), glossaries, primary texts, and even sound and video files. Online materials work best when they are thoroughly integrated with work in the classroom. For example, when Michael Arnush of Skidmore College gave his students an assignment for a classroom debate about Cicero, he used the internet to turn it into imaginative role playing by assigning half the class to portray Cicero and half to interrogate him.

4. Providing Interactive Exercises and/or Tests: Well-designed web pages are never purely passive, since they involve choices of where and when to click, how many levels of materials to pursue, etc. However, there are now many ways to make web pages truly interactive, from relatively simple fill-in forms, to Javascript quizzes, to aplets that enable simulations or complex database queries.

Examples of online course materials that exploit most or all of these possibilities can range from a course with relatively simple web-based materials, such as my Feminine Archetype in Myth and Art (see especially the page on Structure of the Feminine Archetype and other notes linked to my Topics page), to a much more complex and fully webbed site like SALMON: Study and Learning Materials On-line, created for several courses in physiological psychology at the University of Plymouth.