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Managing
the flow of information in an online course can
become a true balancing act. In a full course where
the online discussion forums are used to full
potential, it is possible that you will have to
deal with more than 100 messages each week. If you
don't plan accordingly, you could quickly find
yourself drowning in a sea of
information. Organize: Start to organize yourself
early. Use a 3-ring binder for your course and
divide it according to the bi-weekly units.
Important messages (assignments, good suggestions,
interesting articles, etc) should be printed out
and saved in the binder. That way you have a copy
of the information you can easily refer to whenever
you need it. You shouldn't print everything--only
what is important to you as you work through the
course. Such a binder becomes a portable classroom,
allowing you to study away from the computer. This
is especially important if your access to the
computer is limited. Don't Be Constrained by
Your Computer: You can compose new messages
and replies (to be sent later) for WebCT by working
in your word-processing program while off-line.
When you have created the new messages or replies
to messages, log back on to the Internet, connect
to WebCT and cut and paste your messages from your
word-processing program to the appropriate WebCT
forum. This technique eliminates the sense of
pressure many people feel while composing email
online, knowing that if they take too long their
connection (dial-up) to the Internet may "drop". Of
course, if your message is a quick response to a
classmate's posting, it may be more convenient to
compose it while online. 1-2
response: This means that you should
limit your writing to the amount of text that fits
on one to two computer screens. There is no need to
submit long responses to the discussion forum. It
is hard to read long amounts of text on a computer
screen anyway. Use attachments only if (1)
the document you want to send is too long (more
than 2 screens), or (2) you have some special
formatting (like a table) that you don't want to
lose in the transfer. Your classmates will
appreciate being able to read your note immediately
in WebCT without having to switch over to their
word-processing program. Reading
Messages: Deal with new messages as you
read them! You may not have time to come back to a
message later if new messages are constantly coming
in. Putting messages off until later is a good way
to fall behind when the volume of postings is
heavy. You should log on to this course a minimum
of 5 days a week, but if the flow of discussion
picks up, you may wish to log on more often.
Remember: the key to your online success is
participation. Here's an easy way to handle
message volume: when you open WebCT, click on the
flashing "new" messages icon. Then click on the
"All" forum at the top of the list of discussion
forums. Make sure only the "unread" (aka "new")
messages are pulled up by clicking on "unread only"
if necessary. Then mark all the new messages by
clicking on "select all." Finally, click on "go"
next to the "compile" function. This will open a
separate window of all the new messages in full
text. From here you can easily do a "triple S"
maneuver ("scroll," "scan," and "select"). When you
scroll and scan, and find a message to which you
want to respond, note the number of the message.
Then go back to the WebCT discussion screen; locate
the message number to which you want to respond,
click on it and post your reply. Then return to the
window of full-text messages and continue "triple
S'ing." It's also a good idea to
designate a specific time each day for logging on,
and to determine ahead of time how much time you
can afford to spend logged on. By managing and
budgeting your time, it's easier to maintain a
feeling of control over the course. Course
Jargon: Technology jargon can be fun,
but sometimes it can be intimidating. New words and
expressions are invented everyday. In fact, the
online edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education
has dedicated a whole section of their WebSite just
to new techie words! See the Jargon
Monitor. Don't feel bad if you don't
know a techno-term. At anytime within this course,
please ask your classmates and/or instructor for an
explanation. There are 3 components to
this course: Pay attention
to Email in WebCT.
That's where we'll make important announcements for
the entire class to read. The course is
organized with an introduction (1 week), 6
units (2 weeks each), and a summary (1
week). You will be working on a group
project at the same time that you will be
working on Units 2 through 6; the group
project is due in Week 13 towards the end
of the course. Two weeks are
allocated for each Unit. By the end of the
first week in each unit, there are two
learning activities to have
completed: Everyone is
expected to participate actively and
often in the discussions throughout the
week. This is a graduate-level course.
Ordinarily participants should log-on
to the discussions at least 5 times
throughout the week. You can't be seen
(and won't get credit for
participating) if you merely
"lurk"--i.e., "read without
commenting." The purpose of the
discussion is to further the thinking
of the class. Discussion comments
should raise questions, suggest
alternatives, probe for more
information, offer recommendations, and
such. Avoid one-liners and "I agree"
statements that aren't supported with
an explanation. Plan ahead. There is a
group
project to be
completed in Week 13 towards the end of the course.
You will need to begin planning for the project in
in Week 3. You'll be working on this project at the
same time that you'll be completing Units 2 through
6. Plan
to spend about 12 hours a week on this course.
you'll need to
carefully manage your time in order to keep up with
the schedule of activities. Refer to the
assignments
page for a complete schedule of dates, and mark
your personal calendars accordingly. There's a
heavy penalty for not posting by the completion of
a Unit because everyone loses out on your
contribution. Don't get behind or you will feel
like this. There is a high, positive
correlation between good grades and active,
thoughtful participation in the discussions in this
course. Expectations:
It's possible--in fact likely--that
you won't get a response to everything you
post. This is especially true when it
comes to instructor response. Participants
are sometimes dismayed when they don't get
a nod from an instructor about something
they posted. In a course such as ours that
is based on collaborative learning, we
expect that people will be giving and
receiving feedback to and from each other,
as well as from an instructor. The truth
is that there is simply too much volume in
the discussion forums for an instructor to
comment on everything that a student
posts. However, participants will be
receiving (in private email) a periodic
comment and/or grade from an instructor
about progress in the course so that you
will know how you are doing long before
the end of the course. Our instructional team
consists of the following folks: All of us will be interacting
with you in the discussions and providing feedback
on assignments. But each of us has expertise in
specific areas. Liana will be sharing her expertise
in facilitating. Barbara and Roxanna are technical
experts. (There is a forum in WebCT for
"Technical Issues and Questions" that you
can use to direct specific questions about
technology to them.) Rachel and Lou have experience
with pedagogy as well as course and web page
design. Tom has experience with online pedagogy and
course design. Home Contents Syllabus Intro 1 2 3 4 5 6 Group Summary Assignments WebCT Instructors |
