Teaching and Learning Using Web-based Technologies
at Oakton Community College
The handbook is intended for faculty who are considering incorporating web-based components in their courses. It provides information to address many of the questions you probably have asked yourself.
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I. What benefits do I hope to achieve? |
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III. What software and technology tools do I need ? Technologies used in distance education |
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Approval process for fully-online courses |
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V. What changes will I need to make to my course to move it online? |
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VI. What else do I need to consider? |
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Faculty who have incorporated Internet resources in their classes frequently cite benefits listed below.
Distance education means that students and teachers do not need to be physically in the same space at the same time. Various technologies are used to bridge the physical distance.
Distance education is conducted in a variety of formats at Oakton.
1. Fully online
4. Media-based
5. Interactive video
Throughout its history, the College has encouraged and supported faculty efforts to explore and integrate new methods and technologies to improve instruction and enhance learning. In the mid 1990s, the explosion in public use of the Internet made online courses a viable reality. In fall 1997, the college invited faculty proposals for the first fully online classes. Several of the resulting proposals built upon things already being done, such as web enhancements to existing traditional classroom classes, while others were to be built "from the ground up."
The initial courses were offered in the spring semester of 1999 and included:
COL 103 Peer Tutor Training
EGL 101 Composition
CSC 155 Computer Science I
MAT 052 Elementary Algebra
MAT 260 Linear Algebra
WWW101 Overview of the Internet
Since that time, course offerings have continued to expand. Some of these courses have been entirely produced by Oakton Community College and others were customized from pre-packaged materials, from either publishers or educational program purveyors. Development of new online courses runs the gamut from requiring intense faculty and staff development time to the same sort of time required to examine and validate a new media-based course for adoption.
The following are typical components that are included in the web materials of fully-online and web-enhanced courses:
In fully-online courses, the syllabus is often expanded to provide students with a better understanding of course procedures and expectations. These additions often include an explanation of how the course will be conducted, means of communication, expected time requirements, technologies used, and attributes of successful online learning. (see checklist in Appendix 2 LINK)
You are invited to review several online courses or web resources available in web-enhanced classes and/or contact any of the Oakton faculty teaching online and web-enhanced courses.
Fully online courses:
Web-enhanced courses:
Courses offered at other institutions
The following include links to online courses offered at other colleges:
The following software and technologies are used in Oakton's distance education offerings:
Course management software:
WebCT, www.webct.com, is the Internet-based course management software program Oakton has chosen for delivering its online credit classes, developed in-house. WebCT is used to organize lessons, assignments and other course information, create and grade tests, and manage course-related communication. It is also used to maintain grades and track student activity.
TeleWeb courses and other pre-packaged courses may use another course management software program, such as BlackBoard, www.blackboard.com. Such course materials are hosted on a server external to Oakton.
Communication technologies:
Students in online courses depend on conferencing software, email, and synchronous chats for interaction with each other and with the instructor. Unlike face to face classroom discussions, the dialogs from forums and chats can be accessed and reviewed at virtually any time.
Students in an online course will likely have at least three email addresses: one from their Internet Service Provider (ISP), one provided with their Oakton network account, and one strictly internal to WebCT. The instructor generally defines which one(s) will be used for course communication.
Frequently termed a discussion, forum, or bulletin board, conferencing software is an asynchronous mode of communication in which messages and responses are posted and can be read at any time.
A chat is a synchronous mode of communication in which two or more people can participate. The dialog of a chat can be archived for later reference. A chat component is included in WebCT.
An electronic whiteboard displays on the computer screen what multiple
users write or draw. It can be used for instruction as a blackboard is
used in a classroom. WebCT includes a whiteboard.
Content delivery:
Most online courses rely on a textbook (some include a CD-ROM) for dissemination of content. Some textbooks are available online as Ebooks and contain enhanced graphics and links to other Internet resources.
Generally, the instructor includes a list of hypertext links to additional resources surrounding a subject or content area.
PowerPoint, the presentation software component of Microsoft Office, provides instructors with another means to highlight major points and enables them to add a visual representation of key concepts. A brief audio explanation can also be included.
A link to an audio segment can be included to provide further explanation of a key concept.
A link to a video segment can be included to visually present a concept. Video is generally delivered as streaming media or on CD-ROM because of current bandwidth limitations.
Frequently PowerPoint presentations and audio and video segments are provided on CD-ROM since these files are large and require a fast connection to download. A CD-ROM (Compact Disc, read-only-memory) is physically the same as an audio CD, but contains computer data in the form of text, graphics and hi-fi stereo sound. Storage capacity is about 680 megabytes. CD-ROMs are interchangeable between different types of computers.
Being able to play audio or video immediately as it is downloaded from the Internet, rather than storing it in a file on the receiving computer, enables audio and video to be delivered faster. Streaming is accomplished by way of web browser plug-ins, which decompress and play the file in real time. It requires a fast computer, a fast connection, and the appropriate plug-ins.
Link to sample of streaming media.
Assessment technologies:
Question formats include multiple choice, matching, short answer and essay. These can be automatically or manually graded as appropriate and the results added to the online gradebook component of the course management software package. Item-analysis and other statistics are also generated by the software.
These formats can also be used to incorporate self-assessment quizzes as a means of informing students about how well they are doing.
Being concerned about cheating, many faculty choose to have students take traditional exams in a proctored setting. They may also use alternative forms of assessment as another way to address concerns about cheating.
The same question formats can be used to survey students as a classroom assessment technique. Responses are automatically compiled to provide feedback about the course and what students are learning.
Both assessment formats are built-in to WebCT and other course management software.
The process of course development for distance learning courses varies based on a number of factors. Simple enhancement of traditional face-to-face classes can be accomplished by a faculty member working as needed with an Information Technology Specialist or staff in the Teaching Learning Center. Discussions of media-based, teleWeb or pre-produced online classes may be initiated by faculty, administration or other distance learning staff (e.g. the Manager of Alternative Education). As the level of complexity and support rises, the decision process involves more people.
Many of the steps involved in creating an online course are the same as those faculty follow when creating a traditional course. Both start with defining the objectives that you want students to meet. The content you include is evaluated in terms of these objectives. The learning materials you select and the assessments you build into the course are also based on these objectives.
Whereas the objectives and the content will be very much the same as those of a campus-based class, how the content is presented may change significantly for the online class. Although a textbook is common to both campus-based and online courses, lecture-based delivery formats are generally not successful in the online learning environment. More successful online learning approaches consider how students' knowledge and understanding can be facilitated by discovery (constructivism) or peer interaction (collaboration). Assessments focus on ways students can apply their knowledge and understanding of course concepts.
This process of re-conceptualizing your course often takes some time. It is generally helpful to look at some online course models and to talk with faculty who have taught online. [link to mentors and sample courses] Re-conceptualization does not end with the development of your online course. It is a process that continues to evolve as both you and your students gain experience in the online learning environment.
The considerations involved in planning and developing an online course can be divided into two major areas: content and design.
Equally important to deciding what material to include in an online course is the care that must be taken in organizing the content. You will not have the opportunity to add further explanation when you see a confused look on student faces. The attention you give to clear organization and communication will greatly assist students in moving through the course and understanding the material.
Course organization
Whatever model is selected for organizing the course, it is important that it be applied consistently throughout the course
An example of a model frequently used for course organization follows.
The overview includes an explanation of what will be covered and how it relates to the overall course objectives.
Included are the specific unit objectives and material to be covered. The material may be covered in a variety of ways, including reading assignments, lecture notes, PowerPoint presentations, individual and group learning activities, etc.
Formative assessments to provide feedback on how well students are understanding the material should be interspersed throughout the material.
This step engages students in review and summarization of the material. It includes summative assessments in which students demonstrate what they have learned.
Clear communication
Clearly communicating instructions and what is expected of students minimizes confusion and contributes to student success in an online course. The following guidelines will help maximize clear communication.
A written explanation is generally included in course orientation materials. It may also be posted as Course Information on the Online with Oakton website and can be mailed to enrolled students.
Ask someone unfamiliar with the material to read the instructions. Instructors often use their instructions in a campus-based classroom prior to putting them online to check for areas of confusion.
Repetition is an effective way to help students focus on items of major importance. Reminders of due dates and other course expectations will help keep students on target.
Course enhancements
The online environment enables a variety of learning resources to be incorporated. Consider ways to use the hyperlink capability of the Web to make relationships between course materials more apparent. Also identify graphics and other media, such as audio and video, which can be incorporated to help students understand course concepts. You can include such things as inviting an expert to participate in a discussion, go on a virtual tour, collaborate with a class in another geographic area, link to company websites, or provide a subject encyclopedia on specific topics. Students are often invited to explore various resources as part of discovery-based assignments. Moreover, presenting material in a variety of formats can meet the needs of various learning styles.
Many publishers provide on-line instructional materials to accompany their textbooks. These materials can easily be incorporated in an online course and editing tools often allow instructors to modify the materials. Many publishers allow instructors to add their personal materials to those hosted on the publisher’s server. Contact your textbook representatives for details on their offerings.
There are also numerous sources of prepackaged web courses and modules. Sites such as Dallas TeleLearning (http://dallas.dcccd.edu/), the International Distance Learning Course Finder (http://www.dlcoursefinder.com/) and PBS (http://www.pbs.org/als/courses/) will give a great starting point in any search for materials in your area.
It is generally recommended that you gain some experience with such enhancements prior to incorporating them in an online course. You may first want to introduce them in a campus-based course or explore them with colleagues in a department meeting. You are also encouraged to sit down with support staff in the Office of User Services to examine what technologies will be necessary to implement your ideas.
Using technology to engage students
How you engage students is another way an online course differs from the traditional course. In the online environment, there isn't that informal time when a class gathers and leaves for interactions with and between students and for community building to occur.
A sense of community is an essential component for student success in an online course. Online communication tools play a critical role in creating and sustaining community. The conferencing component of online courses provides a rich resource for discussion, sharing, reflection, and active participation. The social learning environment available through written discussion forums invites careful reflection by giving the learner time to contemplate and compose responses. Learners can communicate at times that best suit their schedules, and the absence of physical proximity may create a less threatening setting for shy or hesitant participants.
One of the biggest challenges online instructors face is deciding what strategies to use to create an environment in which participants feel eager to contribute and comfortable with the demands and pace of the online discussion. Many students are not currently familiar with the conferencing software tools used for communication in online courses making this learning curve a hurdle which must also be addressed.
The following guidelines can assist in managing discussions and maximizing interactivity:
The design of your course for the online environment is another way it will differ significantly from a campus-based course. The way you explain to students what is expected of them is accomplished through the visual layout of the course, the navigation system, and the style of writing. As the instructor, your areas of expertise are the course content, organization of the material and style of writing. The support staff in the Office of User Services can assist with and provide models for the visual layout and navigation system.
Visual layout
It will be helpful to keep a few basic principles in mind as you consider the visual layout of your course. The IT specialists in the Office of User Services can assist you.
The first thing a reader sees is the overall pattern and contrast of the page. Make sure the most important elements stand out. After that first visual impression, the reader's eye will begin to focus on the individual elements. Strive for simplicity and consistency.
Use of a template ensures consistent placement of items on web pages throughout your course and provides a structure with which the student will become comfortable.
Graphic elements should be used to help students understand a concept, emphasize a specific, or guide them through the course. Don't add graphics just for "window dressing." They add to download time and may distract students.
Navigation
Good navigation systems are essential to help students move through a course and keep them from getting lost. If students can't find what they are looking for in your course or they don't see what you want them to focus on, they will have trouble successfully completing the course.
Make sure
Writing style
Research has shown that most people scan text online rather than read it. The following guidelines help make text more scannable.
Information in a Web presentation must be divided into information units which are brief, concise, and singular (containing a single fact, thought, or idea.) These individual information units or chunks are organized into a structure based on their relationship to each other. The relationship or keyword is generally identified in a heading or sub-heading.
Tip to promote student learning: Following a module or set of related information chunks, provide some self-assessment questions to assist students in checking whether they have understood the concept(s) covered. These assessments also provide the instructor feedback on whether students are grasping the material.
When writing text, a single main idea is written for each information object (chunk). If there are several supporting ideas, an introductory sentence and one sentence for each supporting idea is written. If there is more than one main idea, then further subdivision of the material is required. Several key words describing each information object should be identified for use in headings and creating hyperlinks.
then explain the specific points that support the conclusion. This style helps students focus their attention by providing the broad container that they can then fill with the specifics.
Material written for the Web is generally half the word count of conventional writing. As a guideline, keep the amount of information on a page to 1/2 to 2/3 that of a written page.
Assessment is typically thought to be testing and assigning grades. However, the current reform movement in educational assessment encourages faculty to think more broadly about assessment.
In online education, it is particularly important that faculty provide students detailed and timely feedback about the progress of their learning. Self-assessment quizzes and CATS (classroom assessment techniques) are frequently included in online courses.
Faculty are encouraged to incorporate alternative forms of assessment to provide more complete information about what students have learned and are able to do with their knowledge. In designing assessments, it is also important to be mindful of student learning style differences. Two approaches that have shown considerable promise are performance-based assessment and portfolio assessment. (Refer to list of assessment resources.)
Being concerned about cheating, many faculty choose to have students take traditional exams in a proctored setting. Oakton Community College faculty may use the Oakton testing centers, or another proctored environment, if the student is more place bound than time bound.
Students should take responsibility for finding a reliable proctoring location for their needs. If necessary, the Office of Alternative Education can provide assistance in this area. The Illinois Virtual Campus coordinates support centers throughout the state. Oakton, as well as many community colleges throughout the state, serve as support centers. A proctored testing environment is just one of many support services provided. The Consortium of College Testing Centers (http://www.geocities.com/nctatesting//cctc/) is another good place to look for testing centers.
Contractual Provisions
Intellectual property rights and compensation for faculty who develop and/or teach web-based and media courses is specified in the faculty contracts.
Media-based
Interactive Video
Web-based
US Copyright Laws
Federal guidelines dictate the use of materials that were created by others in web-based courses.
Fair Use
Educational Use
The new technologies bring new ethical issues. Distance education specifically impacts moral dilemmas of policies and practices related to the pedagogy, creative collaboration, assessment, access, intellectual property, invasion of privacy, academic integrity, and other freedoms.
Oakton Community College has developed policies and procedures to address some of these issues. Students using technology and enrolling in distance courses find resources through the student Code of Academic Conduct in the college catalog. The Technology Responsible Use Policy [http://www.oakton.edu/resource/it/use_plcy.htm] is available from the colleges' website and outlines what is and is not acceptable behavior using the college's technology resources. These sites address the overall technology aspect, but not specifically distance learning.
Current research is thin in the ethical guidelines for distance education. Some of the current ethical issues facing distance education are:
It is important to develop an ethically sound distance learning atmosphere. Spell out expectations in the syllabi and course web sites, assignments, examinations and projects their deadlines, how to use discussion boards, including "netiquette" used, how an instructor will deal with plagiarism and cheating, how the instructor is to be contacted and when, how assignments are to be submitted, how to make contact for support with technical issues, and so on. Providing information to the learners is critical and instructors must keep their learners informed of changes made during the course.
Resources which address these issues:
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Oakton’s course management software, WebCT, can accept for upload text materials in HTML format. Recent versions of MSWord allow designers to convert existing Word documents to HTML with a few mouse clicks (the designer may have to do some minor re-formatting afterwards). Simple web authoring programs like Netscape Composer allow designers to create HTML pages without ever touching the code.
It is advisable to discuss choices of web authoring programs with the IT Specialists in the Office of User Support Services before beginning work. There are technical limitations on combining materials produced in Web authoring programs, such as FrontPage, within a WebCT course.
Transferring files from the local disk or drive to the web server is quite easy and can be done either on- or off-campus. WebCT includes a file management program that Windows users will find quite intuitive. Saving HTML files to the faculty member's folder on servercc can be done simply by saving to the H: drive (on-campus) in the public.www folder. This folder can also be accessed off-campus via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). [See page 13 for more information on FTP.]
The IT Specialists in User Support Services and others are available to explain these creation, conversion, and transfer processes in greater detail. TLC (Teaching Learning Center) workshops addressing these topics are scheduled throughout the year.
WebCT provides a basic course management template on which to build an online class. This template sets up icons and links to the most common tools and allows designers to add to or discard as they see fit.
For web-enhanced classes posting materials on Oakton's servercc, there are several templates available from IT for laying out a web site, setting up a home page, and "Oaktonizing" web syllabi and other materials. See: http://www.oakton.edu/resource/it/templateintro.htm
Adopting a single course management program such as WebCT for the bulk of the Oakton Online courses has one clear advantage to the student: skills learned using WebCT in one course will translate to other courses. Navigation methods will be similar from Chemistry 101 to English 101, though the menu selections will vary by virtue of the fact no one instructor uses all the tools WebCT offers.
Skills faculty learn using features of WebCT will transfer to other course management platforms.
Online classes depend a great deal on email to maintain student-to-instructor and student-to-student interaction. Using email in an online class, particularly at Oakton, brings with it several unique technical considerations with which a learner and instructor should be familiar. More information is available on the Oakton Online web pages. See: http://www.oakton.edu/online/tech/email.htm.
If students are taking an Oakton online class, it is quite possible that they will have at least three mail addresses by which the instructor and classmates can contact them:
These addresses/accounts will not automatically or necessarily work and play well together. The student cannot, for instance, use the WebCT email to write to anyone besides other WebCT users. Students can use either their Oakton or outside ISP email address to write to any other non-WebCT address.
Because email is so critical to an online course, faculty using WebCT should assess early on how they plan to use it and whether it is most efficient to go with WebCT internal mail or standard Internet email.
College employees and students may access their Oakton email via a web page interface at www.oakton.edu/webmail. Instructors may find many of the account management features, such as automatic forwarding, quite useful in managing online courses.
WebCT has a built-in file management program for uploading and downloading files that can be used both on- and off-campus. Instructors wishing to access folders on servercc and student/samples from off-campus may do so by using FTP. The choice of FTP program depends on whether one is using the Oakton dialup software or a non-Oakton ISP. In the latter case, the user is operating outside the Oakton server "firewall" and must use a dedicated FTP program such as FTPX or WFTP. Oakton dialup users are within the firewall and can successfully use Netscape as their FTP client program.
See the FTP instructions online at http://www.oakton.edu/resource/it/ftp or in Appendix 9 of this handbook.
These specs will be revisited periodically and updated on the Oakton Online site. Instructors/designers almost never need faster home equipment than the students and can use these specs as a guide for themselves, as well. Though it is preferred to keep the technical demands minimal, some courses may require higher specs or special hardware or software. In these cases, it is imperative that the instructor outlines these requirements for prospective students up front.
Every effort has been made to make Oakton Online courses as technologically accessible to the widest variety of students as possible. While many classes will require higher levels of hardware and software, the absolute minimum for any configuration is listed below. Very important comments and tips follow. Instructors need to remember that not all students have the most recent equipment. Elaborate materials created at the College or adopted from outside sources may not be successful on the students' equipment.
Before enrolling in an online course, students should be encouraged to check their equipment against these minimum standards and the individual minimum specs for their chosen course to see if they meet those additional needs.
Computer
Windows 95 or later operating system
Pentium 166 or faster processor
At least 32MB RAM
7.5.5 or later operating system
Power PC Processor
At least 16MB RAM
Software
Modem or other Internet connection device
Access to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Notes on the minimum specs:
Browsers
Sample Pages
Unsure of what you've got?
After boot up, most Windows 95/98 PCs have some easy way of accessing your hardware specs. Some have a diagnostics feature or "system info" icon that you'll find in the Control Panel group. Others have an option under Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information. On many computers, you can go to Start/Run and type msinfo32, which will open a window showing system specs. Win 3.1 users may also have a system information icon in the control panel.
For Mac users, to verify which system software version you have installed
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Subject |
Name & Email |
Title / Office |
Phone |
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Administrative decisions about distance learning |
Gary Newhouse garyn@oakton.edu |
Dean of Library / Media Room 1400 |
X 1640 |
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Copyright |
Gary Newhouse garyn@oakton.edu |
Dean LMS Room 1400 |
X 1640 |
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Course development process |
Soda Parker soda@oakton.edu |
Coordinator, Online Courses Room 2410 |
X 1614 |
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Digital Cameras |
TLC staff |
Teaching Learning Center Room 2410 |
X 1614 |
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Educational computing administration |
Gail Cohen gcohen@oakton.edu |
Director of Software and User Services, Room 0411 |
X 1761 |
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General technology & online media support |
Dann Foster dannf@oakton.edu |
IT, Manager of User Support Services, Room 2534 |
X 1674 |
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General technology support, RHC |
Julia Gray jgray@oakton.edu |
Technology Supervisor/RHC, Room A241 |
X 1264 |
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Learning strategies and theories |
Juele Blankenberg juele@oakton.edu |
Manager, Instructional Support Services, Room 2400 |
X 1657 |
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Library, Des Plaines |
Judi Mayzel jmayzel@oakton.edu |
Professor of Library Services, Room 1400 |
X 1644 |
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Library, RHC |
Rose Novil rnovil@oakton.edu |
Professor of Library Services, Room A210 |
X 1474 |
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Office support for distance education classes |
Sandy Wilen sandy@oakton.edu |
Mgr. Alternative Education Room 2548 |
X 1971 |
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Server Issues |
Francisco Sosa sosa@oakton.edu |
IT Webmaster Room 0410 |
X 1726 |
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Statewide initiatives |
Gary Newhouse garyn@oakton.edu |
Dean Library & Media Services, Room 1400 |
X 1640 |
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Student success strategies |
Georgia Kariotis kariotis@oakton.edu |
Coordinator for Non-native Students, Room 2446 |
X 1943 |
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Student support services |
Laurie Gunning lgunning@oakton.edu |
Academic Advisor Room 1130 |
X 1736 |
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Teaching with technology faculty support |
tba |
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Training/workshops |
Pam Galowich |
Teaching Learning Center Room 2410 |
X 1973 |
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WebCT online course development support |
Hyewon Kim hkim@oakton.edu |
I. T. User Support Services Specialist, Room 2552 |
X 1930 |
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WebCT online course design support |
Jessica Lee cjlee@oakton.edu |
I. T. User Support Services Specialist, Room 2552 |
X 7014 |
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WebCT account setup and problems |
Dann Foster dannf@oakton.edu |
IT, Manager of User Support Services, Room 2534 |
X 1674 |
Faculty Mentors (currently teaching online)
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Computer science |
Bob Sompolski somplski@oakton.edu |
Prof. Math & Computer Sciences Room 2530 |
X 1975 |
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Economics |
Joyce Bremer jbremer@oakton.edu |
Assoc. Prof. Economics Room 2712 |
X 1916 |
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Health Information Technology |
Anita Taylor anitat@oakton.edu |
Prof. HIT Room 3608 |
X 1615 |
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Mathematics |
Carole Shapero cshapero@oakton.edu |
Professor, Mathematics Room B214 RHC |
X 1459 |
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Mathematics |
Carol Murphy Murphy@oakton.edu |
Assoc. Prof. Mathematics Room 2719 |
X 1961 |
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Mathematics |
Julia Hassett juliah@oakton.edu |
Assoc. Prof. Mathematics Room 2739 |
X 1974 |
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Mathematics |
Tingxiu Wang tingxiu@oakton.edu |
Professor, Mathematics Room 2142 |
X 1751 |
Questions that you have during the semester can usually be handled by the Instructional Technology Help Desk (635-1965) for hardware questions or the Office of Alternative Education (635-1971) for support issues. These offices are both staffed from morning through late afternoon. Late night inquiries can be left as voice mail for morning resolution. If concerned whether "the server is up?", a call may be made to the night computer operator (635-1773).
See the "Frequently Asked People" list above for other resources. Student questions should be filtered through their instructors rather than contacting these numbers directly.
Many resources are available to faculty for planning, designing, and teaching Web-based courses.
Illinois Online Network (ION) - for faculty
Making the Virtual Classroom a Reality
http://illinois.online.uillinois.edu/mvcr.html
Making the Virtual Classroom a Reality (MVCR) is a series of online training courses designed to promote inter-institutional collaboration and awareness of online teaching skills, techniques and curriculum design. Several Oakton faculty who have taken these courses have found them very worthwhile. These courses are free for U of I and ION faculty members who want to acquire pedagogical and technical skills needed to successfully teach their own courses online. As an Oakton faculty member, you qualify as an ION faculty member.
Delivered totally online, the MVCR courses reflect the communicative
nature of the online environment and are based on asynchronous discussion
and collaboration. The course instructor models the strategies that participants
may eventually use in their own online courses. The online format is designed
to give faculty new to online teaching an opportunity to experience the
virtual classroom environment from a student’s perspective. This experience
will prove useful to them as they design their own online curriculum.
The ION initiative also offers a three-day Faculty Summer Institute at the
University of Illinois Urbana at which new technologies as well as issues
of pedagogy are handled in depth. Contact the Dean of Library & Media
Services for more information.
League for Innovation in Community Colleges
(http://www.league.org/leaguetlc/index.htm)
The League is an international association dedicated to catalyzing the potential of the community college movement. The League hosts conferences and institutes, develops Web resources, conducts research, produces publications, and leads projects and initiatives with member colleges, corporate partners, and other agencies in our continuing efforts.
Illinois Virtual Campus (IVC) - for students
The Illinois Virtual Campus is a service of Illinois' colleges and universities working together to provide access to distance courses through an online catalog. Many of Oakton’s distance learning courses (both credit and non-credit) are listed in the IVC catalog. The IVC also promotes Student Support Centers throughout the state to provide a human element of support to students taking distance courses. Oakton is one of these Support Centers. Practice courses to assist students in deciding whether an online course is for them and for developing skills and strategies for success in online courses are also available.
Syllabus and T.H.E. (Technology in Higher Education) magazines
Both are excellent resources and sources of ideas. Syllabus also offers several regional workshop days and conferences each year.
Publishers, textbooks and ancillary materials
Increasingly, publishers are offering training opportunities (workshops or sessions at conferences) for faculty who wish to use their materials. This can be an excellent resource. Materials need to be evaluated carefully. Contact your publisher’s representative.
Teaching / Learning Center - Oakton Community College
Workshops & seminars
Throughout the year, the TLC offers workshops and other learning opportunities related to online instruction. Topics regularly include:
Resources
There are several graphics CD's available in the Teaching /Learning Center for use during the development of an on-line course. These may be used to include pre-made graphics in web courses.
OCC Library Web Searches and Training
http://www.oakton.edu/resource/libmedia/library/web982j.htm and the online Library Magazine "24/7" http://servercc.oakton.edu/~jmayzel/247.
http://servercc.oakton.edu/~wittman/find/finding.htm
Instructional Support Services
ISS learning specialists are available to assist faculty in incorporating learning strategies and assessment techniques in on-line courses.
OCC Instructional Media Services
The IMS department has an extensive video library. The following may be of special interest to faculty teaching with technology:
OCC Information Technology
IT has extensive resources online ranging from general technology use to software tutorials. The IT site is located at www.oakton.edu/resource/it.
Guidelines for making Web pages more accessible are provided.
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General Principle:
1. NSFnet backbone services are provided to support open research and education in and among US research and instructional institutions, plus research arms of for-profit firms when engaged in open scholarly communication and research. Use for other purposes is not acceptable.
Specifically acceptable uses:
2. Communication with foreign researchers and educators in connection with research or instruction, as long as any network that the foreign user employs for such communication provides reciprocal access to US researchers and educators.
3. Communication and exchange for professional development, to maintain currency, or to debate issues in a field or sub field of knowledge.
4. Use for disciplinary-society, university-association, government-advisory, or standards activities related to the users' research and instructional activities.
5. Use in applying for or administering grants or contracts for research or instruction, but not for other fundraising or public relations activities.
6. Any other administrative communications or activities in direct support of research and instruction.
7. Announcements of new products or services for use in research or instruction, but not advertising of any kind.
8. Any traffic originating from a network of another member agency of the Federal Networking Council if the traffic meets the acceptable use policy of that agency.
9. Communication incidental to otherwise acceptable use, except for illegal or specifically unacceptable use.
Unacceptable uses:
10. Use for for-profit activities (consulting for pay, sales or administration of campus stores, sale of tickets to sports events, and so on) or use by for-profit institutions unless covered by the General Principle or as a specifically acceptable use.
11. Extensive use for private or personal business.
To reiterate or clarify, here are some of the basic technologies of email and how they pertain to Oakton online classes.
Appendix 6. WEBCT Software In More Depth
WebCT is the Internet-based course management software program Oakton has chosen for delivering most of its in-house developed online credit classes. While instructors develop their course content, WebCT is used to organize the lessons and other information, create and grade tests, and provide for homework assignment submission, student activity tracking, student-instructor interaction, etc. Or as the folks at WebCT explain themselves:
"WebCT provides publishers, instructors, students and administrators with a more flexible and powerful learning tool that enhances the learning experience by harnessing the power of the Internet. WebCT combines state-of-the-art Web application technology with educational content supplied by major publishers or instructors themselves. The result is a fully integrated, easy-to-use, Web-based, network learning environment, which offers instructors and students the ability to easily access and create content and interactive Web-based learning experiences."
WebCT (both the program and the content for individual classes) runs on Oakton's web servers, notably but not necessarily always limited to, http://online.oakton.edu. It is essentially a site on the World Wide Web that students surf to, login to, and take their classes.
It is important, then, to make this distinction. While instructors may use WebCT to organize and deliver their materials, the content and activities of any course may go beyond the confines of WebCT running on our online.oakton.edu (or other Oakton server) and link out to content on non-Oakton servers all around the world.Adopting a single course management program such as WebCT for the bulk of the Oakton Online courses has one clear advantage to the student: skills you learn using WebCT in one course will translate to other courses. Navigation methods will be similar from Chemistry 101 to English 101, though you will find that menuing will vary by virtue of the fact that no one instructor uses all the tools WebCT offers. Even making the transition from one version of WebCT to another should be quite simple.
Note: As of Fall, 2002, Oakton is running version 3.7 of WebCT on the "online" server, http://online.oakton.edu. Other legacy and preview versions of WebCT are often hosted on the "lego" server, http://lego.oakton.edu. WebCT 4.0 will be in place for Fall 2003.
Oakton has developed a general student guide to taking a WebCT-based class. See the Online with Oakton website at www.oakton.edu/online. It is highly advisable that you read through it before beginning your class. It is very important to read the material on Global IDs.
Also on the network is a folder called Samples. Samples is mapped as drive letter F:. Typically, instructors save files into F:/samples that they want to make available to their students on-campus. Students generally are able to only read and copy files available on F:\samples. However, an instructor can arrange with IT for a particular class to be able to save files to a specific folder within the F:\samples drive.
Streaming audio and video allows a user to make better use of larger segments of non-static formats such as sound or motion images. Because of their nature these elements are necessarily quite large and if treated traditionally would take a great deal of time to download before viewing. Streaming technologies allow a server to package these files in such a way that the end users can begin to use them before the entire file is sent to their PC. Two major technologies for streaming are Apple QuickTime and Real Technologies Real-time. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. At present, Oakton is beginning to work with hosting streaming video and audio. Many course providers, however, will include streaming media as part of their courses or modules for your use.
The use of video in education is not always as easy as it seems. Too often a simply recorded "lecture" or such tends to be what is called a "talking head" - a format that has very little ability to hold the viewers’ attention and hence – is counter productive to the educational goals. The faculty and staff of the Television Production Department or Instructional Technology Specialists in Instructional Technology or Instructional Media Services should be consulted for more information.
As more homes have broadband access to the Internet via cable modems and DSL (Digital Subscriber Lines), we will see much broader use of these technologies both commercially and educationally.
A linkage between related text. For example, by selecting a word in a sentence, information about that word can be retrieved.
Hypertext is the foundation of the World Wide Web. Links embedded within
Web pages are addresses to other Web pages either stored locally or on a
Web server anywhere in the world. The terms "hypertext" and "hyperlink" are used
synonymously.
An interactive discussion (by keyboard) conducted in real time about a
specific topic that is hosted on the Internet. The chat is accomplished by
typing on the keyboard, not speaking. Each keystroke is transmitted as it is
pressed. See IRC and instant messenger.
A discussion board is a general term for any online "bulletin board" where you can leave and expect to see responses to messages you have left.
The transmission of data in which the senders/receivers are not coordinated at the same time.
The transmission of data in which the senders/receivers are coordinated at the same time.
To receive a file transmitted over a network. In a communications session, download means receive, upload means transmit.
To send a file over a network from one computer to another.
To assign a path or drive letter to a disk drive
A computer that acts as a source of information. The term can refer to almost any kind of computer, from a centralized mainframe that is a host to its terminals, to a server that is host to its clients, to a desktop PC that is host to its peripherals.
Definitions taken from the TechEncyclopedia at http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/.