Web.Edu Agenda 9 for December 6, 2003

Last Updated: 12/7/03
Link back to course Welcome...

Web.Edu Agenda 9
for class on December 6, 2003

Item III.D changed in red to show Agenda reference.

Startup
1. New computers, new User Name, new Password. Logging in:
  1. Make sure that Logon To: says GUPLAB
  2. User Name is tomclass
  3. Password: environment with e changed to 3 (two places), i changed to 1 (one), o changed to 0 (zero), first and last letters capitalized, all other letters lower case
2. Reminder to sign in during the class, using the online signin form on the course web site
3. Reminder about regular work:
  1. Conference postings - should now be using the ListServ - send your posting in an email message to WebEduF03@lists.wayne.edu. Or reply to a message from the ListServ - the reply will automatically go to that same email address.
  2. Weekly reports
  3. Email test if you have not already finished it (checks to make sure that you can communicate with me by email):
    1. Send an email to at least two different people, with me being one of them.
    2. Send an email to someone else, with me as a cc
    3. Forward an email from someone else to me.
  4. File test if you have not already finished it (checks to make sure that we can read each other's word processing files):
    1. Download file from course web site, add your name and email it to me.
    2. I will add something and email the changed file back to you. Open file, read what I added and put what I added in an email message to me.
  5. Study schedule if you have not already finished it.
  6. Assigned reading in textbook.
4. Next classes after today:
  1. Saturday, December 13. Question-and-answer review for Final Exam. Also, essay due this day. Topics sheet distributed earlier. If you need a copy, it is available on the course web site at www.is.wayne.edu/drbowen.webeduF03, then follow link "Potential Exam Questions." Review these "Potential Exam Questions" and come to next week's review with your questions ready.
  2. Saturday, December 20. Final Exam. The questions on the Final Exam will come from "Potential Exam Questions," down to the exact wording.
    1. My final grades will be due almost immediately afterwards, so there will be no time for late assignments being counted in the regular course grade (makeup grades only). Aside from the exam, all other work to be counted in the regular grade is due by December 13. Work turned in after that can be taken into account for a Change of Grade.
5. Reading Summary (see link off of main course web site) is almost complete now.
A chat.
1. Log in to WebBoard by going to course web site.
2. Click on the CHAT button in the upper-left part of the screen.
3. Pick the chat for this class from the list on the right - F03WebEdu (Bowen)
4. The chat window opens (see below). Type in the top line, click Send, and see it appear, along with everyone else's messages, in the bottom part.
5. You can use different colors and other features using the COMPOSE button.
6. Chats can be fun at first, but after the novelty wears off, serious communication is difficult, unless there is a very strong monitor.
7. I have frequently scheduled chats in my online courses, but hardly anyone ever shows up.
Overview of course
1. What is in an online course? Agenda 2, Item II
  1. Some things I didn't mention earlier
    1. Small-group work
    2. Role playing (can be anonymous online)
    3. Video
    4. Links to external resources (professional associations in the subject area, other course web sites, etc.)
    5. Online courses are also different for the Instructor and the Institution
2. Technical issues for students. Agendas 2 (Item IV), 4 (Item II), Agenda 5 (Item II), Agenda 6 (Items III, IV), Handouts: How the Internet Works, Protecting Yourself Online
  1. Computer and Internet connections
  2. Three methods of accessing a web page
  3. How the Internet works
    1. TCP/IP
    2. Domain Name System
    3. World Wide Web
    4. Email
  4. Troubleshooting an Internet connection
  5. Other technical issues - file formats, size of email inbox, different server systems, viruses and other problems
3. Non-technical issues - you must be more of an active student in an online course. Agenda 7 (Items IV, V, VI), Agenda 8 (Items IV, V, VI, VII, VIII)
  1. Positive
    1. Some things I didn't mention earlier
      1. The material is always there for you to review
      2. Can often be more personalized. This is because most of the material is written out already, leaving the Instructor more time to work one-on-one. Also, in a face-to-face class, the Instructor has to try to "read" the class as a whole, and can't pay too much attention to individuals, unless time is specifically put aside for this.
      3. Use of linked external resources (I don't do much of this; perhaps I should) encourages exploration and becoming an active learner.
      4. Satisfaction of being able to work towards a goal (Alba's comment)
  2. Negative
    1. Some things I didn't mention earlier
      1. Instructions and assignments are written, must be able to work with these
      2. Much more writing online, writing skills are important
4. Online courses will change - what are some of the expected and possible changes? Agenda 8, Items VII, VIII
Finishing up new course content
1. Comments on textbook
  1. Doesn't say much about positive reasons for taking online courses (some vague words about increased satisfaction). Mostly "eat your vegetables," relatively little about "dessert" or "goodies." For my list of positives that students have told me about, see Agenda 7.
  2. Training. I agree that most faculty try to separate themselves from skills training, and that this is generally not a good thing. The book claims that corporate training is moving rapidly towards the Internet and the Web. In my own work, I see some of the training at Ford Motor Company. I do not see the rapid movement towards Web-based training, that was going on two and three years ago. Here are some of the reasons that I have heard for this change in that trend:
    1. Expensive. Those first courses were done with very generous budgets, and this seems to have scared people off, especially during the recent business downturn.
    2. Funding models not working. If the training departments were centrally funded, and courses were offered free to employees, these central budgets have been cut. If training departments were paid out of tuition fees to employees (paid by the employee's unit out of the unit training budget), these unit training budgets have been cut. In some cases, training units feel that if they put courses on the web, employees and units will expect that they can be taken for free.
    3. Security concerns, that proprietary information in training courses is too public. Sometimes the fears are about being hacked from outside, while in other cases there are fears about unauthorized access from within the corporation - that is, essentially employee's wasting their time on training that does not relate to their own job.
2. Ideas about improving online courses. It is too early in the history of online courses to assume that their future will be the same as what we see around us now. If there are problems, we should think about solutions for them (and I do think about solutions). Part of thinking about solutions is correctly identifying the problems; otherwise you can solve the wrong problem and make things worse. Here are some of the problems that have been mentioned, with possible solutions.
  1. Too much self-discipline required, for many people. This has been a very clear message from this class (both in words and deeds!). I have some questions about what the problem is, exactly. (If we are concerned with solving the problem, it is important to know exactly what the problem is, or we may fix the wrong problem.)
    1. Is the problem that people are used to having to come to class when they are in school, but they are not yet used to going online? Just the passage of time could help this problem, or we could be more aggressive.
      1. Web Hub - one thing I have done. Comments?
      2. Weekly emails - one thing I have done. Comments?
      3. Getting even more aggressive - having something flash on your computer screen, talk to you through your computer, or something similar.
      4. Students can always hide, however, as far as I can see. But why do students go to class but not go onto the web?
    2. Is the problem that without a specific schedule, people have trouble fitting it into their busy schedules? When something has to give, the online course does not have a firm deadline.
      1. Study schedule - something I have done. Comments?
      2. Should deadlines be made firmer? Am I being too tolerant of late work?
    3. Is the problem that the requirement to form opinions and attitudes based on the reading is too difficult and people are not used to it? That, is, the conference requires you to have an opinion about what you read. Is this something that too many people are just not ready for?
      1. Would another type of assignment do better, such as writing Chapter summaries and emailing them in, or taking online reading comprehension tests, that would not require having opinions?
    4. Is the problem that people sign up for online classes but really do not have the time to take them, either because they don't have the time to take any course, or because they mistakenly think that online courses will be easier?
    5. Missing face-to-face contact?
    6. Is the problem that the writing requirement in online courses are too high for many people?
    7. Is the concept of a one-credit course the problem - not enough contact time?
  2. Improving community online.
  3. Adding group work and simulations. A common complaint from the Business world about US education is that it emphasizes almost entirely individual work and achievement, but much of Business (and the rest of society) involves cooperative work with others. Another common complaint is that US education often focuses on "home runs for the few" while Business (and the rest of society) needs "everyone to be good at hitting singles," at everyone taking the next step together. (Another difference between Training and Education.)