Last Updated: 1/17/02
Link back to course Welcome...

Web.Edu Agenda 2
for class on January 17, 2002

  1. Startup
    1. Reminder to sign in during the class, using the online signin form on the course web site
    2. Turn your computer on and go to the course web site
      1. Turn the red power switch on
      2. The User Name is "labuser" and leave the password blank
      3. Start the web browser of your choice (Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator or Communicator) by double-clicking on the icon
      4. Go to the course web site - http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen/webeduw02
    3. Pictures for a class photo album - this is not a course requirement
  2. Review
    1. Parts of Internet Courses
      1. Fairly common
        1. Textbook
        2. Web Site for course documents and information distribution
        3. Electronic discussion forum
        4. Electronic method for submitting and receiving homework
      2. May or may not be present
        1. Online web-based tests, reports and/or forms
        2. "Real" (in-person) tests and/or exams
        3. Student web pages
        4. Online reading
        5. Online workgroups
        6. Online Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET)
        7. Internet multimedia (video and audio)
        8. Required course meetings
        9. (New) Workgroup software letting everybody work on the same thing onscreen, for example with a word processor
    2. Syllabus
      1. Assignments
  3. Reading - questions or comments. My comments
    1. Forward - Rosenfield says that, "there no doubt that congregated facilities-based learning is the best form of education." My comment: it is that it is much too early to be that conclusive. If it anything like past developments, it will turn out to be better for at least some purposes (but we don't know what those purposes are yet). Some examples where online may well turn out to be better are
      1. Where extended, detailed, ongoing discussion is needed
      2. For topics where not enough people can be assembled in one place to make a course economic

      But learners to have to "do" in online courses, and that is a prerequisite for learning.
      NOTE: Rosenfield's comment about quality is contradicted by the author's statements at the bottom of Page 18 ("... studies have shown that learning at a distance is every bit as effective as learning in person."). But it is still very early to claim that we have definitive data about learning online.

    2. Chapter 1 - things are developing very rapidly in online distance education
      1. Many countries do more with distance education than US, many states do more than Michigan. Canada and England - Open University (model for much of ISP)
      2. Many providers of online courses
        1. Universities and colleges - web sites are mostly public and free access (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) - pay to get credit
        2. Commercial (for-profit) - closed web sites, pay to get a User Name and Password
        3. Services provided as a sideline to a business or web site
      3. Technological basis - rapid and inexpensive computers, communication, and storage
        1. Next step - meeting face-to-face online? Videoconferencing
      4. Is distance learning for you? Typically students are more active. Requires commitment, discipline (or a course that you really enjoy).
      5. Instructor will often try to establish a community within the class - pictures, small groups, introductions
      6. More writing - everything is written (may change with video conferencing)
  4. Using a web browser
    1. A "web browser" is generic term meaning a computer program that accesses and displays web pages (files) stored on a web server, using the HyperText Transport Protocol (http). Examples of web browsers are Netscape Navigator (versions 1 through 3), Netscape Communicator (versions 4 and higher) and Microsoft Internet Explorer. (The Netscape browsers are often just called "Netscape", but technically that is the name of the manufacturer. There are at least fifty different web browsers. Another synonym for web browser is "web client"; on the Internet, a client and server often work together. "Web" stands for World Wide Web or www. The Web and the Internet are not the same; the Internet is a method for sending information between computers, and the Web uses the Internet to transport Web pages. Email also uses the Internet, but to transport mail messages. Both the Web and the Internet are cross-platform, meaning that all types of computers can intercommunicate, provided they have the right software, and an Internet connection.
      1. Hypertext is linked text - text with links in it
    2. Methods of accessing a web page:
      1. Type the URL into the location window at the top of the browser and tap the <Enter> or <Return> key
        1. If you mistype the URL (each letter must be exactly right), you can edit out any mistakes, without backspacing and erasing until you reach the error, and then typing everything over, probably making another mistake in the process. Click anywhere on the URL. This usually turns it from black-on-white to white-on-blue, and the whole URL is "selected." The selection is usually replaced if you just start typing ("typing replaces selection"), so you don't want to do that. Click a second time to deselect (black to black-on-white) and put the vertical insertion bar somewhere in the middle of the URL. You can then use the following standard Windows editing keys (slightly different on a Mac):
          1. Left and right arrow keys to space over letters one by one without changing them
          2. "Home" and "End" keys to go all the way to the beginning or the end of the URL without changing anything
          3. "Backspace" key to back up and delete letters one by one at the insertion bar
          4. "Delete" key to delete characters to the right of the insertion bar

          One you have the URL corrected, tap the "Enter" key again to activate the URL. You can re-edit as many times as necessary.

      2. Use a "bookmark" (the Netscape term, but called a "favorite" in Internet Explorer) - the easiest and most reliable method
        1. To make a bookmark/favorite,
          1. Go to that page using one of the other methods
          2. Click "Bookmarks" or "Favorites"
          3. Click "Add Bookmark" or "Add Favorite"
          4. In Internet Explorer you will be asked to edit the name that appears in the list of favorites, but in Navigator/Communicator you are done
          5. That creates the book mark; to use it, click on "Bookmarks" or "Favorites" and then click on the location.
        2. Bookmarks save typing and mistakes; in taking an online course, always bookmark the course web site
        3. A bookmark exists only on the computer that you used to create it - if you use more than one computer and want the bookmarks on each, you must create the bookmarks on each computer separately, or find the "bookmark file" and copy it. File copying is not cross-platform, and does not work between different browsers
        4. If you have a lot of bookmarks, you can change their titles and organize them in folders using "Edit Bookmarks" or "Edit Favorites."
      3. Follow a link
        1. This means to click on a link
        2. A link can be text, a picture, or a button
        3. Signs that a feature on the screen is a link (zero to all will occur):
          1. For text, it is underlined (usually blue originally, usually turns purple after it has been followed the first time)
          2. The arrow cursor turns into a pointing finger
          3. The destination or target is displayed on the browser status bar near the bottom of the screen
        4. Links are the same on all computers
        5. Links are sometimes referred to as "clickable" - for example, a clickable list is a list of links
      4. Pick from the "history" list using the down-pointing arrow in the browser location window. This list only displays the most recent sites, so is unreliable
  5. Computer conference. Follow the link on the course web site. Notice the link to the online guide just below.
    1. In a computer conference, messages are usually arranged in "threads" of top-level messages (here, postings) and replies. A message and all of its replies are called a "thread."
    2. Many of your messages will be replies. Someone else may read your reply a week after the original message was posted. Unless you provide some context in your reply, your reader will not have a clue what you are talking about. Provide context by including the original message in your reply, but edit out everything except the part you are actually replying to.
    3. The grey login box will appear. Enter your User Name and Password and click "OK." At this point you can also bookmark the computer conference; selecting the bookmark will also pop up the grey login box
    4. On the left you will see a yellow panel with the clickable list of conferences you belong to; on the right, a white panel with a clickable message about new messages
      ConferenceOpeningSmall.gif (6549 bytes)
    5. To see messages, you can
      1. click on a conference to see a clickable list of all the messages in it.
        OldMessages.gif (4872 bytes)
        Here, replies to a top-level posting are listed below the posting and indented from it
      2. Or you can click on the number of new messages to see a list of new messages
        ListNewMessSmall.gif (5772 bytes)
    6. Once you have a clickable list of messages either from 1 or 2 above, click on an individual message to display the message in the right panel (the left panel always displays the clickable list of conferences)
      MessageBar.gif (16155 bytes)
      All replies to a message are also displayed underneath it; scroll down to read all of the replies also
    7. Here are descriptions of the functions for the clickable items in the menu bar above the message:
      1. Post - compose a new top-level message
      2. Reply - compose a reply to the current message
      3. Reply/Quote - same as Reply, except the original message is automatically included. Edit this down!
      4. Email Reply - a private reply via email to the author of the current message
      5. Delete - Delete the current message, but only works if you are the author
      6. Edit - Edit (change) the current message, but only works if you are the author
      7. Previous - move to the previous message in the thread, the one that the current message replied to
      8. Next - move to the message after the current method in the thread
      9. Previous Topic - Move to the previous thread (as listed under the conference in the left-hand or yellow panel)
      10. Next Topic - Move to the next thread (as listed under the conference in the left-hand or yellow
    8. Writing a reply
      Compose.gif (9905 bytes)
      You can use the standard edit keys in the title (red) and composition (green) windows, as well as the keyboard. When the message is ready, click on the "Post" button (blue) to send your message to the conference.
    9. But first, you get a preview of the message as below.
      Preview.gif (11252 bytes)
      If you like the preview, click on the second Post button (blue) to finally send the message to the conference. When you see the message displayed as in E above, it is on the conference.
    10. I usually work from the list of new messages, click on each message starting from the top of the list and working down, replying to each or not, then using the "Back" button to get back to the list of new messages.
    11. Create a signature that will be put at the bottom of all of your messages:
      1. Click on the black-and-white "PROFILES" button
      2. Choose to change your personal profile
      3. Scroll down to the bottom and put signature information there, then click the button. What could go in your signature:
        1. Name
        2. Favorite saying
        3. Nickname
        4. Email address
    12. In-class assignment: Pull up the message "Introduce Yourself!", choose "Reply/Quote", add your name to the title, edit out everything in the body except for the first sentence, compose a brief introduction to yourself and post it to the conference. Points you might include in an introduction: where you work, what you do there, family information, how many credits you have towards your degree, when you expect to finish your coursework, favorite saying.
  6. Assignments due next class (from the assignment schedule on the Syllabus - get used to reviewing that)
    1. Read Chapter 4 pages 67 - 80
    2. Go to the course web site, follow the link "Class Registration (information form)", and complete and send in a new online registration form.
    3. On the course computer conference, enter one comment on the textbook from the reading for last week or this coming week. (Active learning - it's not enough just to read it, you have to think of something to say about it.) Your comment should refer to a specific part of the textbook, and be a minimum of five lines on the screen after posting. (If it doesn't come out to be five lines after posting, you can edit it to add more material.)
  7. Turning off the lab computers
    1. Click the "Start" button (if you computer has a "Windows" key you can press that instead)
    2. Point to or click on "Shut Down..."
    3. Make sure that "Shut Down" is selected
    4. Click the "OK" button or press the <Enter> key
    5. Wait until your computer turns off or displays a message that it is now OK to shut down your computer
    6. Turn off the computer and monitor using the red key under the tabletop