Last Updated: 2/21/02
Link back to course Welcome...

Web.Edu Agenda 6
for class on February 21, 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. I will not make my office hours for the next class on Thursday March 7. It is possible that I may even be a little late for class - I don't think so, but it could happen.
    4. Reminder about regular online work: conference postings, online weekly course reports
    5. After next class, do not meet until April 11 - work online instead. I will be posting "lectures" on the course web site.
    6. April 11 and April 18 classes will be 6 to 7 PM as originally scheduled.
    7. Review assignments - Review of essay form from syllabus
  2. Reading - questions or comments. My comments
    1. For this week - Chapter 9, "Ready? It's the First Day of Virtual School"
      1. Warning about "Save the Password" (Internet Explorer only) is a good point. Personally, I never use it.
      2. "Lecture model .. has gone out the window." Online class will feel very different.
      3. Asynchronous Vs synchronous (conference Vs chat). I feel that chat is too chaotic if there are more than three or four people.
      4. Pg 160 when to communicate directly and when publicly is good. Use each communication medium for its strengths.
      5. Pg 162 constructivist learning requires participation in the online community, use of conference. Different perspectives of students has a lot to offer.
        Also, you should be able to get an earlier and more detailed idea of what a course will be like.
      6. Feedback - here, online grade reports.
  3. (We went over this bit last class) Alternate systems #1 - Blackboard
    1. Blackboard is a commercial (proprietary) web teaching and learning tool supported by WSU at the University level, and is used for many grounded and online courses
      1. There are many alternate systems in use at WSU. In particular, Medicine, Engineering, Nursing and Science have well-supported online course systems in place
      2. Our online work will change to Blackboard for the next three or four weeks except for
        1. Postings that were due by this week - still do those using WebBoard
        2. Class signins - Blackboard does not have this feature
        3. Weekly course reports - Blackboard does not have these
      3. One of the benefits that the University hopes for using Blackboard is that students will only have to learn it once. However, the Instructor for each course has a great deal of flexibility in configuring the course, so this may not be the case. Also, Blackboard does not always do things consistently
    2. There is a link to Blackboard from the course web site, or it is at http://blackboard.wayne.edu
    3. Many such systems, including WebBoard and the online course reports, make it easy to set up a second account (or even more). You need to be careful about this. On Blackboard and WebBoard, your accounts are persistent from course to course - you should not establish a new account for each course (no matter what the Instructor says to do!)
      1. If you have multiple accounts in BlackBoard, email the administrator (bbadmin@wayne.edu) listing the accounts and your WSU Student ID # (on your OneCard, starts with "P").
        1. Duplicate accounts that are not being used will be deleted
        2. Accounts that are linked to a course will not be (may not be) deleted
    4. Blackboard opening screen
      1. BlackboardWelcomeMod.gif (5975 bytes)
      2. Login if you have already created an account, Create Account if this is your first time in BlackBoard - ever! (Forget your password?)
      3. Create Account
        Red-starred items are required, others are optional. You can go back and update this information at any time.

        After you have Completed the form, scroll down and click the appropriate button (not "CANCEL") at the bottom
    5. If you already have an account, just log in with your User name and Password (transparency)
    6. Blackboard welcome screen - shows all of your courses, and more (transparency)
      1. There are several options for getting included in a course - Instructor option
        1. Course might be open to the public (unusual)
        2. You might self-register, as for this one (transparency × 2)
        3. You might need to request that the Instructor admit you

          This is where we left off last time
      2. Account status - everyone's account is OK.
    7. Welcome page for a course (transparency)
    8. Tools page (transparency) - online help (transparency)
      1. Digital Drop Box - can be used for turning in and turning back homework files
    9. Communication (transparency)
      1. Discussion Board (transparency)
      2. Viewing Threads (transparency)
      3. Replying (transparency)
      4. Threaded discussion system WebBoard BlackBoard
        Logo
        A top-level message A "Post" A "Forum" (Instructor may disallow students from starting new Forums - in fact I don't see how allows students to start forums)
        To reply to a top-level message "Reply" or "Reply/Quote" "Add New Thread"
        To reply to a lower-level message Same as above "Reply":
      5. Virtual classroom (chat)
  4. How the Internet works; getting help with Internet and computer problems (handout)
  5. File compatibility issues - homework is turned in via computer files
    1. Can the Instructor read your files?
    2. Can you read the Instructor's files? For example, the Instructor's comments and grades on your essays?
    3. There is a file format for this - HTML (web pages). I want to test this as a method. Which of the following WYSIWYG HTML editors do you have?
      1. Netscape Composer
      2. Word - File > Save As (HTML)
      3. Or Word File > Save As Web Page
      4. Or Works or some other word processor File > Save As > HTML or Save As Web Page
      5. Microsoft FrontPage or some other WYSIWYG HTML editor
    4. There will be an online form for this by Saturday - fill it in
  6. Managing files - this is and will be an issue in any online course. Can you find your files, in order to upload them, and can you find them once you have downloaded them?
    1. How to find your files - the path to the file, or the file path
      C:\My Documents\WebEduW02\dtbEssay1.doc
      C:\  My Documents\WebEduW02\  dtbEssay1  .doc
      C:\ The drive (A: for floppy drive, C: for hard drive, may have others also) You have no choice over the drive
      My Documents\WebEduW02\ Folders (two here, "My Documents" and "WebEduW02" You can name and rename folders. Folder names should make sense to you (describe the contents of the folder).
      dtbEssay1 File name You can name and rename file names. File names should make sense to you (describe the contents of the file).
      .doc Extension (indicates type and also determines which files will be visible when you look for files) In Windows, file extensions (technically they pare part of the name) are very important. By default, Windows hides them from you.
    2. When you save a file, almost all of the path is shown to you. 
  7. Assignments due next class (from the assignment schedule on the Syllabus - get used to reviewing that)
    1. Read Chapter 10 (Interacting Virtually) and 11 (Online Relationships)
    2. Catch up on your WebBoard postings from the past and start posting on BlackBoard
      Messages for Discussion Forums
      Dates Discussion forum Weeks Messages Contact
      1/10 through 2/21 WebBoard 6 14 Link from course web site
      2/22 through 3/27 BlackBoard 4 9 blackboard.wayne.edu
      3/28 through 4/18 ListServ 3 7 webeduw02@lists.wayne.edu
    3. Do two BlackBoard postings for the next class
    4. Complete the form that will be online for the WYSIWYG HTM: editors that you have access to
    5. Weekly course report.
    6. Draft for Essay is due in two weeks on March 7
    7. Start "The Email Test". Your message in each case should say whether it is 1, 2 or 3 (see numbers below)
      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.
    8. If you have not already done this, do the "File Test" to make sure that we can exchange homework files electronically.
  8. Potential exam questions (handout)
  9. 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