by Stephen Downes // Spotlight Site
One of the more noteworthy recent trends in online culture is the
weblog—a personal Web site on which authors regularly post commentary and related hyperlinks. Our first three features in this issue of
The Technology Source address the current status of weblogs and weblog-related technology in the academy, as well as the potential impact of these tools on the future of education. In his Spotlight Site review, Stephen Downes initiates the discussion with an introduction to
Weblogs at Harvard Law, an institutional site that provides access to weblogs created by university students and faculty. Organized by software designer Dave Winer, the listings at this site offer a revealing glimpse of the interests, ideas, and experiences of people from diverse sectors of the campus community. The fundamental virtue of weblogs, Downes notes, is that they serve as a free, open forum for disseminating views and opinions that otherwise would not receive a substantial audience of peers. After visiting this site, readers may very well consider making an official home for "blogs" at their own institutions.
by Mary Harrsch // Tools
The prominence of weblogs anticipates a larger revolution in the world of higher education, as Mary Harrsch notes in her Tools feature. For "bloggers," reaching an audience of peers is no longer a matter of putting a Web page in a digital bottle, crossing one's fingers, and casting it in the chaotic ocean of cyberspace. Thanks to advances in syndication technology, these writers can now have their daily thoughts and insights directly distributed as news feeds to other sites. Harrsch explains how RSS (rich site summary or "really simple syndication") makes this possible. Weblog application programs insert RSS tags, which are simple derivatives of the XML programming language, within the code of logged Web content; this format enables other users to incorporate such content within the template of their own virtual newspapers. By allowing multiple, dynamic currents of information to be periodically monitored at a single site, RSS syndication promotes the timely exchange of current research, insights, and best practices among educators throughout the globe. If you've been looking for the new "killer app," Harrsch suggests, you need to look no further.
by Jon Baggaley // Tools
In our second Tools feature, Jon Baggaley discusses the impact of blogging at Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada. Since December 2001, content for some 20 online courses has been managed within an RSS-derived framework that links a departmental course management system to pages stored at a commercial blogging site. Through this interface, instructors who have neither HTML coding skills nor the ability to use common Web editing packages easily and successfully update their own academic materials. The result is less work for the webmaster who oversees online course sites, a greater sense of accomplishment and independence on the part of faculty members, and fewer time-consuming requests for specialists who previously handled technical issues. Baggaley joins Harrsch and Downes in celebrating the potential of RSS-enabled technology to change the way the academic world communicates, collaborates, and continues to grow in the 21st century.
by Joel Foreman // Tools
As distance learning increasingly relies upon problem-based assignments and small group projects, Joel Foreman predicts that synchronous interaction will only grow in importance. This trend raises an important question: What are the best readily available resources to support collaborative activities? In our third Tools feature, Foreman compares and evaluates the current range of options—including video conferencing, online chat, phone conferencing, and Web conferencing systems that support both application sharing and audio communication. He gives special consideration to voiceover IP (VOIP), a medium that allows audio signals to be transmitted directly within Internet lines rather than via telephone lines. While acknowledging that VOIP has some limitations, Foreman touts its potential to enhance distance groupwork and illustrates his use of this technology in his own instruction.
by Eric Adams and Chris Freeman // Commentary
When creating an online learning environment, learning technologists find themselves in a position similar to that of the urban developer. Their common goal—building a community that suits the distinctive needs and characteristics of its inhabitants—requires careful preliminary planning and an understanding of the proper tools for such an endeavor. Eric Adams and Chris Freeman explore this analogy in their Commentary on the construction of viable learning "neighborhoods" within cyberspace. The authors outline the initial questions that should guide online design and then assess the ways in which message boards, virtual classrooms, and user profile pages can work individually and collectively to make learning communities more "habitable" for their members. In the process, Adams and Freeman offer a helpful blueprint for instructors and other hosts who are preparing to develop their own sites.
by Coralie McCormack, Andrelyn Applebee, and Peter Donnan // Commentary
Student assessment of academic instruction, once a paper-based activity reserved for the end of a semester, is changing along with the educational landscape. Even for traditional classes, formal evaluations are increasingly conducted online. Moreover, online courses offer many sources from which instructors can mine appraisals of their teaching: Transcripts of e-mail discussions, chat communications, and message board postings, for example, may yield valuable student insights about a particular class. The availability of such information, however, does not imply the free use of it. In our second Commentary, Coralie McCormack, Andrelyn Applebee, and Peter Donnan address the sensitive ethical and legal issues that Web-based assessment can raise, particularly in regard to the reproduction of student comments posted online. The authors broach important questions through an imagined conversation among three archetypal colleagues, and then challenge readers to continue the discussion of sound evaluation practice on their own campuses.
by John Schiller // Commentary
In our third Commentary, John Schiller discusses the importance of elementary school principals as "change facilitators" within their schools, particularly in relation to technology implementation and integration. Citing past research and two of his own studies conducted in Australia, Schiller explains that principals generally adopt one of three administrative roles: the initiator (who actively supports and steers initiatives for change), the manager (who stresses the need for preliminary planning before innovation takes place), or the responder (who usually relies on teachers and other staff members to initiate change). He assesses the relative success of these roles in fostering institutional transformation. Though Schiller focuses on elementary schools, readers involved with any level of educational administration can benefit from the questions raised by this article. What sort of change facilitator are you? What are the ramifications for your campus? The answers may have a significant impact on pedagogical practice and, by extension, on student learning.
by Sylvie L. F. Richards // Commentary
Too often in virtual learning environments, the basic element that connects students to the course is a static one—a plain syllabus that merely outlines assignments without taking advantage of the digital medium in which it resides. In our fourth Commentary, Sylvie Richards describes how an interactive syllabus can prompt students to engage with course material in adaptive ways. She first distinguishes between two different models for the interactive syllabus: a sequential form ideal for the sciences and a nonlinear form ideal for the humanities. Through example syllabi for courses on diverse subjects (from Jane Austen to Picasso to the Vietnam War), Richards then shows how such an online resource can employ multiple media and communication tools to address a variety of learning styles and to promote a more multi-dimensional experience for students. Whether you are a wide-eyed neophyte or a seasoned expert in need of fresh ideas, you will enjoy this discussion of creative design features and constructivist pedagogy.
by Gabriele Ferrazzi // Case Studies
The increasingly competitive educational environment in Canada impelled one department at Brandon University to explore distributed learning as a means of reaching its target market: rural students. As Gabriele Ferrazzi reports in our first Case Study, the Department of Rural Development (DRD) began testing the waters of online education in August 2000. The faculty found that while small steps might be taken by instructors willing to design single Web-based or Web-supported courses, a programmatic approach with broad institutional support would offer vastly improved outcomes. Of course, such an approach would raise the stakes, involve more complicated tasks, and require a plan for overcoming greater resistance and anxiety. The DRD experience highlights the need for clear road maps that can help small departments or institutions (with limited resources) create partnerships, build organizational support, and make an appropriate commitment to distributed learning.
by George Gadanidis and Sharon Rich // Case Studies
Undergraduate students in elementary education programs at the University of Western Ontario used to take 9 credit hours of large lecture classes. In the 2001-2002 academic year, however, that traditional component of the course sequence was replaced with interactive online content modules and discussion conferences. In our second Case Study, George Gadanidis and Sharon Rich explain the motivating philosophy behind this shift: a desire to model the kinds of active, collaborative learning environments that they encourage preservice teachers to create and sustain. The authors also discuss specific concerns that shaped the online initiative, assess its impact on faculty workload and compensation, and reveal what made the first year of its implementation so successful. Their highly organized and effective efforts are sure to inspire other instructors interested in aligning how they teach with what they teach.
