Defining your objectives

Before you roll up your sleeves and start designing Web pages, take the time to examine your motivation for creating a course Web site and to develop and refine your ideas within the context of what's possible in your situation. The Web can enhance learning or ease the burden of administering a course in many respects. Take time now to define your purpose for creating a course site - what challenges you are hoping to meet, what tasks you are hoping to simplify - and how you intend to combine the Web and the classroom.

You may have embarked on this project because a colleague is having success with his or her course site and you hope to achieve similar results. Or maybe your institution is requiring that all courses have Web sites or your students are demanding Web access to course materials. Or perhaps you see the Web as a solution to a teaching challenge you've been wrestling with for years. Whatever the motive, now is the time to clarify your goals and objectives for using the Web in your curriculum.

Look around

One of the best ways to define your Web teaching approach is to look at other teaching sites. Although some course Web sites are not open to the public, many are, which means you can peek into online classrooms and see how others are using the Web to teach. Your impressions of other teaching sites will help you form your own approach.

Explore the Web at other institutions to locate course sites in your discipline, or any instructional sites that seem to share your goals. Use your own critical thinking to evaluate the sites: identify where they succeed and where they fail. Look for new ideas or approaches you may be able to incorporate into your own online method. Bookmark those sites that you find particularly effective. Remember to evaluate what the site offers, not its aesthetics. Last, consult colleagues at your institution who have experience using the Web to teach. Ask them to demonstrate their Web-based materials and explain their approach. Such demonstrations are likely to stimulate your ideas.

Ask questions

Many questions need to be addressed before you develop your own site. The answers will guide your development efforts.

Audience profile

• What hardware and network connections are your students working with?
• What software are they using?
• What is their comfort level with technology?
• Do they expect Web access to course materials?

Usage profile

• How much time do you want students to spend with the site?
• Will the site be an addition to the regular course load? Or will the materials replace some from the traditional curriculum?
• Will the site be operative during the full term of the course?
• Will you use the site during class sessions?

Teaching goals

• What do you hope to accomplish that cannot be addressed using other tools or methods?
• What do you want your Web site to look like in two years? In four years?
• What have others done with the Web that might enhance your teaching?
• How will you use the technology to best effect?

Scope

A basic question is whether the Web site you create will be integral to the course. Many course Web sites serve an administrative function, offering students online access to materials such as a course syllabus or scheduling information. Although access has its merits, such a Web site is an adjunct - it supports the learning process. On the other end of the spectrum is a course that is conducted online, with perhaps occasional face-to-face class meetings. A Web site used in this way is clearly essential to the learning process.

Given that most students are overcommitted, a site that is used as an adjunct will probably not get your students' attention in any significant way. This does not mean that such a site is not worth doing - it requires little investment, eliminates the "I lost my syllabus" excuse, and may save time and trees - but do not expect it to transform your curriculum. If you want to use the Web to change how you teach, and how students learn, make your course site integral to your curriculum. Populate it with materials students normally cannot access - don't offer what they already have or have too much of (like reading), offer something new that will help them learn.

Administrative

Web sites can handle many of the administrative tasks of teaching a course, particularly a site created using a courseware tool (see Choosing a Web authoring tool). Students can use the course site to get information about scheduling or office hours, or to submit their assignments or check their grades. Instructors can use the site to maintain class lists and grade books, post announcements, and distribute handouts.

Supplementary

A course site can offer students aids to understanding, such as links to related sites or an online area to discuss class topics. Depending on how these aids are proffered, this use of the Web may or may not get your students' attention. A course Web site can suffer neglect if it contains only supportive materials that are not integrated into the course. A site that supports the curriculum works best when it is made part of the classroom experience: for example, assign the links to related sites as required reading, or bring topics to class from the students' online discussion.

Class resource

A more essential use of the Web would be to offer materials you use in your teaching on your course site. This use is particularly compelling for materials to which students have limited access. Students often view videos and images during class time and then later must rely on their memory to compose an essay or other assignment on some aspect of what they saw. Allowing students to revisit the video or images on a course site enhances their access to the material and makes their task easier and their realizations more profound. This use of the Web is still supportive, but its impact is great.

Instructional

Distance learning is perhaps the most integral use of the Web in education. Distance learning is online learning that takes the place of classroom instruction. In distance learning, the Web is the delivery mechanism for instruction, along with course materials, learning resources, and course administration. The focus of this book is on sites used in support of classroom teaching. Yet there is no reason that such a site cannot be integral to the course. Offer students opportunities to learn on your Web site, for example, with narratives that support or extend what you have covered in class. Use the site in lecture and class discussion, either by bringing up topics from online discussion or by displaying and working with the site during class. Include tools and aids that allow students to explore concepts covered in class. A course site that offers instruction will take more time, invention, and resources, but it has the potential to greatly enhance your students' learning.

Short-term instruction

Thus far this discussion of course Web sites has focused on sites that support classroom activities for the full term of a course. You may, however, have use for the Web for only a part of your curriculum. For example, you might "activate" a Web site for a section of your course that addresses the literary analysis of images. The site could contain the images along with relevant supporting materials, and for this section the site would be integral to the course.

Summary

At the end of this process you should have situated your Web site in your overall pedagogical approach. You should have defined your purpose for creating a course Web site, determined to what extent you plan to use the Web in your teaching, and, through inquiry, refined your ideas.

A good exercise at this stage is to write a proposal that includes a statement of your goals, a basic project description, and an implementation plan for your course Web site.

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Last update 8 September 2003