- Basic assumption: Asynchronous learning materials (i.e., books,
online tutorials and references, mailing lists, etc.) are necessary
but not sufficient in most cases. A majority of learners require
regular and sustained interaction (i.e., synchronous learning
activities) involving teachers and other active learners.
- The Jackson State University course CSC 499,
Programming for the Web, begin on August 18, 1997 and ended
on December 10, 1997. CSC 499 is equivalent to
Syracuse University course CPS 406, which is also
taught as a graduate course (CPS 606) at Syracuse.
Course topics include HTML, CGI, Perl, and Java. Approximately
two-thirds of the course is devoted to Java programming. See
http://www.npac.syr.edu/projects/jsufall97/information.html
for a detailed syllabus and course description.
- The course "met" twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from
2:30 to 4pm central time. In hindsight, this was a less-than-optimal
time of the day, since the Internet is usually quite congested during
the afternoon hours.
- The first class was a traditional face-to-face meeting of
instructors and students. Instructors went over the syllabus and
students were introduced to the Tango software. (Little or no time was
spent on browser technology since almost all students had the necessary
experience.) In particular, students were asked to connect to an
online database application (a link was put on the course assignment
page for this purpose) and complete a sign-up form. This information
was to form the basis of the online student database. In addition to
basic indentifying information and demographics, students were asked a
series of questions regarding their technical background. This
questionnaire was specifically designed for the students in this class
(who we knew nothing about).
- We learned a couple of surprising things from this
questionnaire. First of all, these students (as a group) had almost no
experience coding Web pages in HTML. Secondly, almost all of the
students were familiar with C. This information caused us to adjust
the syllabus somewhat. More time was spent introducing the course
and care was taken that the students understood basic Web
mechanisms, in particular, HTTP and CGI. On the other hand, the fact
that these students were confortable with C made it easy to
introduce Java, whose syntax is similar to C.
- At the beginning of the term, after students completed
the online sign-up form, a majordomo mailing list is created.
The mailing list facilitates asynchronous discussion of
course-related topics, such as assignments. In CSC 499,
however, students were slow to use the mailing list. The
reason for this is not clear. It seemed as though students
preferred to send private e-mail for some reason.
- In addition to the traditional mailing list, a "Post Office"
page was created:
http://www.npac.syr.edu/projects/jsufall97/postoffice.html
The Post Office is a more visual, browser-based approach to e-mail.
(Note: The Post Office is created by script, from the information
typed into the online sign-up form.)
- Students in CSC 499 had access to a wealth of asynchronous
learning material on the Web. From the course home page
http://www.npac.syr.edu/projects/jsufall97/
students could link to resources covering HTML, CGI (including
Perl), and Java. These pages have links to lectures, tutorials,
documentation, and examples.
- Example programs are an integral part of learning any
programming language. The examples must be carefully designed to
illustrate the essential features of the language without
introducing unnecessary detail. To facilitate the showing of
examples, a dual-panel presentation window was designed in which the
code appears in the bottom panel and the output of the code
simultaneously appears in the top panel:
http://www.npac.syr.edu/projects/tutorials/Java/examples/HelloWorld/
Notice that the code is line numbered, which facilitates the
explanation of the example. Line numbering is especially important in a
distance-learning course, as mentioned earlier.
- The course home page is a record of both student and course
progress. Lectures, for example, are added to the lecture page on a
weekly basis. (Recall that lecture foils have optional "addons",
that is, links to related examples and background material.) If a
student misses a lecture, he or she can consult the lecture page for
missed material.
- Assignments are also archived on the course home page. Any
student with Web access can find out immediately what assignments
have been given and which are coming due. Moreover, each assignment
includes links to background material that the assignment
presupposes.
- As a student completes his or her assignments, links are added
to their homework page. (The creation of this homework page is the
first assignment a student receives in the course.) On or after the
assignment due date, a TA or instructor consults each student's
homework page and grades the assignment. The grades are entered
into a database, which a student accesses with a browser.
- This Web-based database is an integral part of the course.
From the student's point of view, the database provides a
near-instantaneous answer to the perennial question: "What is my
grade in this course?" From an administrative point of view, the
database centralizes student records and automates certain routine
tasks. For example, an instructor may produce summary statistics
at mid-term or at the course's end. Student tracking is thus
simplified.
- Grades must be kept in a secure online database accessible to
both teachers and students. This is especially important in a
distance-learning course where access to instructors is limited.