WEB TEACHING GUIDE
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This is a hard book to put into a niche. The
author addresses her intended audience in the preface when she notes that
"Web Teaching Guide is for educators who are considering adding a Web
component to their classroom teaching. It is not a technical how-to
guide." In fact, there are more statements about what the book is not
than there are statements addressing what it is.
Like Moby Dick, this book can be read at
different levels. Individuals with rather different technical skill
sets can read this book and find things of value. Individuals with
different levels of experience (or interest) in creating course Web pages will
find topics that address their mixed needs. If there is a problem, it is
that these different potential readers will not all benefit from the same
sequence of presentation. On the other hand, this is probably not a book
that should be read through from cover to cover. Many of my colleagues
would probably never finish the text if they used that approach. In other
words, a non-linear guide is needed. Such a guide, in fact is present at Web
Teaching (Dartmouth College) although rarely referred to in the text.
For example, the so-called early adopters or
"pioneers" have been doing their things for several years.
Chapter 3, Creating the site, seems an ideal starting point for the
person who has developed course resources but feels the need to modify the site
or wants to respond to suggestions from previous users but isn't quite sure what
options are available. There are many very practical snippets dealing with
compression, images, sound files, streaming media, among others. Each
could become the focus of a separate line of inquiry depending on the needs of
the individual. Individuals who have been through several iterations of
their own pages will profit by starting with Chapter 5 Site assessment,
where a number of practical suggestions are offered for undertaking a formal
assessment.
What about colleagues who being told by their
administrators that they should be developing course resources? This seems
to be happening with an increasing frequency on many campuses. I am a
great believer in the principle of "you show me your and I'll show you
mine". Many of us got to where we are today by looking at how our
peers were using the Internet. The
World Lecture Hall has been published since 1994 and is a great way to
identify resources (self-nominated) in more than 80 disciplines. A second step
would be to start with Horton's Chapter 4, Using the site. Then,
and perhaps only then, would I recommend starting at the beginning with Chapter
1, Planning, and Chapter 2, Developing content.
In the preface Horton makes the case for not
including HTML (hypertext markup language) and pretty much avoids technical
details throughout the book. Her resource, Web
Teaching, Links, does include several good references to HTML and some
readers may elect to turn Web Teaching Guide into sort of a "how-to"
book by combining her text with experience in producing Web pages.
"Hidden" through out the text are six
Case Studies that focus on how (and why) your peers are using the Internet as a
component of their face-to-face courses. In case you "miss" one
you can easily locate then at Web
Teaching, Case Studies. In fact, I would read them early on.
My comments about organization should be taken
with a few grains of salt. I am confident that not everyone will agree and
they should not be taken as detractors but personal preferences.
The book is well written with few superfluous
words. It is full of questions that readers should be prepared to
address IF they are serious about creating a course resource. I will keep
this book on the shelf where I keep other Internet references and resources.
Copyright: Palaeontologia Electronica, 22 June 2001