THEME -Authorware

UPFRONT - And...the Authorware Series Continues
FOCUS - Using Course in a Box as an Instructional Design Tool for Training Faculty Members and Delivering Instruction, Simone Conceição-Runlee
UW NEWS - News from our Colleges and Universities
PROPOSE AND ATTEND! - The 1999 Governor's Wisconsin Educational Technology Conference and the August Distance Learning Conference
FUTURE LEARNING - Sounds Like Both Science and Art!
NEW ED TRENDS/TERMS - Have You Heard of Surrounds
ED/BIZ & BIZ/ED - Teacher Training a Must!, BIZ/ED Partnering, It's Imperative!
FIRST TECH ATLAS -Pennsylvania, First State to Design a Technology Infrastructure Atlas
IT'S HAPPENING! ANOTHER FIRST! - Virtual Reality in Chicago Schools
UCEA MEMBERS - A Request
COPYRIGHT - The Impact of New Digital Copyright Laws
NEW ON THE LIST -Welcome to New Subscribers
FYI - News, Conferences, Institutes, Events
MARCH DESIEN ISSUE - Last in the Series on Authorware: Using Blackboard to Develop Programs and Courses

 

UPFRONT

There's Authorware out there to suit everyone's taste and level of computer expertise. In November, Martha Mealy of UW Learning Innovations wrote about her experiences with LearningSpace. Skipping December (we all took time off to enjoy the holidays), the January DESIEN Issue focused on Bob Schuster's (UW-Madison School of Nursing) perspective on using WebCT. This month Simone Conceição-Runlee, Dept. of Education, UW-Milwaukee School of Education, describes her use Course in a Box and FrontPage, with a videoconferencing component, to develop an Early Childhood Development Program. Next month we'll bring the series to a close with a look at Blackboard...but not totally to a close, because, as always, we'll update you on new software and Authorware, as it emerges.

FOCUS

Using Web Course in a Box as an Instructional Design Tool for Training Faculty Members and Delivering Instruction
Simone Conceição-Runlee
Instructional Design/Technology Consultant
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, School of Education

Like WebCT (see DESIEN Issue 3 - January 1999), Web Course in a Box (WCB) is a course management system that allows course designers and instructors to easily develop and deliver instructional materials via the Web. It is learner-centered, user-driven and it is an easy program to use. Some of the features of the program include: lesson builder, interactive quiz builder, discussion forums with file attachments and archiving, support for multiple instructors to edit/manage a class, copying of classes between instructor accounts, and the ability for students to create "project pages" and links to course pages. As the instructional designer for web-based courses, I will describe how I used WCB and its benefits.

How Was WCB Used?

As part of a unique statewide collaborative initiative to deliver an Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) course at a distance, eight Wisconsin institutions of higher education with a total of 12 faculty members are teaching over 90 students in spring semester 1999. This initiative uses a combination of web-based instructional strategies and compressed videoconferencing. WCB is used for the purpose of designing the course, training faculty members, and delivering instruction. Putting the course on the web during the development phases is an excellent tool to assist in managing the different phases of the development process. It is also a good tool to train faculty on how to use the program for course delivery. For the ECSE course, two web sites on WCB were created: one for faculty development and one for delivery of instruction. These web sites are linked to a main course web site created with FrontPage 98.

Faculty Development - Most of the faculty members were not familiar with WCB. At the beginning of the web development phase meetings, a training session on how to use WCB was provided. As part of the activities, each faculty member had to post messages regarding their upcoming summer vacation. Later, faculty were divided into groups to develop each course session according to their expertise. Each session is called a module. A team of faculty members with a designated team leader designed the content of each session. The content design was done using the discussion forum feature of WCB. Each module had a special discussion forum, so faculty members could exchange files, and make decisions about content and instructional strategies. In this case, faculty members were planning the course and at the same time practicing the use of WCB for delivery of instruction. Refer to: http://www.uwm.edu/wcb.uwm/schools/999/999/sconceic/4/

Delivery of Instruction - As the content of each session was posted on the faculty development web site, I started placing the content of the course on the students web site, so faculty members could view how the course was being designed. My role was to serve as a consultant during the integration of content and instructional strategies and media to be used for each session. Refer to: http://www.uwm.edu/wcb.uwm/schools/17/360/ahains/5/index.html

The Main Course Web Site was Created with FrontPage 98 - In addition to using WCB, I used Microsoft FrontPage 98 to design the main web frame for the course. From the main web site faculty members and students are able to orient themselves to the main web pages serving the site. The main web site contains links to the following areas: Course Information, Faculty & Staff, Student Resources, and Faculty Development. Pages requiring a more sophisticated design were developed in FrontPage 98, while pages requiring password protection were developed in WCB. Refer to: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/early-childhood.

The course information page provides links to Course Description, Course Modules, Class Schedule, Faculty & Student Directory, Learning Links, and Help/Utilities. All of these pages, except Course Modules are WCB generated. The course description link provides information on course instructors, course description, teaching methods, course objectives, required texts, recommended texts, required readings, and web links. Course Modules provides links to a list of seminar modules, including dates and faculty members that will be teaching specific topics. Class Schedule provides links to information on seminar topics per scheduled modules and weekly assignments. Faculty and Staff Directory provides links to a directory of students and faculty participating in the course. Learning Links provides access for students and faculty to the on-line forum discussions. Help/Utilities provides access to students to an area where they can change passwords, create/edit a homepage, create/edit a project, create/edit a Portfolio, and upload files.

The Faculty & Staff page provides a list of faculty members and staff with links to their own personal information pages. The Student Resources page provides links to Student Guide to Distance Education/Videoconferencing, UWM Electronic Reserve access information, The CyberSchool Survival Guide, Web Course in a Box Student's Guide, Citing Internet Resources, and Study Guides and Strategies. The Faculty Development page provides links to the Faculty Development site in WCB, Faculty Directory, Faculty Discussion Forums, and Project Evaluation Plan.

What are the Benefits for WCB Features For Instructional Design?

Although I did not use all the features of WCB for the design of the course pages, I still believe that this web-based management program provided me with benefits:

Discussion Forum - This is one of the best features of the program because it allows students to have on-line discussions, to attach files, and to post URLs with hot links. It also restricts areas of the forum to students and faculty. The limitations of WCB are that it does not provide a chat feature and email can be sent to individual students or faculty members or the class as a whole. The discussion forum can be restricted to groups of students; however, it is limited to reading, posting, and replying to messages.

Learning Links - This feature provides a Web page that can post useful links to sites important to each course session. Links are first saved into a FrontPage 98 file and then typed in the Learning Link area. This feature is easy to enter and update.

Adding Students to the Class - This feature allows one to add students to the class in an easy and rapid way. It is possible to upload class information from a student database to add student names all at once in the batch mode. It is also possible to add, delete, or edit information on one student at a time by choosing the option to add individually. This feature allows students and faculty members to have access to the restricted areas of the course web page.

WCB is definitely quite simple and easy to use. It can be the right solution for an instructor or a designer who wants to place courses quickly on the World Wide Web. If you would like to visit the Early Childhood Special Education course web site go to: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/early-childhood. Your feedback is welcome! Send feedback to early-childhood@uwm.edu

NEW AT THE UW

UW-MADISON - UW-Madison faculty have an opportunity each fall to submit proposals for Web Grants, a 3-year old program run by the Department of Information Technology (DoIT)'s Learning Technology and Distance Education group. Winners participate in Web skills training that includes HTML basic and advanced, FrontPage basic, Macromedia and forms. The winners can also participate in a WebCT pilot. WebCT is a tool that facilitates the creation of web-based educational environments (see January issue of DESIEN.) It provides course server space and a wide variety of tools and features that can be added to a course. For more information about the Web Grant program check: http://www.wisc.edu/learntech/grants/webgrnts.htm

Internet2 - UW Madison now has a connection to Internet2 and the national backbone network. To increase awareness of "the next generation Internet and encourage its use," the Chancellor's Office and DoIT will host Internet2 Day on Tuesday, March 30 at 1610 Engineering. The program is limited to interested faculty and research staff. Several UW-Madison faculty have been invited to discuss how they plan to use the new Internet2. Work on Internet2 began in October 1996 with 34 universities participating. Now, more than 135 universities belong to the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID). For more information see: http://www.internet2.edu

Position Opening - The University of Wisconsin-Madison is announcing a full-time academic staff position for a Director of the Office of Education Outreach, with a start date of July 15, 1999. Characteristics of the position, the qualifications and application procedures are detailed at: http://www.soemadison.wisc.edu/outreach/ Deadline for receiving applications is April 1, 1999.

PROPOSE AND ATTEND!

* Plan to submit a proposal to The Governor's Wisconsin Educational Technology Conference (GWETC) - 1999. The Conference is scheduled for October 12-14 at the Midwest Express Center in Milwaukee, WI, with hands-on Workshops and Labs on the 11th and 12th. Deadline for the Application to Present Proposals is March 19. If you haven't already received an Application Form see: http://www.gwetc.org or call 608-264-9724.

Now in its seventh year, GWETC is continues to grow in both size and quality. Last year the overall conference received a 4.5 rating from participants. GWETC participants and audience include: K-12, Higher Education and the private sector. Organizers are planning for over 200 Presentations, more than 200 Exhibits, and 20 plus hands-on Workshops and Labs. Special Events are also being added to this year's expanded Conference: Poster Sessions, Exhibitor Showcases, Hands-on Classrooms and Learning and Cultural Tours. In addition, three Keynote Speakers will be featured.

GWETC is cosponsored by: TEACH Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin-Extension, the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the Wisconsin Technical College System.

* Plan to attend the 15th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning Conference, to be held August 4-6, 1999 in Madison, WI. The Annual Conference is recognized internationally for its quality and integrity. Each year it provides a forum for the exchange of information on distance education and training. It addresses the needs of educators, trainers, managers and designers throughout the world. This year's conference will feature 90 sessions and workshops with an emphasis on "how to" guidelines and techniques, best practices, successful solutions and new development and trends - in addition to Exhibits. There is also a call for Cracker-barrel Discussion Facilitators and - new this year - Advanced Roundtable Facilitators. For more information see: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/

Conference Sponsors are: University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension, University of Wisconsin-Extension, Wisconsin Technical College System, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, University of Wisconsin Extended Degree Programs and University of Wisconsin System.

FUTURE LEARNING

How can we blend the best of all learning worlds to create optimal learning experiences? There's: 1) the world of real time using technology (synchronous), 2) the world of asynchronous products and - let's not forget (which we often do) 3) the pulsing environment around us - that other world - the "real world." Finding ways in which we can do this will challenge us for many years to come. A growing number of terms are being used to describe this process: 1) blending (a term being used more and more by many involved with technology and learning), weaving (Elliott Masie of the Masie Institute in TechLearn Trends #102, February 1) and orchestrating (Alan Chute of Lucent Technologies in his new book, The McGraw-Hill Handbook of Distance Learning.)

As all of us in the field of technology and learning become more familiar with the wide variety of available technologies and new emerging ones, we want to combine them and use them in better ways, for more specific purposes - live videoconferencing when we need to see and hear and interact in real time as individuals or small groups; audioconferencing when the visual aspect isn't that critical; audiographics when we need to share information and collaborate on documents; satellite showcases when that will serve a specific purpose; CBT products and print materials when we need to work on our own and at our own pace; the Internet and Web when we need to search for resources and text-chat with others; virtual reality when we really need to "get inside of something" - oh...and let's not forget the "real world" - that is our grounding and our "real surround." How do we blend all of this and compose optimal learning experiences?

How "can" we do it? At this moment we just don't know. But looking at the terms that are being used: blending, weaving, orchestrating, composing - it's beginning to sound as though the process will be as much an art as it is a science. (Rosemary Lehman)

NEW ED TRENDS/TERMS

Have You Heard of Surrounds? - In the Focus article this month, Simone Conceição-Runlee discusses using several types of online software to create an online course. Some instructors are also using software to provide this type of experience for face-to-face traditional classrooms. Elliott Masie, in a recent article in his newsletter TechLearn Trends, calls this 'building Surrounds.' "A large number of higher education institutions as well as corporate training groups, are using on-line authoring and delivery systems to build an internet/intranet meeting place for their instructor led (traditional) classes. These on-line (sessions) are being used to provide community, communication and instructional supplemental material for the classes. Several universities are now making it a standard for every class to have its own web based content and collaboration equivalent.

There are great signs in this trend. It helps to build learner acceptance and familiarity with the interface of on-line learning. As people get comfortable with this delivery model as an adjunct to instructor led programs, they will also increase their willingness to take pure on-line delivery offerings. It is also a great way to introduce faculty to the process of using on-line authoring tools.

The range of functions include chat, threaded discussion, grade viewing, assignment dispensing, streamed multi-media, assessment tools and the full set of learning options used in other distance learning programs." (Masie, TechTrends, Feb 99)

ED/BIZ & BIZ/ED

TEACHER TRAINING A MUST! - A report released by the CEO Forum, a national group of business leaders, says that although there are more than 6 million computers in the nation's schools, most teachers lack the training to use them effectively. Why? Because one-third of teacher's colleges don't have enough computer equipment, and because schools are spending less than $6 per student on the computer training of teachers, contrasted with more than $88 per student on computers, computer programs and network connections. (AP 22 Feb 99)

BIZ-ED PARTNERING - IT'S IMPERATIVE! - A newly released report by the Department of Education, "The Corporate Imperative: Results & Benefits of Business Involvement in Education," delineates methods businesses can use to create strategic education alliances that meet their objectives & promote systemic education change. For educational institutions working to facilitate new partnerships with businesses, the report could serve as a vital resource for a variety of purposes. Copies may be downloaded at: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/CorpImp/

FIRST TECH ATLAS!

Pennsylvania is the first state to develop an extensive computer database that allows users to create customized maps showing the availability of technology resources. The Technology Atlas shows the locations of high-tech infrastructure such as fiber-optic lines, microwave towers, videoconferencing sites, internet service providers and educational technology resources. It's available to the public on the Pennsylvania homepage at: http://www.technology.state.pa.us/atlas Maps created can be downloaded and printed. (Technology Times, vol. XIX, No 1 Feb 99)

IT'S HAPPENING! ANOTHER FIRST!

For the first time, virtual reality has been used in a non-research, public-school environment. Coles Elementary School and Phoenix High School in Chicago have used virtual reality to supplement their traditional learning. This innovative pilot program was born through a partnership between SUNRISE Virtual Reality, a Chicago-based virtual reality company and the New Functional Learning Institute in Chicago. The successful pilot project put the students "inside" their subject, giving students self-guided personal experiences with their studies. Now a number of Chicago school districts are exploring how to harness the massive potential of virtual reality, with uses ranging from virtual reality labs to supporting individual community college vocational programs. (T.H.E. Journal, Feb 99, p. 61-63)

UCEA MEMBERS

The Department of Education reviewers for the 1999 Lifetime Anytime Anywhere (LAAP) Grant competition. Specifically they are seeking individuals with expertise in distance education partnerships to review approximately 15 proposals (up to seven pages in length) in a one week period from April 15 to April 21. These would be mailed to reviewers with all appropriate evaluation tools. To qualify, your institution must NOT be planning on submitting it's own LAAP application as that would raise conflict of interest concerns. If you're interested contact: Phillip Robinson - http://www.nucea.edu or call: (202) 659-3130.

COPYRIGHT

On February 25, 1999, the North Carolina State University Scholarly Communication Subcommittee sponsored a Scholarly Communication Colloquium, "Copyright in the Crosshairs: Who Will Own Your Scholarly Work?" Speaker Arnold Lutzker, an intellectual property attorney, concentrated on the recently enacted Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The provides new rights to owners of works that could endanger the copyright doctrine of fair use. Prue Adler, Assistant Executive Director of the Association of Research Libraries [ARL], addressed the proposed Database Fair Competition and Research Promotion Act of 1999, which could remove databases of facts, information, and government works from the public domain. Admittedly, this copyright legislation is complex and confusing, even for lawyers, so the speakers primarily focussed on how these measures could adversely affect distance education and access to scholarly research materials. For more detailed information, see the following ARL documents:

"Primer on the Digital Millennium: What the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Copyright Term Extension Act Mean for the Library Community," by Arnold P. Lutzker
http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/primer.html

"Federal Relations and Information Policy Program"
http://www.arl.org/info/index.html

"Copyright and Intellectual Property"
http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/copytoc.html

Also see:

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998: U.S. Copyright Office Summary
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/dmca.pdf (Requires Adobe Reader)

Download Adobe Reader

Links on the Digital Future Coalition Website
http://www.dfc.org/

(CIT INFOBITS - No. 8 Feb 1999)

NEW ON THE LIST

Bobbi Zbleski, Guillermo Piqueras, Robin Beeman, Elizabeth Bridgewater, Mark Loesch, Richard Thurman, Burt Parcel, Sanjeeb Samanta, Noriko Nagata, Edythe Huffman, David Cantor, Dale Pigott, Mark Gandolfi, Pat Lawton and Gordon Zheng.

FYI
News, Conferences, Institutes, Events

* Virtual Reality Modeling Language Workshop - a new workshop will be offered by the ALN Web starting on March 1. The workshop is entitled: "An Online Workshop on 3-D Visualization Methods for Online Courses." We will teach the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VMRL) using a building tool created by Ligos Corporation called V-Realm Builder. This software, which runs on PCs only, retails for $495 (regular price; currently on sale for $444.95). Ligos will make the software available to workshop participants for $129.95. The price includes a very nice workbook written by John Palacio, who will also serve as an on-line facilitator for the workshop. To learn more about the workshop visit: http://www.aln.org/vrmlannounce/

The cost of the workshop is $295 (software not included) for the 8 week workshop on-line. You may register at the following URL: http://www.aln.org/vrmlannounce/

* Evaluating Faculty Development, Support and Training for Instructional Uses of Technology: A Flashlight Focus Workshop will be held March 21-22, 1999 at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. This is the first in a series of Flashlight Focus Workshops to be held around the nation this year. This one is cosponsored by the Professional and Organizational Development Network (POD). Everyone will learn about the Flashlight approach as well as current and existing Flashlight tool kits. For more information about the Flashlight Program on studying teaching, learning, and technology, see the Web site at: http://www.tltgroup.org/#Flashlight_Project

The Flashlight Focus Workshop immediately precedes Virginia Tech's conference "IT 99: Instructional Technology in the New Millennium", on March 22-24. For more information on IT 99, check out the conference web site at: http://www.IT99.vt.edu/

For more information on this Flashlight Focus Workshop, see the conference Web site at http://www.tltgroup.org under "Upcoming Events". To register, use: http://confreg.uoregon.edu/flashlightva99/

* Delivering Online Courses: Options for Effective Design, Development and Implementation of Virtual Classrooms will happen April 26-27, 1999 in Phoenix, AZ and May 6-7 in Washington D.C. Presented by the Office of Adult Learning Services (OALS) The College Board, these seminars will share with participants which alternatives work best in providing courses on-line and will provide practical guidelines for starting up and for expanding on-line delivery. Seminar leaders are experts in the areas of instructional technology, distance education and in the delivery of instruction on-line. To register for either seminar, go to: www.collegeboard.org

* Intellectual Property Issues in Distance Learning is set for May 2-5, 1999 at the Crowne Plaza in Kansas City, MO. Topics that will be covered are: A Copyright Primer, Protecting Intellectual Property Home and Abroad, Fair Use and Distance Learning, Licensing and Negotiation, Creativity Without Infringement, Royalty Structures, Authorship and Ownership, Multimedia Issues for CD-ROM Production, Concerns When Web Publishing, Site Use Licenses, Infringement, The Buckley Amendment, Courses on the Internet , Marketing the Results, Music Contributions, Liability Issues and Trademarks. To register call: 573-882-2429 or email to DelsmanE@missouri.edu.

* Call for Proposals - Innovations in Teaching: Celebrating the Centennial Year at Northern Arizona University September 16-18, 1999 has issued a Call for Proposals. Topics should address: the role of technology in shaping pedagogy; coherence in curriculum; interdisciplinary learning;; social issues; building communities and the role of higher education. Deadline for submissions is May 1, 1999. Fax to: Dr. Geoffrey Chase, geoffrey.chase@nau.edu

* The 5th International ALN Conference has been finalized to be on the second weekend in October (8,9,10) at the University of Maryland Conference Center. The venue can be easily accessed from DC airports and Baltimore. A page for submitting abstracts will be next month. So, begin thinking about what you might submit. Several pre-conference workshops are also being planned, as well as an on-line post-conference workshop for those who cannot attend. An announcement for this conference will be on-line soon at http://www.aln.org/nj_index.htm. You will be able to submit abstracts for the conference on the web.

* The World Conference of the WWW and Internet is issuing a Call for Participation to its conference, hosted by the University of Hawaii. The conference will be held at the Honolulu, Hawaii Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort Oct. 25-30, 1999. Submission Deadline is: Feb. 25, 1999. The conference is organized by AACE-Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education in cooperation with WWW/Internet businesses & industry. All proposals MUST be sent on the Web form located at: http://www.aace.org/conf/webnet/submit

A 1-day Web Pedagogy Seminar: Managing & Delivering On-line Instructional Content will again be offered in association with the Conference at: http://www.aace.org/conf/webnet/seminar.htm

MARCH DESIEN ISSUE - Last in the Series on Authorware: Using Blackboard to Develop Programs and Courses

DESIEN ARCHIVE: An Archive has been created for past issues and interaction comments. Locate at: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/desien/

DESIEN has been created to encourage information exchange and discussion of distance education issues concerned with: 1) UW Systemwide distance education progress and institution course/program development, 2) faculty/team development, 3) technology, 4) policy, 5) funding and 6) research. List recipients outside of the UW System are also welcome to join in with information contributions and discussion.