Evaluation from a Teacher's Perspective
We thought it would be interesting, not only to analyze the interface
of the web site but also to analyse it from a social perspective.
By Interface aspect, we have analyzed the homesite from
its usability and its ease of comprehension.
By Social, we mean from the perspective of a teacher
and of a student. This has been done to ensure a more wholistic evaluation
of the homesite. From a teacher's perspective, the site has been evaluated
for its usefulness as a teaching tool and from a students' perspective,
for its usefulness and ease of comprehension to a student in achieving
the daily concerns of finding information on the course, course policies,
assignments, textbooks, resources etc. and getting motivated to performing
more successfully in the course.
I Interface aspects
Scenario:
Visiting professor
Dr Dawson has heard about the site and would be eager to know how to
use it for his own class. As a newcomer, he follows first a similar exploration
strategy to that of a prospective student. Now that he has had a nice overview
of the site, he starts looking for more specific information. After some
time he realizes that the "Index of Pages" link leads to some
huge resource of information. He chooses randomly the class on "crime"
and encounters a directory listing. After accessing several miscellaneous
files he notices the "ReadMe.html" file. He is then suggested
several links that cover all the different aspects of the "Impact"
class.
Claims Analysis:
Index
of Pages
Nicely organized page / easy
to find a specific class
Link corresponds to a listing
of files, which may appear confusing
No ways to know which pages
were updated lastly
ReadMe.html
files
They contain some useful links
They have all the same structure
and maintain the consistency of the site
Not present in all the directories
(e.g.: in the front-end directories)
Digital Library
Use already written material
Distant access: overload VT
server, takes time for the client
Impose a structure
Scenario:
Administrator
Dr Reed is designing his web site on "Professionalism in Computing"
for spring 1998. After having decided that he would teach "Impact",
he creates links to the notes proposed by the computer science of VT. As
he wondering which project he will be proposing, he finds some inspiration
in the ones available on line. Now, it’s time to create a debate for this
class. He goes in the debate area and selects the "new scenario"
option, he describes the different features of this debate (description,
dates, status, etc…). Curious, to see the consequences of giving more responsibilities
to his students, he changes the rights of the Administrative group to add
contributions anywhere.
Claims Analysis:
Pages are independent
Easier to update link
Pages doesn’t contain any link
to their parents’ page
Only navigation is possible
through the historic
Debate
Professor interface is an extension
of the student interface and consequently is easy to learn (new options
are available)
Full set of functions (Add, Edit,
and Delete) which can be granted to chosen categories of users.
Very simple administration which
can be done remotely
Many options to parameterize
the debate
Edit function is not clear about
what will be edited (a scenario or the whole debate parameters)
Collaborative teaching (different
teachers writing classes)
Gain time
Need coordination (impose models,
assign classes, etc…)
Centralized and rely on one
server
Assume that every class is written
according to the same pattern, which may be restrictive for some classes.
Updating
Automatically made by the professor
responsible for the class
Need to warn all professors
about of the latest change
II Social aspects
Scenario:
Prospective Teacher
Dr. Nova Idias, a Virginia Tech Philosophy adjunt professor, has learnt
about the possibility of implementing an on-line debate component in her
Ethics in Business Class. She was advised by one of her students that a
computer science class, Professionalism in Computing CS3604, has systematically
used on-line debates as one of its main teaching techniques. Dr. Idias
decides to visit the site and she finds herself analyzing the particular
details of conducting collaborative work in an on-line internet based environment.Dr.
Idias after reviewing the Professionalism in Computing course site feels
that on-line "debates" offer collaborative learning strategy
in which students become teachers. Individuals or small groups of students
are responsible for selecting debate topics, reading material not assigned
to the rest of the class, preparing written summaries of the most important
ideas in the material, and leading discussions on-line.
Claims Analysis:
Engaging in collaborative
class participation
The on-line
debates available at the Professionalism in Computing class web site
are teaching and learning environments designed for anytime/anyplace interaction
among class members who participate through computer networks. This on-line
feauture of the class web site consists of a set of isssue
discussion and argumentative "spaces" constructed in a bulletin
whiteboard internet page.
But, the on-line debate is
not really a debate. It is rather a synchronous discussion space in which
participants react to views expressed by another user/users. The lack of
real time argumentation-response-rebutal debate processes limit the power
of this medium and makes it look more like a newsgroup or listserv discussion
environment.
Virtual space for interaction
The Professionalism in Computing
class web site provides a virtual space for interaction among class members,
rather than a physical face-to-face space. The on-line debate feature is
designed to support collaborative learning, including those meant to force
active participation and discussion on rather controversial ethical and
professional issues that class member can encounter in the work place.
But, by having the students
interact in computer mediated environments that don't provide much media
richness participants are deprived of sufficient social presence needed
to reach concensus speciallly when dealing with controversial issues.
On-line debate ethos
A virtual debate represents both,
an instrumental group experience for discussion in which students and the
instructors want to accomplish goals-and a community in which students
exchange and express their views and build a dynamic class environment.
But it hinders teacher-pupil
interaction and limits the teacher's capacity to provide guidance and mediate
discussions.
Debates as a computer
supportive collaborative work environments
On-line debates are best at
enriching educational options when they serve as a way to create the feeling
of a true "class" or group of people learning together and to
structure and support carefully planned collaborative learning activities
that constitute the assignments for a course.
But many times on-line communities
within face-to-face communities may cause fragmentation and negativetily
affect the class environment.
Student-Teacher interaction
Emphasizing group or cooperative
efforts among faculty and students, collaborative learning stresses that
the educational process occurs through the active participation of students
and instructors in an environment that facilitates peer interaction, evaluation,
and cooperation.
But, in many instances such
collaboration is hampered by limited trainning and familiarity with new
technologies and learning protocols such as the ones involved in on-line
debates.
Managing information
Computer mediated debates enable
active participation, and active conferences generate a rich database of
information.
However, large groups and high
levels of activity can lead to information overload if the tools meant
to help manage the information flows are inadequate.
Scenario:
Teacher from other university
Dr. Doug Resorceful, an Idaho Central University professor, has been
advised by the National Science Foundation that theNSF has funded a Digital
Library for teaching issues relatied to Professionalism, Ethics and Career
Development in the Computer Science discipline. Dr. Resorceful was giving
the url address for the Virginia Tech Professionalism in Computing class.
Dr. Resorceful visits the homepage and finds the two components he is interested
in: the Professionalism and the Career pages. He enters in both pages and
is able to gather sufficient links and documents from the digital library
on how to organize an introductory
class. He also visits the career
page and again selectively choses links and resources for adaptation
to his class. After having debuged his Ethics, Professionalism and Computer
Careers home page he dropped a line to Dr. J.A.N. Lee so Dr. Resorceful
class can be also linked in the main Professionalism in Computing web page.
Claims
Analysis:
Resources
availability
There
are over 21 items in the digital library which makes it very comprehensive
and rich in sources.
But,
having the topics organized as a hypertext to a file directory makes it
difficult to extract the content and sequence of the material available.
Intelectual
Property Rights
The
Professionalism in Computing site encourages faculty from other universities
to make use of the site and also welcomes any new links relevant to the
subject matter of the site.
But,
for many prospective users the lack of adequate policy guidelines for the
use, modification and dissemination of the material available inthe site
makes the task of selecting materials legally sensistive.
Digital library item outline-structure
All
the digital library items are consistent and are organized based upon a
highly structured fashion.
But,
many class topics such as the analysis of controversial issues lend themselves
for a more dynamic and responsive item organization.
Career
opportunities
The
site contains links to the most popular career sites available through
the internet.
But,
the url references don't have an annotated link that may offer a more gradual
and informed job searching strategies over the internet.
Resume
and interview skills development resources
The
4 different topics guide the student in accomplishing several written exercises
on developing job experience, personal motivation, personal presentation
and professional aspiration skills.
But,
the suggested sample topic essay may curtail the creative capacities of
the students that are learning about the topics by biasing them on content
and structure expectations.