Suggestions
I Interface aspects
General
A greater use of space color/style/
font size would be appreciated.
Need a sort of navigation bar
to simplify jumps between pages of the same levels (e.g.: to go from one
assignment to the other).
Need an indication of the current
path always visible to help the user orient himself on the site (a
form of extended URL nicely presented).
A general menu contained in
a frame that simplifies going from one big section to the other (Announcement,
Syllabus, Calendar). Note that the two last suggestions can be combined
(the button corresponding to the current location may have a different
color).
Debate
The description of
the theme of the debate should be on another page accessible with a link.
We may put instead on the main page of the debate a summary.
A use a status metaphor like
a thermometer to show how many users agree / disagree.
It should offer other possible
answers beside Yes or No.
Add a link to the Debate guidelines
on the main Debate page.
Design
Index of pages should
propose links to the ReadMe.html file instead of the file listing; the
latter may be a link offered by the ReadMe.html file.
More information about what
you can do with the material on-line/ how you must submit it.
Add a bulletin board/newsgroup
to offer a place to discuss the new orientations and warn about the last
modifications.
In order to propose a consistent
directory for a class and reduce the dependency on the main server, each
school should have its own copy of the directory. The professor is then
warned when he can update the directory (that is when a new consistent
directory is available)
Images
The images used by
most of the pages (e.g.: icons) should be in the same directory to simplify
the update of the site and maintains the consistency of all the pages.
Smaller pictures: Large pictures
take room and force the use of the scroll bar.
More images and icons would
reduce the monotony of certain pages and can also be used to attract the
attention.
Home Page
It should propose different
home pages for different kinds of users (visitor, student, Professor).
A nice jazzy logo would be welcome.
Announcement
The announcement should
be available on the web pages. Also to avoid overloading the page, we might
just mention the last ones.
Grading section
One could use a pie
chart representation in % to stress the importance of the different kind
of assignments.
Calendar
It should propose a
different color for the current week or propose a link to the material
of the next class (Save time since the table is big): the idea is to reinforce
the panel control aspect of this page.
More links to the most used
materials would be very helpful.
A table giving an overview of
all the semesters may be useful.
II Social aspects
Teacher's perspective
On-line debates to
be succesful require real time participation. The Professionalism in Computing
debates represents more the figure of an open forum of "pro" and "con"
argumentation. The rebutal, counter argumentation, consensus building and
negotiation are instrumental for achieving the most fundamental virtues
of a rigorous academic debate. This site should try to accomodate an conferencing
software application (such as CAUCUS) so that this interactive process
could be implemented as part of the course expectations.
On-line debate structures are
valuable but can't deal effectively with information
overload, which surveyed students cited as a significant issue. Some
causes of the feeling of overload can be dealt with. For example, early
in a course, as students learn to navigate the system, the sense of being
lost can trigger a sense of overload. Students new to computer mediated
debates initially may send notes to the wrong discussion issue, creating
confusion for other participants.
The high level of student enthusiasm
in the early weeks of online activity motivates some students to overload
others by writing voluminous and numerous messages. However, with some
experience online, students refine their skills, and such problems are
overcome. Still, the larger problem of overload accompanying an active
online class remains to be solved.
The career development portion
of the class site lacks of an annotated guide to assist students in searching
for a job on-line. Faculty and other professional input should be incorporated
so students when they visit the page can become more informed about job
trends, selected job niches for the local university and how to best utilize
the on-line career sites available through the internet.
A Student's perspective
Organise the structure
of the site so as to enable more effective searching.
Put more images on the site,
this breaks the monotony.
Use more spacing in text as
the pages are difficult to read.
In the resources, the sites/publications/books
could be listed according to the topic they contain information on to make
searching easier for the students.
The prerequisites appear in
the syllabus link. This is might make it difficult for a student to find
it. It could be listed separately or another link called 'Miscellaneous'
should be made which holds links to the prerequisites, class policies,
attendence etc.....issues that are not large enough to have their own links
but ones that students require.
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