How Technology Use Encourages Effective Learning

by Jeni Patton August 10, 2001

Course: General Studies 390, Computer Literacy, CSU Bakersfield, Instructor: Jim Ross

URL: http://www.csubak.edu/~jross/classes/GS390/startup.html

Introduction

While thinking about how to approach this assignment, I developed a rubric to aid my analysis. Based on this single criteria rubric (Table 1), GS390 rates Proficient, which is not a bad rating for a face-to-face course!

Criteria	Beginning	Acceptable	Proficient	Excellent
Use Web technology to promote effective learning	Basic syllabus available on the Web	Syllabus and pertinent resource links available on the Web	Syllabus, resource links, lectures, activities and/or exercises available on the Web	All course materials available on the Web (interactive and/or multimedia)

Table 1 Single Criteria Rubric

Description

General Studies 390, Computer Literacy, is a face-to-face course enhanced by a substantial Web presence. The syllabus, many lectures in a variety of styles (text, graphic-enhanced, PowerPoint), and some labs are available online for review anytime, from anywhere, with an Internet connection: lab, home, or dorm. Even much of the textbook is available online. The syllabus states, “Additions and changes will be made on the web versions [of the text] throughout the quarter.” Many resource links are also given.

The Web site includes class email addresses to encourage communication and collaboration between students. Pictures of class members are posted without names associated with the pictures, which preserves privacy, but doesn’t help anyone learn names. Practice quizzes and exercises are listed, but only six out of 34 are active links. A “grade tracking sheet” allows students to monitor their progress; this method is not as effective as an online grade book, however.

The Web site is displayed in three frames, as shown in Table 2. The left frame holds the menu, the larger right frame displays content, and the bottom frame contains navigation. Adequate space is allotted to each frame, although the menu seems to go on forever because there is a lot of white space between entries.

Content

Navigation

Table 2 Web site layout

Evaluation

I was interested in locating material that would be useful for the technical writing course I am developing. GS390 includes:

A link to an excellent definition and description of plagiarism http://www.csubak.edu/ssric/Modules/Other/plagiarism.htm.
A very nice PowerPoint lecture on Web Search Basics
Portfolio instructions
Links to previous student home pages (examples of student work)

As in EDUI 6702 for this assignment, having student examples to use as a model is helpful. I am hesitant, however, to give samples of assignments in 100- and 200-level classes where students struggle with plagiarism issues.

Overall, the website has a pleasing design. The text is mostly black on a textured gray background. Some colors are used for headings and standard colors are used for links. There are numerous typos, implying that the material was put together in a hurry. As a student, I would wonder if attention to detail was valued in the course.

I examined the material under the “Internet” heading on the menu. The menu entries don’t match the content titles exactly, so it was confusing to navigate through the material. The link for “Search Engines I” was bad. The same link is referenced again in the “Web_Searching” header under “Content Evaluation.” I was surprised to find it was a link to our own instructor’s page http://www.csubak.edu/~ethiroux/305/infcowebs.htmlx (Perhaps Emily can tell us where the info is now?)

There are miss-titled entries in the menu that could be misleading to a student in a computer literacy class. After the “Internet” heading, “WEB_SEARCHING” is a heading of its own. The contents of the Internet section apply to Web searching, but the contents of the “Web_Searching” section most closely apply to Web authoring. The “Content Evaluation” material more properly belongs under the Internet section.

The other section of the material I investigated was at the end of the menu, under “Computers & Society.” The pages contain annotated link lists. The contents of those sections were extensive, but not organized in any helpful way. It appears the links were added to the pages in the order they were submitted, instead of by topic or alphabetically. There are also duplicate links.

Conclusion

GS390 uses technology to encourage effective learning by providing:

Links to access current information on the Web.
Email addresses for students to be able to

identify and share sources of information with the class.
support each other in solving problems across time and distance.
collaborate on projects in preparation for the workforce.

How-to for incorporating multimedia into reports and assignments.
Links for students to follow their own interests, at their own levels.
Portfolio assessment for students to participate in “authentic” learning.
Web space for students to publish their work to the world on the Internet and receive feedback.

There is always room for improvement, but GS390 is off to a good start!