I find the statement, “Because of the enormous growth of the Internet, open-ended research is becoming increasingly frustrating and difficult” (Ko & Rossen, 2004, p. 59) to be extremely true; not only in the classes I take, but even more so in the classes I teach. While I feel I have developed a fairly good system of using advanced search and keywords, I still appreciate the sense of direction that an instructor’s pre-evaluated site gives me. I found the list of sites at the following resource in the book very well mapped out and useful:
http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc/idmodels.html
Another way of gaining a sense of direction is through the course syllabus. I was amazed at the amount and extent of information that should be included in the syllabus, but I can clearly see how a well laid out syllabus is a map of the course. Chapter 4 emphasizes, “In an online environment, redundancy is often better than elegant succinctness.” (p.76) That statement answered a question I had in my mind about having menu items listed in several places for easy access plus the importance of having directions and items found in the syllabus in other locations in the course for ease of use. It had seemed redundant and now I know it should be.
3 comments:
I agree. What may seem intuitively obvious to the instructor may not be so to the student. It is better to present the information twice in different formats and/or venues than take a risk on some students not understanding it at all.
In general, I think it is a good idea to lay out all the essentials of the course in one location - spefically the syllabus. You can then take key aspects of the syllabus such as the schedule and make it easy to find just the schedule when that is all the information you require. I use a web site to do that now, and I am considering keeping my web site as a supplement to Blackboard where it easy to find everything related to the course with just a mouse click. I may also simlple provide those links under course information as well.
Pam, I agree with your sentiments and have a comment or two about the syllabus and redundancy.
As far as research goes, I would say that we all fall into the trap of using what is familiar and easy to use. I know that I have not taken advantage of the Albertson's Library databases and search tools to nearly the extent that I should. Students also tend to do the same unless we instructors introduce them to more effective search engines and techniques.
The syllabus is truly a mighty tool. Once it's developed in detail, it should not be a massive missive of text, but an intuitive, easily navigated document that provides the right level of detail so that students can know all that will be expected of them in the course with no ambiguity. A tall order... As for redundancy, I'm agin it! Redundancy is fine if every place a schedule appears, it is identical in content to every other occurrence, but Lord help you if Schedule A and Schedule B were not appropriately updated at the beginning of each class! It causes all kinds of anxiety in the student and makes the instructor look like a doofus. My opinion is that a well-designed course site should be intuitive enough that students can find what they need without peppering the same material throughout. And (in the words of Forrest Gump) "That's all I've got to say about that!"
>> I still appreciate the sense of direction that an instructor’s pre-evaluated site gives me.
You are not alone. Most students will indicate that they appreciate the guidance of selected sites. However, having said that, I also need to clue you in on the process involved in keeping those sites updated each time you use that lesson!
I rarely use the exact same lesson twice. But, I will use pieces of lessons or activities or resources. I spend a lot of time verifying that the sites I've used previously still work and are still the latest and greatest. So what's the main point here? That is takes time for the instructor to locate and keep those sites updated :)
And, I have to say that I disagree with Ko & Rossen on redundancy in most cases. Personally, I believe it can be confusing to host information in several places. "Now where do I find that schedule?"" Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way--but I like a cleanly designed course, with explicit sections so students know what is contained where.
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