Educator's Voice
Volume 4, Issue 12
December 10, 2003
Putting the "Universe" in the Virtual University
For some time now, eLearning has offered the prospect of academic learning to those who, for a variety of reasons, can't spend their days on campus. Making this possible is a remarkably fruitful collaboration between business and academia. By placing efficient and increasingly sophisticated eLearning systems in the hands of skilled instructors, just about anyone with the necessary motivation and self-discipline can upgrade their skills, learn a new career, get a degree, or simply pursue the love of learning.
Simply put, the "political" battle over eLearning has been won: it works, it's accepted, and it's here to stay. The cultural battle, however, has barely begun. eLearning has a central role to play in the unfolding postmodern condition, that multi-faceted attempt to temper the inevitable and irresistible march of technology, the "tyranny of the now," with an infusion of the long view of civilization.
For academics and educators, there is a rich irony in this cultural call to arms. They are well aware of the rich fare of extracurricular learning experiences cultivated by the university environment. Browsing the stacks of a mega-volume research library, taking in a poetry reading, happening upon a photography exhibit, catching a chamber music recital, spending a freezing night on a mountaintop with the astronomy class hoping for a glimpse of an elusive comet -- all these make the experience of higher education not just efficient and productive, but memorable and moving.
Yet when educators create online courses they often confine their focus to a narrow view of the subject matter. The eLearning students are left to discover the broader riches of the academic environment on their own, but without the benefit of easy access to the campus.
There are, of course, many thoroughly understandable and defensible reasons for this, not least the press of time and the defined parameters of the curriculum. Fortunately, however, as the artificial dichotomy between on-campus and online learning gives way to an integrated learning environment, new possibilities emerge for bringing the universal sweep of the university to all students. The increasing ubiquity of eLearning systems, combined with new ways of using them, permits educators to preserve and re-incorporate the best of the traditional learning environment into the high-tech world of tomorrow.
The eCollege course provides a wealth of avenues to accomplish this. While the range of possibilities is limited only by the imagination, here are a few suggestions:
Announcements: Since this is the first item that students see when they enter the online course, populate it with a thought-provoking joke, a pithy quotation, an inspired flash of wit, alongside the more prosaic exam notifications and assignment reminders. Bring to their attention any exhibition, conference, symposium, or event that is in any way related to the subject broadly defined. Most of them have an online component, and some will inevitably be within cruising range of some students.
Webliography: Extending the idea of Announcements, this is the place to follow through with links to interesting academic events, professional organizations (especially those with local chapters), job sites, and any great stuff that's "out there." After all, most people have a broad range of interests, only some of which are expressed in the framework of the course. The Web sites of the Louvre or the Smithsonian won't intrigue everyone, but they're bound to appeal to someone, and might provide a refreshing change of pace when it's most needed.
Chat: While this synchronous tool can be difficult to integrate into asynchronous learning, it can still be used to enrich the academic experience. Consider that many online learners share similar demographic characteristics: working adults, older than "traditional" students, balancing study with family responsibilities, and so forth. As such, they inherently form a community of peers. Encourage students to check into the chat room to see who's around and exchange ideas each time they go online to study. People very much like themselves are also likely to be hitting the electronic books at the same time.
Threaded Discussion and E-mail: It is by now fairly standard fare to include a "getting to know you" threaded discussion early in the online course. Beyond introductions, however, this can serve as the starting point for an eLearning version of the kind of student coffee house for which universities are famous. From identifying common interests and hobbies, it's a short step to exchanging e-mail messages and arranging to meet at a mutually convenient Starbucks or restaurant for an occasional evening of conversation and camaraderie.
In-person Experience: If it is at all possible, consider building some type of on-campus or other face-to-face component into the course. This could take place on the college or university campus, or at an off-campus location. Although the logistics of this are daunting, and some will invariably be unable to attend, the sense of personal connection and commitment engendered will prove itself in both collaborative projects during the course and lifelong professional contacts.
Local Institutions: Encourage students to visit a nearby college or university. This may be essential if other library resources are scarce; it is certainly a valuable exposure to the best of the traditional academic environment without the pressure of regular attendance. Students need to know that most institutions offer library privileges to members of the local community, and that the cultural offerings of even small colleges can be gratifyingly rich.
People today are fortunate to live in a fascinating interim period where becoming an educated person is becoming both more accessible and more vital than ever before. The technology that has been brought to bear on higher education thus far has yielded a new synthesis of learning methods and accelerated the prevailing interdisciplinary temper of academia. New tools continue to emerge, waiting to be integrated into the world of ideas. Stimulated by this computer-mediated challenge, the academic environment is compelled to become more fully itself: a gateway to the universe of knowledge, to which every course can offer a glimpse.
--Peter Margolis, MA
TIP
Syllabus Tip: An Alternative Way to Load It
The syllabus builder in the eCollege platform allows you to select and add various component sections to your online syllabus. These include segments that have to do with things such as your Course Description, Objectives, Course Policies, Grading Policy, Textbooks, as well as any other custom items you might like to include. Many instructors have found this tool to be a useful guide; however, it may be the case (e.g., if you have taught a course online on several occasions) that you now have a Syllabus document that is fairly complete. In addition, you have the document in Word and you would prefer to not use the syllabus builder to construct things incrementally. Well, there is at least one alternative that is a relatively painless way to convert and upload all of the contents of that document into the Course Syllabus. It involves two related tasks.
STEP I - PREPARE YOUR DOCUMENTOpen the syllabus/text document that you've written in Microsoft Word and create a 1x1 table at the top.
- Open Microsoft Word. Then open the syllabus document that you have written.
- Highlight all the text in the document. Then in the menu bar, click Edit > Cut (Ctrl+X). The page is now blank and the text is saved on the clipboard.
- At the top of the page, insert a table. To do this, in the menu bar, click Table > Insert > Table.
- At the Insert Table window, indicate that you want one column, one row. Then click OK. A one-column, one-row table appears.
- Click within the table. Then go to the menu bar to Edit > Paste. The material is pasted in the table.
- To ensure that the table will be centered on the page, go again to Table > Table Properties > Center.
- You also may want to make the preferred width = 90%.
Eliminate the border around the table (with change background option).
- Right click anywhere within the table. At the drop-down list, click Borders and Shading.
- At the Borders and Shading window, click on the None box, which indicates no borders showing. Then click OK.
- The table reappears, but the border will no longer appear on the finished copy.
- To change background color, while in the Borders and Shading window, click next on the Shading tab and pick a color. Then click OK.
Save as a Web Page.
- Go to File/ Click Save as Web Page.
- Save to your Desktop.
- On your Desktop you will now find a folder and an HTML document (with browser icon) with whatever name you had for the document.
- Open the HTML document. You do not need to worry about the fact that the format looks wider.
- Once open, right click and look on the menu for "View Source."
- Note Pad will open up, revealing all the HTML code that tells your browser how to read this information.
- Select and Copy all of this HTML code. The information will now be residing invisibly on the Clipboard.
- Pause, and breathe easy. You are right on track!
- Leave this as is, and turn your attention to your course syllabus.
- Go to your course.
- Click on the Author Tab and then the Syllabus link.
- In Syllabus/Author view, add a Custom Item and name it something generic like "Course Overview."
- Once created, click on this new Course Overview section.
- When open, look for (over to the top-right of the visual editor bar) and click on the "HTML" button.
- Click your cursor in the "text to display" box. (If you like, you can delete any bit of code that's there - e.g. <P> </P>.)
- Now paste (Ctrl+V) the HTML code that you had saved earlier on your Clipboard. You should then see the material in the text box.
- Save changes.
- You are now done, and can go to the Course view to see your work.
--Edward H. Ladon, PhD
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