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© Copyright 2000 by Sharon Widmayer. The right to make additional
exact copies, including this notice, for personal and classroom use,
is hereby granted. All other forms of distribution and copying require
permission of the author.
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Introduction
This article discusses my experiences as both a teacher and an
instructional designer using WebCT, an online course management system.
As an instructional designer at George Mason University, I have trained
many faculty to use WebCT and helped those faculty to design WebCT
course folders that were best suited to their learning goals. I have
also shared many of their positive and negative learning experiences
using such a course management system. However, I had not actually
taught a course with WebCT myself. When given the opportunity to teach
a business writing course using WebCT, I decided to use the invitation
to explore some of the issues raised during my work with WebCT. My
goal for this project was to use my dual background as an instructor
and as a designer to understand several key questions or "puzzlements."
In this article, I will first discuss what online course management
systems are and indicate some advantages in their use. Next I will
analyze the development of a course using WebCT, English 302: Advanced
Composition (Business), and the process of designing and redesigning
this course. Finally, I focus on five “puzzlements” that
I concentrated on while designing and teaching this course.
Those puzzlements are:
- How does using a course management system such as WebCT affect
teaching?
- How can one design course material for on-line learning in a writing
course?.
- How can these on-line materials be adapted for face-to-face classes?
- How can both face-to-face and distance student writing be effectively
assessed (studied in conjunction with EDCI 520)?
- What challenges are presented when teaching with technology in
a "wired" classroom (a classroom with no computer or projector present
but wired for the Internet)?
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