Building Your Course Web

Abstract: This document provides a simple process for putting together your course web. It suggests what you should do before beginning the course, during the course, and after the course.

• Introduction
• Before the course begins
• When the course ends
• After each class session
• After each class session (and continuing)

Introduction

As we build our course webs, it helps to have a set of guidelines or strategies for putting them together. This document provides a simple set of steps for building your course webs that will (hopefully) reduce the time you spend on your web. It is separated into four primary parts, corresponding to the major "time frames" in web design: before the course begins, after the course ends, before each class session, and after each class session.

Each is presented with a short introduction and one or more of checklists of things to do or consider.

Before the course begins

Most instructors begin planning a course long before they teach the course. This planning may include choice of text, development of syllabus, and creation of exercises. If you're using the web in your class, you should add design of course web to that list.

• Decide on the intent(s) and general form of components of your web
  • standard handouts
  • instructor-authored course supplements
  • links to external resources
  • quizzes
  • animations or simulations

• Determine the types of pages that will be in your web
  • assignments
  • syllabus
  • topic notes
  • student notes
  • quizzes
  • topic-oriented sets of links
  • self-tests
  • questions and answers
  • student notes
  • materials generated in class sessions
  • examples

• Develop a site structure corresponding to the prior decisions
  • a directory for each type of component, perhaps as a hierarchy
  • choose a naming strategy for pages

• Develop a design template for each page
  • organization of information
  • context and links
  • introductory information
  • body

• Refine your templates by building a few sample pages by hand

• Collect additional materials
  • previous class sessions
  • appropriate collections of links

• Build navigation pages
  • contents for each category
  • overall site map
  • others, as appropriate

• Consider tools
  • HTML generation
  • search mechanism
  • annotation or newsgroup facilities
  • log mechanism, for checking on page usage

• Build pages (ongoing)

When the course ends

At the end of the course, you need to step back and evaluate and clean up your course web, particularly if you plan to reuse it for a future class or develop other classes. Few of us have the time to complete all of these steps, but I'd recommend at least trying to determine student reactions to the course web.

• Summarize experience
  • perceived benefits to students
  • perceived benefits to instructor
  • perceived drawbacks to students
  • perceived drawbacks to instructor
  • perceived effects on note-taking
  • perceived effects on attendance
  • best experiences
  • worst problems
  • page usage

• Survey students about web usage
  • perceived benefits
  • perceived drawbacks
  • perceived effects on note-taking
  • perceived effects on attendance
  • recommendations
  • use of materials

• Clean up missing or incorrect pages
  • check all links
  • ensure that all pages in a set are there
  • insert placeholders for missing pages

• Develop designs
  • site structure
  • page organization

• Write a summary report

After each class session

All too frequently, we have too little time once classes have started. Nonetheless, it is reasonable to try to make some updates to the web. However, major updates, such as redesign, should generally be left until after the course is over.

• Generate pages appropriate for the class session, if they're not already available
  • notes
  • assignments

• Update site links
  • contents
  • site map
  • next/prev links on appropriate cards

• Gather appropriate external links

After each class session (and continuing)

Because of time limitations, many of us don't have time to proofread our handouts before class. Use the time after class to clean up your pages and add appopriate additional pages.

• Correct errors in pages noticed during class
  • incorrect information
  • typos
  • bad HTML

• Add session-based pages
  • blackboard (if you're fortunate enough to have a computer display in the classroom, you can use the computer as blackboard and convert the typed text to HTML)
  • student notes
  • transcriptions (somewhat extreme)
  • student questions and answers
    • from class
    • from email
    • from office hours

This page written by Samuel A. Rebelsky.

This page generated on 56 by SamR's Site Suite.