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Copyright. Richard J. Botting ( Fri Jan 20 11:54:52 PST 2006 ). Permission is granted to quote and use this document as long as the source is acknowledged.

Ten Years of Internet Teaching

Lecture

Introduction

I will demonstrate that the Internet provides opportunities and hazards not found in isolated audio-visual systems.

I have used online texts, EMail, virtual discussions, online lectures, and active learning.

Many staff and faculty at CSUSB and other campuses are already using more sophisticated techniques than I'm going to mention. Comp Sci graduate students are working on some special purpose systems and tools.

Ten years experience can make you pragmatically cynical.

I'm not going to tell you about the latest, hottest, coolest stuff you can do with expensive and complicated hardware and software.

I will tell you how to survive teaching on the Internet!

I want to demonstrate some things that are more more important than exciting! Cheap and simple techniques that:

help me teach
help students learn

You need Backup Plans

Ask "What if it fails?" and plan an alternative route.
Worst case scenarios with counter measures.
Test, test, test, test,...
Failure points:
1. human behavior
2. lab machines
3. presentation machine
4. printers
5. software: versions, bugs, and features
6. connections
7. network traffic jams
8. power
9. switches, plugs, sockets, and batteries
10. physical connections
11. theft
12. system-antics
Be Ready to Train Your Students
It is wise to hand out on paper:-
1. a syllabus [ syllabus.html ]
2. a contract + disclaimer
3. some "how to" instructions [ CS_FAQ.html ]
Security and Passwords [ Your Account in syllabus ]
Disclaimer [ Disclaimer and Warning in home ] [ The Internet in syllabus ]
Netiquette
Consequences of Abuse: Get them to sign a contract.
24 hours and 7 days a week
The Internet runs all the time and in all time zones.
:. So does the teaching.
Example: In the middle of one term the campus became disconnected from the Internet for 12 hours. I was running my home-made mailing list or BBS. Mailing list messages for one student were returned to me. My mailer split them up and sent them to students taking the course. The BBS retransmitted the messages again. 24 students got 2000 messages each in 8 hours.
The Internet is different
The Internet is not a one-way medium like TV/CDROM/OHP.
It is multi-way system that can and should be used to enhance interaction in teaching/learning situations.
(Demonstration1): A pop quiz: [ rjb98a.quiz.html ]
Internet allows rapidly changing information and two-way flow: Feedback Loops
Students can make their own hard copy - no need for handouts
No need to cover it all in class - student can get the details.

. . . . . . . . . ( end of section Lecture) <<Contents | End>>

(Demonstration2): What would you like to know about?
1. --> [ An Empty but Active Classroom ]
2. --> [ Admin Implications ]
3. --> [ CETI and the Virtual University ]
4. --> [ Electronic Mail ]
5. --> [ Keep It Simple ]
6. --> [ My Tool Kit ]
7. --> [ Virtual discussions ]
8. --> [ What Happens ]
9. --> [ What to Put Online ]
10. --> [ WWW Portfolios ]
Discussion Topics
1. KISS! [ Hints in www ]
2. Advanced HTML will not work with all your student's systems.
3. A picture = 1000 words = 5KB -- no more. Keep large graphics out-of-line [ graphics.html ]
4. But know what your audience wants: content or something else? Non-specialist [ home.html ] and [ infobahn.html ] vs Techie [ se.sites.html ] and [ java.sites.html ]
5. Know your objectives... use graphics to teach graphics, whatever the cost! [ uml.html ]
6. Audio and Video formats are still evolving -- new software needed all the time.
7. Simple colors. [ color_codes in comp.html.syntax ]
8. Paragraphs, lists, horizontal rules, headings... [ HTML Basic in html.workshop ] [ comp.html.syntax.html ]
  What to Put Online
  Twice I've been forced to prepare my own text.
  - no such book.
  - book never arrived
    1. All copies gone.
    2. The publisher/authors refused permission to make copies.
    3. The books never arrived.
    4. My Research to the rescue. [ http://www.csci.csusb.edu/cs620/old/ ]
9. - Hard work
10. + learning objectives achieved without a text
  Better to put lecture notes and reference materials on the WWW.
11. + Can be used as small AV aid
12. + Students who don't understand my accent and writing find these very helpful.
13. - Good AV requires high bandwidth: Use a real audiovisual aids instead
14. + Can edit and develop notes in class with the help of students and then make them available to students.
15. ! Use Hypertext and [ Keep It Simple ]
16. + Links to other information...
17. ! Make the URL visible in class
18. + Generic and Specific Syllabi [ syllabus.html ]
19. ! Use Outline Structure: Headlines/Bullets/Boxes/Lists
20. ! Provide many paths aimed at different student needs.
21. ! Details online
22. ! Browsers understand directories. Use them as instant contents lists! [ http://www.csci.csusb.edu/cs360/notes/ ]
23. ! Glossary with links in text.
24. ! Dictionaries and search engines [ My Tool Kit ] [ lookup360 ]
  Electronic Mail
25. ! Can distribute messages to class outside class time
26. ! Allocate class time to train students how to handle EMail: How, subjects, ASCII vs proprietary
27. ! Plan for failures and duplicate transmissions
28. ! State frequency for reading EMail in syllabus: daily, every other day, weekly?
29. ! Collate, anonymize, and feedback by EMail or WWW [ home.html ]
30. ! Automatically backup EMail as it arrives
31. ! Automatic sorting
32. - Students Copying?
33. - Incompatible mailers and applications formats
  Email what:
34. - Large Electronic work is a pain to grade.
35. ! Submit large pieces of work on paper except under emergencies.
36. ! Print emergency EMail submissions before grading and hand back.
37. + Short Lab reports ==> "Today I learned ..."
38. + Internet "look what I found" reports.
39. + Microthemes and book reports
40. + Multichoice questions --> published --> edited --> Final!
41. ! Assigned work: print out, comment, return
42. ? Online grading
43. ? Automatic grading? Instead see [ Active Learning ] below
44. ? Online Final using published question bank. Student developed program that answered 80% of questions in test bank correctly. However he used precisely the skills the final was testing for to write the program! He got a well deserved A.
45. ? I'm very doubtful of using the Internet for quizzes and finals! See [ Admin Implications ] below.
  WWW Portfolios
46. ! A public exhibition of the students skills and knowledge [ roster.html ]
47. ! Define objectives and grading very clearly [ WWW Portfolio in syllabus ]
48. + Students seem to enjoy it.
49. + Good for getting a job?
50. ? Does it contribute to student learning?
  Virtual discussions
  BBS/Mailing Lists are easy to create given ingenuity, tools, and duct tape.
51. Incoming EMail with "BBS" in subject is stored on WWW/public file and forwarded to people in class. [ http://www.csci.csusb.edu/cs320/bbs/ ] [ http://www.csci.csusb.edu/cs360/bbs/ ]
52. ! teach by example postings
53. + reduces class time for "dumb questions" ( where most of class knows answer)
54. - time to automate and test software
55. - time to maintain
56. - flames
57. - digressions and trivia and unanswered questions
58. - need to monitor 24/7
59. ! need to reward... but how: Quantity or Quality? Automatic or by hand(Ugh).
60. ! Signed copyright release form.
61. ! State moderation policy in syllabus.
62. ? Does it contribute to student learning?
  
  The are several WWW chat room systems or BBS that can be downloaded and used as well.
  An Empty but Active Classroom
  1. ! Recording is Published: asked students to sign copyright release
  2. - needed 2 formats for different students/systems
  3. - One encoder(Sun) breaks when time > 2 minutes
  4. - Much easier to put lecture on BBS/Mailing list, see KISS [ http://www.csci.csusb.edu/cs360/bbs/ ]
  5. :. Use terminal in class as virtual blackboard that records what happens. Publish result.
    Active Learning
    Problem: How to get out-of-class/different time students involved in the subject...!
    All of the above techniques can be put on WWW pages.
    Better: Questions in line with answers out of line. [ Syntax Exercise in c++ ]
    Best: Questions in line with multi choice answers linked to discussion of answer, see Demonstration1.
    1. + Cheap
    2. + Simple
    3. + General
    4. + It Worked
    5. - You need a programmer.
    6. Tool: A CGI to search files for answer keys [ kgrep ] and HTML to hide the key.
  6. For examples search for "Questions" in [ lookup360 ]
  . . . . . . . . . ( end of section An Empty but Active Classroom) <<Contents | End>>
  My Tool Kit
63. I'm a duct tape person:
  1. Search engines [ define.html ] [ lookup320 ] [ lookup360 ] [ Lab in research ]
  2. + provides freedom to students.
  3. - some students don't want freedom.
  4. - Needs a programmer.
    Home brew UNIX scripts: [ http://www.csci.csusb.edu/dick/tools/ ]
    1. ascii2html -- handles <%:>
    2. mth2html -- Research
    3. txt2html -- Duplicate 80 col printer + links
    4. define -- search for definitions
    5. kgrep -- search for feedback
    6. name2dictionary+lookup -- find name tags
    7. urlunencode, ...
    8. mth2tex (TBA)
  What Happens
64. + 100% Internet --> Grade distributions tend to be all A's and U's
65. - A Student or Teacher finds that working at home is not as efficient as working in a lab/classroom/library. [ home.html ]
66. + Slow reading is punished by the Internet.
67. +Thinking and writing are rewarded by BBS/EMail.
68. + Any student can do a Web Page. [ home.html ]
69. + Learning about the Internet is high when students chase their own interests using the Internet.
70. - Risks of and from Abuse
71. :. You need contracts and disclaimers
72. - online reading is one third slower
73. :. Searchable
  
  Admin Implications
74. - Problems with Security, Authentication and/or Privacy
75. - Need positive Identification: Not SSN, not passwords, not a ATM style card! Check iris or retina or thumb print.
76. - Until then examinations must be proctored by a trustworthy human.
77. - How to do SETEs?
78. Distance multiplies teachers and pupils at same time.
79. :. Distance learning does not increase class size.
80. 24/7 Frees up schedules and plant. (but why?)
81. Allow a reduction in administrative hierarchies:-)
82. Buffet-style education: Your way, Right away!
83. JIT education
84. Need to be able to be able to buy access gadgets in a super-market and get storage from a vending machine.
  CETI and the Virtual University
85. CETI would have been the last straw that stopped my use of the Internet for teaching. Such work would have become the property of an independent consortium.
  
  CETI sites [ siphome.htm ] [ http://ceti.calstate.edu/ ] [ OpAgrLLC.html ] [ http://uias.calstate.edu/ ]
  Integrated Technology Strategy Website [ its ] [ http://its.calstate.edu ]
  Virtual University [ http://www.vudesign.ca.gov/ ]
. . . . . . . . . ( end of section Discussion Topics) <<Contents | End>>
Don't Forget to Have Fun
[ cgicookie ] [ jokes ]
Glossary
1. ASCII::=American Standard Code for Information Interchange, lists the 127 characters that are guaranteed to work on all 1990 computers.
2. TBA::=To Be Announced.
3. IMHO::=In My Humble Opinion.
4. BBS::=Bulletin Board System, users can publish statements where others can see them. Compare with mailing_list.
5. CETI::=California Educational Technology Initiative. [ CETI and the Virtual University ]
6. CGI::WWW=Common Gateway Interface, -- the HTTP way of asking for a program to be run on the WWW server.
7. browser::WWW=a program that fits Internet information visible and audible and allows you to selectively follow embedded links to other information.
8. client::=a computer that requests a service from another computer called a server.
9. EMail::=Electronic Mail.
10. HTML::=HyperText Markup Language, -- a way of indicating the structure of documents and their interconnection.
11. HTTP::=HyperText Transfer Protocol, -- a set of rules defining how a page is transferred on the WWW.
12. JIT::=Just In Time, - industrial catch phrase for reducing inventory by decreasing production lead time.
13. KISS::=Keep It Simple Stupid.
14. Internet::=A world wide internet where all the computers use the same set of rules for communication: TCP/IP.
15. internet::=A collection of networks that can work together.
16. mailing_list::=A list of users set up so that one message can be sent to all of them + replies are often redistributed to the list as well. Compare BBS.
17. moderate::=to select messages sent to a BBS or mailing_list.
18. netiquette::=correct behavior on the Internet.
19. page::WWW=the unit of information that can be requested by a browser client from a WWW server.
20. ROFL::=Rolling On Floor Laughing.
21. server::=a computer that provides a service (data or activity) to another computer called a client.
22. URL::=Universal Resource Locator, -- a kind of WWW zip-code. [ URL_guide.html ]
23. WWW::=World Wide Web, -- An enormous interconnected thrift store of egotism, data, entertainment, propaganda, and advertising enabled and linked by the HTTP and the HTML. [ www.sites.html ] [ infobahn.html ] [ www.html ]
. . . . . . . . . ( end of section Glossary) <<Contents | End>>

. . . . . . . . . ( end of section Ten Years of Internet Teaching) <<Contents | End>>

Contents

Ten Years of Internet Teaching

Lecture

Introduction

You need Backup Plans

Be Ready to Train Your Students

24 hours and 7 days a week

The Internet is different

Discussion Topics

Keep It Simple

What to Put Online

Electronic Mail

WWW Portfolios

Virtual discussions

An Empty but Active Classroom

Record Classes and put on WWW

Active Learning

My Tool Kit

What Happens

Admin Implications

CETI and the Virtual University

Don't Forget to Have Fun

Glossary

End