The Web as an Educational Tool
Computers can augment more traditional classroom tools -- chalkboard, textbook, paper and pencil -- to provide a wider range of learning experiences. Computer technologies have proven to be motivators for students and can flexibly support varied learning styles. The latest widespread computer technology is the World Wide Web.
It's hard not to get excited by the Web 's power to transcend both distance and time. It can reach around the block, across the state, or all the way to the other side of the world. Sure, television and telephones can do that, too. But unlike conventional broadcast media, the 'Net supports two-way communication. And unlike the telephone, the 'Net supports asynchronous exchanges; that is, it doesn't require users to participate at the same time. As its bandwidth, or transmission capacity, increases, the online medium can swiftly carry moving pictures and sounds as well as text and images.
These qualities have obvious benefits for educators. Instructional designers have begun to use the Web as a medium for their materials and learning activities.
But effective instruction involves more than an "anywhere, anytime, anything" delivery medium. Educators, students, and instructional designers must still make conscious choices, evaluating whether what the technology has to offer will really enhance instruction.
The nature of the online medium has specific implications for you as an instructional designer. We begin, therefore, with an orientation to this medium as it affects teaching, learning and instructional design.
Six Questions for This Unit
session 1 - What is distance education?
session 2 - Why is local context important?
session 3 - What happens to the events of instruction when you move from face-to-face to online instruction?
session 4 - How do you manange online instruction?
session 5 - What external policy issues may apply to your design?
session 6 - What is the experience of the distant learner?
In Unit II, we'll get down to the nitty-gritty of design and production, present a strategy for organizing your content, and introduce a few specific tools you may find useful in your own project. If you have not done so already, please review the Overview for assumptions we're making about you and the technology available to you, before you proceed to Session 1.
