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Learning Online
WWW8 Workshop

Contacts

Dave Whittington
dave@cs.strath.ac.uk
Department of Computer Science
University of Strathclyde
26 Richmond St.
Glasgow
G1 1XH
Scotland, UK
+44 (0)141 548 3839 (phone)
+44 (0)141 552 5330 (fax) 		Karen Goeller
kgoeller@notes.cc.bellcore.com
Director, Learning Support Internet Solutions
Bellcore
6 Corporate Place
Room PYA 1L-195
Piscataway, NJ 08854-4157
USA
+1 732 699-4281 (phone)
+1 732 336-2215 (fax)

Feedback

One of the participants, Lorna Campbell, has written a review of the workshop. A transcript of the original notes is also available.

Abstract

The potential impact of the Web on teaching and learning is enormous. The use of the Web to deliver teaching/training material online is now commonplace and many tools exist to support teachers and trainers. The use of discussion mechanisms, both synchronous and asynchronous, is also widespread, but fewer, purely educational tools exist to support this type of activity. Web-based assessment and evaluation is becoming more important and tools are also being developed in this area.

Innovative use of the Web to create "Virtual Environments" that support task-based learning and simulation are now possible by making use of Java, VRML, Desktop video conferencing etc. Tools that support the development of these "Virtual Environments" are thin on the ground, but it is likely that new tools will be developed to meet the demand.

Examples of "best practice" need to be identified. This applies to both the identification, with justification, of the best tools and the recognition of innovative techniques for using the Web to support learning online.

This workshop brought together practitioners from both the academic and the commercial worlds to discuss the issues surrounding learning with the Web.

Focus

The workshop covered a range of issues arising from the use of the Web to support teaching and learning.

Justification

Given the rate of Web developments, it is very difficult for teachers to keep pace with how best they can make use of this important medium. It is therefore important that, occasionally, learning technologists meet to discuss, define and publish the "state of the art".

Having participated in the teaching and learning workshop in Paris and being on the organising committee of last year's workshop in Santa Clara I am sure this workshop will be attractive to many people and that the outcomes of the workshop will be useful to a wide audience who may not be able to attend in person.

Specific Goals and Expected Outcomes

Call for Position Papers

Anyone wishing to attend the workshop was asked to submit a position paper. We used these papers to ensure that the workshop was targetted to attendee needs, and to ensure that attendees had an appropriate level of understanding of web-based learning issues before entering the workshop.

Position papers, should briefly include all of the following:

  1. Describe your experience with and education around web-based learning (as a student, instructor, or developer),
  2. Describe your experience with and education around other types of learning (e.g., corporate trainer, professor, instructional designer)
  3. Using the 6 interest areas described in the Workshop Format section, please prioritize the 6 main interest areas and add any that we've missed. Use a scale of 1 - 5, where 1 is "critically important to my workshop learning goals" and 5 is "unimportant to my learning needs."
  4. Tell us anything else you feel we need to know about you to make your workshop experience enriching.
  5. Please tell us if you have any special needs, such as a sign language interpreter, so that we can make appropriate arrangements.

Position Papers Recieved

Last update Dave Whittington, June 1999 Valid HTML 4.0!