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Tips and FAQs
What level of technology expertise is required to benefit from this short course?
This course was designed for college instructors who have some experience using computers and the Internet. For example, they should know how to save, download, and organize files on their computer. However, graphic design and multimedia development is not required. Although the Web 2.0 applications presented on this site produce impressive, professional results- no programming knowledge is required. Instructors should also have experience teaching college courses and mastery of their subject area in order to apply these concepts in their courses!
Do I need a certain browser to view the course materials?
The site was designed using Firefox and Internet Explorer. It can be viewed in both. However, some of the multimedia components seem to work best using Internet Explorer. If you can't view a video or hear a music file, you might need to use Internet Explorer instead of Firefox. However, there is a Firefox extension that lets you easily open pages in Explorer, if you prefer to use Firefox. You will definitely need a high speed internet connection!
Will I need any special software or "plug-ins" to view the contents of this course?
You will not need any special software. However, you will need to install Adobe Flash player, if you don't have it already. You should also make sure that you are using the most recent version of your browser.
How can I add to this website?
This course was developed as a WetPaint "wiki" instead of a regular website. That means that you can add things to the site. There is a navigation bar at the top of the pages where you can find the Discussion Forums and To-Do tabs. The Discussion Forums provide an organized way of discussing the course with other instructors and the To-Do tabs can be used to suggest improvements or changes to the site. The To-Do feature eliminates the need to email the wiki administrator (etc695@gmail.com) with suggestions... you can add them to the To-Do list immediately when you think of them. Also, because this is a wiki, you may be able to make some of the changes yourself, if the page is set to allow editing and changes. You can alter some of the contents of this course- similar to the ability of users to add material and make changes to Wikipedia, which is currently one of the most popular online reference sites.
Each page also has some tools that may be available to you. The links at the top of the page may include "Easy Edit", which means that you can change the essential contents of that page. There is a link to add a "To-Do" and you may even be able to add or delete a page. If you see the options, it means that you can use them. If you don't see the options, it means that they are disabled for that particular page in order to protect its content from being changed at that time.
Lastly, you can add a page to the course itself. If you think of a topic that is not covered by this course and you think it should be added, feel free to expand the course by adding your own relevant material. This ability for users to extend the course and, therefore, enhance its relevance, currency, and usefulness is one of the fundamental Web 2.0 principles and a major reason the course is being presented in wiki format!
What is the purpose of the tabs across the top of the website?
Because the course was designed in WetPaint, it is not possible to completely customize all aspects of the course. Thus, there are unavoidably some navigation tabs that may not be as useful or relevant to the course. However, two of the goals of the course are: (1) introduce college instructors to the concept of Web 2.0 in a practical way and (2) provide opportunities for instructors to practice with popular Web 2.0 apps. So, while I might not have chosen to have all of the tabs appear at the top of the website, they do provide an opportunity for instructors to see what options might be available in any courses they choose to use a WetPaint wiki to present. Here is a brief tour:
The "What's New" tab will take the user to a page where they get an overall view of all activity on the site for the past 30 days. They can see all of the changes made, including who made the change and why (if a reason was provided when the user made the change). They can also see a list of new members and any interactions between members that occurred through the wiki in the past 30 days.
The "Discussion Forum" is an area where instructors can communicate with each other about the course content. If the topic you're interested in doesn't appear in the list of "threads", you can start your own. The Discussion Forum is fairly intuitive and easy to use since most instructors may be familiar with other online discussion boards and forums.
The "Photo Gallery" enables instructors to post photos and organize the photos into albums. This is an example of a feature that is, perhaps, less relevant to this course, but which might be extremely interesting and useful in another online course with different subject matter.
The "Members" area provides a list of all members of the wiki. It is searchable and users can be added as "friends" and can exchange "compliments" through the system. The "banned" link exists because the administrator can ban users from making changes to the wiki in cases of "vandalism" or other inappropriate actions.
The "Invitations" area enables the administrator or other users to invite people to join the wiki. Potential users can be emailed by either entering their contact information or importing it from your address book in such programs as Yahoo Mail, Gmail, Outlook, and America Online. It is possible to set various levels of permissions for new members including: Registered users, Writers, Moderators, and Administrators. The ability to invite new members is disabled for this course because it is a closed course- currently, only the administrator can invite people to view the wiki. All instructors using the course are currently categorized as "Writers", which means that they can edit pages (if they are not "locked"), add images, and join discussions... that means that you may not see the "invitations" option at all.
The course is directed towards college instructors- but wouldn't teachers at any grade level find the material useful?
The concepts and tools presented in this course would be helpful to teachers of any grade level. However, the nature of Web 2.0 is that applications encourage social interaction and give users control over the contents of the materials. Therefore, k-12 teachers may be uncomfortable with the lack of control over what students post and where the followed links might lead. Also, there is some responsibility on the part of the teacher and school system to monitor and protect Internet usage, especially by students who are minors whereas colleges typically do not bear such a direct responsibility for their students' Internet activities. The implementation of Terms of Use agreements are more enforceable when college students sign them because they are legally adults who are capable of signing legal contracts for themselves. That said, there would be no problem with non-college instructors taking this course and deciding for themselves which tools would be appropriate for them
This course was designed for college instructors who have some experience using computers and the Internet. For example, they should know how to save, download, and organize files on their computer. However, graphic design and multimedia development is not required. Although the Web 2.0 applications presented on this site produce impressive, professional results- no programming knowledge is required. Instructors should also have experience teaching college courses and mastery of their subject area in order to apply these concepts in their courses!
Do I need a certain browser to view the course materials?
The site was designed using Firefox and Internet Explorer. It can be viewed in both. However, some of the multimedia components seem to work best using Internet Explorer. If you can't view a video or hear a music file, you might need to use Internet Explorer instead of Firefox. However, there is a Firefox extension that lets you easily open pages in Explorer, if you prefer to use Firefox. You will definitely need a high speed internet connection!
Will I need any special software or "plug-ins" to view the contents of this course?
You will not need any special software. However, you will need to install Adobe Flash player, if you don't have it already. You should also make sure that you are using the most recent version of your browser.
How can I add to this website?
This course was developed as a WetPaint "wiki" instead of a regular website. That means that you can add things to the site. There is a navigation bar at the top of the pages where you can find the Discussion Forums and To-Do tabs. The Discussion Forums provide an organized way of discussing the course with other instructors and the To-Do tabs can be used to suggest improvements or changes to the site. The To-Do feature eliminates the need to email the wiki administrator (etc695@gmail.com) with suggestions... you can add them to the To-Do list immediately when you think of them. Also, because this is a wiki, you may be able to make some of the changes yourself, if the page is set to allow editing and changes. You can alter some of the contents of this course- similar to the ability of users to add material and make changes to Wikipedia, which is currently one of the most popular online reference sites.
Each page also has some tools that may be available to you. The links at the top of the page may include "Easy Edit", which means that you can change the essential contents of that page. There is a link to add a "To-Do" and you may even be able to add or delete a page. If you see the options, it means that you can use them. If you don't see the options, it means that they are disabled for that particular page in order to protect its content from being changed at that time.
Lastly, you can add a page to the course itself. If you think of a topic that is not covered by this course and you think it should be added, feel free to expand the course by adding your own relevant material. This ability for users to extend the course and, therefore, enhance its relevance, currency, and usefulness is one of the fundamental Web 2.0 principles and a major reason the course is being presented in wiki format!
What is the purpose of the tabs across the top of the website?
Because the course was designed in WetPaint, it is not possible to completely customize all aspects of the course. Thus, there are unavoidably some navigation tabs that may not be as useful or relevant to the course. However, two of the goals of the course are: (1) introduce college instructors to the concept of Web 2.0 in a practical way and (2) provide opportunities for instructors to practice with popular Web 2.0 apps. So, while I might not have chosen to have all of the tabs appear at the top of the website, they do provide an opportunity for instructors to see what options might be available in any courses they choose to use a WetPaint wiki to present. Here is a brief tour:
The "What's New" tab will take the user to a page where they get an overall view of all activity on the site for the past 30 days. They can see all of the changes made, including who made the change and why (if a reason was provided when the user made the change). They can also see a list of new members and any interactions between members that occurred through the wiki in the past 30 days.
The "Discussion Forum" is an area where instructors can communicate with each other about the course content. If the topic you're interested in doesn't appear in the list of "threads", you can start your own. The Discussion Forum is fairly intuitive and easy to use since most instructors may be familiar with other online discussion boards and forums.
The "Photo Gallery" enables instructors to post photos and organize the photos into albums. This is an example of a feature that is, perhaps, less relevant to this course, but which might be extremely interesting and useful in another online course with different subject matter.
The "Members" area provides a list of all members of the wiki. It is searchable and users can be added as "friends" and can exchange "compliments" through the system. The "banned" link exists because the administrator can ban users from making changes to the wiki in cases of "vandalism" or other inappropriate actions.
The "Invitations" area enables the administrator or other users to invite people to join the wiki. Potential users can be emailed by either entering their contact information or importing it from your address book in such programs as Yahoo Mail, Gmail, Outlook, and America Online. It is possible to set various levels of permissions for new members including: Registered users, Writers, Moderators, and Administrators. The ability to invite new members is disabled for this course because it is a closed course- currently, only the administrator can invite people to view the wiki. All instructors using the course are currently categorized as "Writers", which means that they can edit pages (if they are not "locked"), add images, and join discussions... that means that you may not see the "invitations" option at all.
The course is directed towards college instructors- but wouldn't teachers at any grade level find the material useful?
The concepts and tools presented in this course would be helpful to teachers of any grade level. However, the nature of Web 2.0 is that applications encourage social interaction and give users control over the contents of the materials. Therefore, k-12 teachers may be uncomfortable with the lack of control over what students post and where the followed links might lead. Also, there is some responsibility on the part of the teacher and school system to monitor and protect Internet usage, especially by students who are minors whereas colleges typically do not bear such a direct responsibility for their students' Internet activities. The implementation of Terms of Use agreements are more enforceable when college students sign them because they are legally adults who are capable of signing legal contracts for themselves. That said, there would be no problem with non-college instructors taking this course and deciding for themselves which tools would be appropriate for them
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Latest page update: made by etc695
, Sep 30 2008, 1:34 AM EDT
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