Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Web-Based Education

The potential impact of the World Wide Web (WWW) on our educational system is limitless. However, if our teachers do not possess the appropriate knowledge and skills to use the Web, the impact could be less than positive. It is evident, then, that our teachers need to be prepared to effectively use these powerful on-line resources to prepare our children to thrive in a digital society. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the impact of Web-based education on teacher education programs by addressing the following questions: • How is the World Wide Web impacting education? • Are teacher education programs meeting the challenge of producing certified teachers who are capable of integrating meaningful use of technology into K-12 classrooms? • What is expected of teacher education programs in regards to technology and Web-based education? • What knowledge and skills do preservice teachers need to effectively use Web-based education? • What instructional approaches should be used to prepare preservice teachers to use Web-based education?

Cognitive Effects of Web Page Design

The advent of Web-based instruction, which relies upon hypertext models of interaction and design, reemphasizes the need for a clear understanding of how learners process and encode information presented in Web sites intended for instructional purposes. The unique nature of Web page design, mandated by constraints in the technology which limit student interactivity, and yet which support divergent exploration, necessitates a deeper consideration of how learners interact with various Web site design factors. The purpose of this chapter will be to address the cognitive implications of those factors. This chapter will not focus on specific graphic layout and design criteria or visual display specifications that have been extensively covered in the research literature on computer screen design. The intent, rather, is to review and discuss the major theoretical and design issues impacting contemporary instructional Web page design. It is essential however, to understand the basis for much of the Web page design that occurs currently, and that stems from much of the earlier work in computer screen design.

Conditions for Web-Based Learning with Real Events

This chapter presents two converging developments. Traditionally, learning at schools or universities and working in a professional context were relatively separated. Companies often complain that students know a lot ‘facts’ but are not ‘competent.’ On the other hand at schools and universities students often complain that they can’t see the relevance of a certain subject. This chapter deals with the two converging worlds: traditional distance training (such as employed at for instance open universities all over the world) and in company training. ICT and competence-based education are bringing the two together, resulting in a combined working/learning mode, which we will describe as learning with real cases. This leads to more self-study or independent learning. Figure 1 presents an overview of the different facets of the tendency to learn with real cases. This chapter will start with a description of distance education since many things can be learned from this. Then, developments in the business or professional context will be presented. We will stress that there is a convergence leading to ‘learning with real cases’. After a description of this development, learning with real cases, as well as pitfalls and recommendations will be discussed.

Designing Technology Enhanced Learning Environments

There are now many educational research and technology projects reporting a variety of outcomes and lessons learned with regard to how to effectively integrate technology into learning and instruction. What can we learn from these projects and experiences? Is there a clear and coherent instructional design framework for technology-enhanced learning environments? What are the most promising approaches to instructional design? Are there particular tools that can assist? What kinds of evaluations will insure that the process of designing such environments will become progressively more effective? These are the questions explored in this chapter. The discussion includes a short review of the possibilities afforded by new technologies, with special emphasis on collaborative tele-learning and Web-based simulations. After illustrating the rich and diverse kinds of interactions now possible in Web-based settings, we shall argue that instructional design is more critical than ever before. It is not the case that technology has simplified instructional planning. Quite the contrary; new technologies have made the design of effective learning environments even more challenging than before. While our concept of learning remains relatively intact, the settings in which instruction can and does occur and the kinds of resources which can be brought to support learning in those various settings has changed dramatically. As a consequence, the subject of this chapter is relatively unexplored territory, and the findings and conclusions suggested herein should be regarded as tentative and preliminary.

Implementation Considerations for Instructional Design of Web-Based Learning Environments

Today’s technology is delivering greater access of current information and knowledge for instructional use. The introduction of the Internet has brought forth a wide variety of educational possibilities for teaching and learning; however, experience with these opportunities has yet to occur for the great majority of teachers. In order to prepare students for success in the next century, all teachers must have the motivation, knowledge, and skills needed to use Web-based resources for improved teaching and learning in both face-to-face and on-line settings. Planning for effective use of the Internet can impact students’ ability to communicate and interpret information in and out of the classroom. Understanding and supporting teachers as they begin this journey is an important area that requires further exploration. As Kurshan and Dawson (1992) acknowledge, the growth of the Internet and telecommunications is changing the nature of today’s classroom. As new communications technologies link more computers into a worldwide network, the walls of the classroom are, metaphorically speaking, coming down. In effect, teachers are finding that with relatively modest investment of time and money, they can create “global classrooms” in which the world and its peoples become an integral part of a student’s learning environment. Teachers of the 21st century will, therefore, have to anticipate the impact that technological advancement may have on school systems and be prepared to implement solutions that maximize learning while minimizing complexity (Kurshan & Dawson, 1992).

Layers of Navigation for Hypermedia Environments

As an instructional medium, computer-based hypermedia environments (e.g., Web sites or CD-ROM materials) enable distinct and enriched activities that facilitate learning. With the pressure on educators to produce Web-based courseware and other distance educational materials, more and more instructional Web sites have been developed. However, simple access to the World Wide Web (WWW) in any course does not guarantee that learning takes place: “No computer technology in and of itself can be made to affect thinking” (Salomon, Perkins, & Globerson, 1991, p. 3). Too often, Web sites are developed for instructional uses without the aid of sound instructional design principles. Content is presented as static, verbal information pages linked to other information pages that may or may not include obvious or intuitive navigational cues for making the cognitive connections necessary for knowledge construction. That is, critical information is delivered in a potentially rich learning environment but the format of the presentation confuses or “loses” the novice learner. Such environments are most often the result of an educator’s first few attempts at Web site development. Even with the use of Web site builders and intranet templates, designing instruction for instructional hypermedia requires thoughtful attention to certain aspects of learning. Over-simplification of the complexities of an ill-structured or even a well-defined domain encourages novices to reduce the “solutions” of domain-specific problems to simplified or cookbook answers, which is known as reductive bias (Spiro, Feltovich, & Coulson, 1992). Thus what is learned from some Web sites is often not what the designer or educator intended. A deliberate instructional design strategy for educational hypermedia environments is needed.

A Case Study of Lessons Learned for the Web-Based Educator

Like many instructors in higher education, I have found myself increasingly pressed to respond to demands for courses delivered with alternative technologies. This pressure is particularly dramatic today given the expanded access to and use of the Internet (NCES, 1997; NTIA, 1997). Web-based learning environments (WBLEs) are clearly the contemporary instructional “innovation of choice” in higher education. Feeling an obligation to extend my own professional preparation in this area, as well as a desire to determine the real issues associated with learning and teaching on the Web, I have ventured forward with a variety of WBLE experiences. This chapter is a case study description of my rookie experience teaching in an on-line environment that was custom designed to focus on learner and pedagogy issues found in the contemporary literature.

Design Guidelines for Web-Based Courses

Successful course creation for the Web environment means much more than the use of documents uploaded and electronically linked together. Course content should be designed specifically for use with an interactive, electronic medium that is capable of accommodating different types of audiovisual information (Porter, 1997, p. 128). This content can include video clips, animation, sound effects, music, voiceovers, photographs, drawings, and linked and unlinked pages. It means maintaining high standards of quality while promoting accessibility, motivation, and interactivity for students who are learning in this environment. Students in Web-based courses can become problem solvers involved in real-world problems as they take responsibility for their own learning.

Examining the Range of Student Needs in the Design and Development of a Web-Based Course

Distance learning is by no means a new phenomenon. However, new technologies provide a twist to distance learning that is making it grow and expand at an overwhelming rate. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that in 1995, a third of U.S. post-secondary schools offered distance education courses with another quarter of these schools planning to do so in the next three years. During the summer of 1999, the UCLA Extension Service will offer more than 100 Web–based courses in continuing higher education to anyone and anywhere (Business Wire, 1999). When the rapid proliferation of Web-based courses as a distance learning option is considered, and then couple that proliferation with the fact that the World Wide Web (WWW) has only been “popular” for the past five years, this expansion is indeed overwhelming. While the numbers alone are enough to amaze and dazzle, what is more interesting, and should be of greater concern, are the instructional design and pedagogical issues that should form the foundation of Web-based courses (Ritchie & Hoffman, 1997). The technical proficiencies necessary to build a course Web site and all of its technological accompaniments are merely psychomotor skills that range from the simple to the highly complex. However, one of the reasons for the rapid proliferation of Web-based courses is the development of courseware packages (Web Course-In-A-Box, WebCT, ILN CourseInfo, etc.) that remedy the needs for instructors to worry about acquiring these technical skills (Hansen & Frick, 1997). Unfortunately, while these courseware packages, and the many Web editors available, may facilitate the development of Web-based courses, these tools don’t address the myriad of instructional design and pedagogical issues that must be considered before and during development. Hill (1997) lists some of these key issues, which include pedagogical, technological, organizational, institutional, and ethical questions. Many of these issues must be resolved prior to the development of the first Web page. In this chapter, we explore some of the research that has been done on Web-based courses, but our intent is to largely delve into the practical realities of designing pedagogically effective and accessible Web-based instruction (WBI). Specifically, we explore the importance of a needs assessment of learner characteristics in the design process to determine and therefore design for the technological abilities and capacities of target students. Additionally, potential solutions and recommendations on how to design a virtual classroom environment that fosters and facilitates active student learning are discussed. Finally, the authors examine the very real issue of course accessibility for all students and how various design elements can enhance the accessibility.

Developing Web Pages as Supplements to Traditional Courses

There has been a recent explosion of interest in distance education. On college and university campuses, this interest owes much of its life and vigor to (a) a belief by university faculty that technology may be able to improve instruction, and (b) the sudden realization by university administrators that distance education is producing large sums of money and has the potential to produce much more. In higher education, the World Wide Web (WWW) has come to be one of the most popular service delivery vehicles for distance education efforts. At first, most sites were created primarily for courses delivered entirely over the Web. More recently, many Web sites are being created by individual instructors as supplements to their more traditionally delivered, on-campus courses. Currently, many thousands of Web sites are dedicated to higher education courses, and the number of such sites is increasing rapidly. This rapid increase has resulted in publication of many course-related pages that are less than ideal in both pedagogical and technical terms. This problem is especially acute for those pages that are supplementary to traditional courses, since there are seldom support services available for instructors who wish to design, create, and maintain such pages. Consequently, individual instructors are typically “on their own” with regard to planning, producing, and maintaining such pages. In contrast, institutional technical and pedagogical support is often provided for developers of Web sites intended for use in courses delivered primarily or exclusively by distance education, since such efforts are often assigned to a special unit such as an extension department or a department of continuing education. These units often employ or retain both technicians and subject matter specialists to assist in the development of course-related Web pages. Although this does not guarantee a quality product, some of the more obvious problems faced by individual instructors are sometimes avoided.