Web assisted teaching: an undergraduate experience

The emergence of the Internet has created a number of claims as to the future of education and the possibility of dramatically changing the way in which education is delivered. Much of the attention has focussed on the adoption of teaching methods that are solely web-based. We set out to incorporate web-based teaching as support for more traditional teaching methods to improve the learning outcomes for students. This first step into web-based teaching was developed to harness the benefits of web-based teaching tools without supplanting traditional teaching methods. The aim of this paper is to report our experience with web-assisted teaching in two undergraduate courses, Accounting Information Systems and Management Accounting Services, during 2000. The paper evaluates the approach taken and proposes a tentative framework for developing future web-assisted teaching applications. We believe that web-assisted and web-based teaching are inevitable outcomes of the telecommunications and computer revolution and that academics cannot afford to become isolated from the on-line world. A considered approach is needed to ensure the integration of web-based features into the overall structure of a course. The components of the course material and the learning experiences students are exposed to need to be structured and delivered in a way that ensures they support student learning rather than replacing one form of learning with another. Therefore a careful consideration of the structure, content, level of detail and time of delivery needs to be integrated to create a course structure that provides a range of student learning experiences that are complimentary rather than competing. The feedback was positive from both extramural (distance) and internal students, demonstrating to us that web sites can be used as an effective teaching tool in support of more traditional teaching methods as well as a tool for distance education. The ability to harness the positives of the web in conjunction with more traditional teaching modes is one that should not be overlooked in the move to adopt web based instruction methods. Web-based teaching need not be seen as an all or nothing divide but can be used as a useful way of improving the range and type of learning experiences open to students. The Web challenges traditional methods and thinking but it also provides tools to develop innovative solutions to both distance and on campus learning. Further research is needed to determine how we can best meet the needs of our students while maintaining high quality learning outcomes

Website Design and Evaluation Workshop

Workbook on website design prepared for presentation at LIBRARIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE 2004: HUMAN INFORMATION BEHAVIOUR AND COMPETENCIES FOR DIGITAL LIBRARIES includes chapters on pre-planning, card sort technique, focus groups, usability, site architecture, accessibility, and assessmentunpublishednot peer reviewe

Web Mining for Web Personalization

Web personalization is the process of customizing a Web site to the needs of specific users, taking advantage of the knowledge acquired from the analysis of the user\u27s navigational behavior (usage data) in correlation with other information collected in the Web context, namely, structure, content, and user profile data. Due to the explosive growth of the Web, the domain of Web personalization has gained great momentum both in the research and commercial areas. In this article we present a survey of the use of Web mining for Web personalization. More specifically, we introduce the modules that comprise a Web personalization system, emphasizing the Web usage mining module. A review of the most common methods that are used as well as technical issues that occur is given, along with a brief overview of the most popular tools and applications available from software vendors. Moreover, the most important research initiatives in the Web usage mining and personalization areas are presented

Dont Invade My Personal Space: Facebooks Advertising Dilemma

For many companies, advertising on Facebook seems like the right decision. But with decreasing click-through rates and negative consumer perceptions of Facebook advertising, some major corporations are rethinking their social media strategy. The purpose of this paper is to examine role theory, boundary theory, and role segmentation/integration as possible explanations to the negative consumer perceptions surrounding Facebook advertising. Theory suggests that Facebook users expend effort creating and maintaining boundaries around consumer and social roles. By targeting consumers in a social domain, companies advertising on Facebook may actually be exacerbating the problem

Evaluation of the Australian Bureau of Statistics\u27 Education Services Website

The Australian Bureau of Statistics redesigned their Education Services website in 2007. This project evaluated the popularity and usability of the redesigned ABS Education Services website. We surveyed math teachers and held a focus group to acquire opinions about the ABS Education Services website, their education resources, and the CensusAtSchool program. We also conducted a quantitative web analysis to determine how the website was being used. We made recommendations to the ABS for improving their website and services

Methodology for Assessing Impact of the Federation of Earth Science Information Partnerships

The Federation of Earth Science Information Partnerships (ESIP) is a consortium of partners that collect earth data from satellites and sensors but they do not have an effective way of obtaining performance indicators about their organization. We analyzed ESIP\u27s website through the use of software systems such as Google Analytics. The results obtained from this IQP were used to help ESIP justify its importance to current funding sources, including NASA and NOAA. We gave recommendations to update the website, use web analytic software, keep good relationships with partners, work with USGEO, and supply a better monthly performance report

MIT OpenCourseWare 2005 Program Evaluation Findings

MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a large-scale, web-based electronic publishing initiative, accessible on the Internet at ocw.mit.edu. Through OCW, MIT makes its core teaching materials -- lecture notes, problem sets, syllabi, reading lists, simulations, etc. -- openly available for non-commercial educational purposes. OCW publishes those materials in standards-based formats for anyone with access to the Internet. OCW has a dual mission: * To provide free access to virtually all MIT course materials for educators, students, and individual learners around the world.* To extend the reach and impact of MIT OCW and the opencourseware concept.Beginning in 2002, MIT OpenCourseWare has published 1,259 of MIT's approximately 1,800 courses to date. In addition, OCW has published 133 updated versions of previously published courses. MIT OpenCourseWare expects to have published 1,800 courses by 2008, and beyond that milestone will continue to update courses as an ongoing activity of the Institute.Major findings* Access: Online access to MIT OpenCourseWare content continues to grow dramatically on ocw.mit.edu and on translation sites, with currently more than 1 million monthly visits to OCW content, and a 56% annual increase in visits.* Use: The OCW site is being used by educators, students and self learners to successfully accomplish a wide range of educational objectives; and visitors are widely satisfied with the breadth, depth and quality of OCW content.* Impact: Individual educators and learners report high levels of current impact on their learning goals, and expectations for even higher impact in the future; institutions worldwide are both using MIT OpenCourseWare materials and publishing their own materials openly -- with more than 2,000 courses representing over 50 institutions currently available online