Designing and Teaching an On-line Course: Spinning Your Web Classroom. Heidi Schweizer. 1999. Allyn & Bacon. ISBN: 0205303218. 121 pages. $37.95 paperback.
Dr. Heidi Schweizer, President of Leadership Online (http://leadership-online.com), is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she pioneered the implementation of Web-based graduate courses using Lotus LearningSpace. She is the lead developer and instructor for Marquette University's Online Masters Degree Program on Instructional Leadership.
Schweizer has developed several online courses that are offered through Leadership Online, including one based on her book, Designing and Teaching an On-line Course: Spinning Your Web Classroom. The introduction and first module of Schweizer's book is available for viewing at http://leadership-online.com/n_preview.htm. A PowerPoint presentation based on this material is also available on the Web.
An excellent primer for anyone preparing to teach a course on the Web, the book is a good resource for non-instructors involved in designing Web-based instruction. For those already involved in online instruction, it gives tips to enhance the teaching experience. Schweizer provides an overview of the elements and issues involved in teaching an online course such as instructional design, copyright, technology, evaluation, and visual design. The book does not cover Web site development and computer programming.
The book is comprised of nine chapters and an appendix that includes samples of content referred to throughout the chapters. A glossary is not included; however, some terms are defined throughout the book. One limitation is that the book does not include an index, but the thorough table of contents helps make up for the deficiency. A summary and exercises to prompt thinking about Web-based course development are included at the end of each chapter.
Schweizer starts out by discussing how to select a courseware package. Courseware is software designed to deliver training or educational courses. Schweizer selected LearningSpace (www.lotus.com/home.nsf/tabs/learnspace) as her courseware package because it furnishes both the instructor and the student with an interactive, highly collaborative online learning environment that makes creating and teaching an online course obtainable to the "low-tech" teacher and student.
The concepts used in Schweizer's book can be used with other courseware packages, such as Blackboard (www.blackboard.com), IntraLearn (www.intralearn.com), WebCT (www.webct.com), or WebMentor (www.avilar.com). Most courseware packages have similar applications and functions, such as an automated gradebook; communication tools, such as chat, e-mail, and threaded discussions; course templates to aid in course creations; and test and quiz tools. Some courseware packages can interface with existing campus computing systems and allow download and/ or upload to campus registrar records.
Schweizer suggest that an online classroom needs to be fun, empowering, full of choices for students and a place where students feel they "belong." She says that when one creates an on-line environment that meets these four basic psychological needs, one will create an environment where real learning can take place. I think this is especially true for students in an online environment because motivation and challenges can differ from students in a face-to-face classroom.
Although the book does a good job of discussing teacher/student interaction, it does not cover interactive activities using software such as Macromedia Flash. It also does not describe how digital audio and video can be imported into courseware.
This is a good book if you are new to online instruction, and a refresher for those who are already teaching courses online. Designing and Teaching an On-line Course: Spinning Your Web Classroom would be a great supplement to a more formal training program in online instruction.
