Web Based Teaching Tools

Web Based Teaching Tools is a 12 hour course I created for high school teachers interested in using internet technologies to enhance their classes, but who felt they lacked the skills or ideas about implementing them in their classrooms. 

The course assumes no prior experience other than basic web browsing and using a word processor, yet throgh judicious use of demonstration and hands-on group work, by the end of the course all students were able to create their own complete online course.

I presented this course to a group of 12 high school teachers at a conference in the Summer of 2008. Teachers in the class ranged from those who already implement online courses to those whose only prior experience was web browsing and email. Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive regardless of skills level upon entrance to the course.   

Course Syllabus

Day One Creating an Online Course	Participants create their own online course website using free, open source software.
Day Two   Online Assessment	Participants will learn how to create online quizzes and other assessments that give instant feedback to students who can work on them anytime and anywhere they have computer access. Online homework in-boxes and students journals are introduced.
Day Three   Online Collaboration	Participants learn how to create collaborative online resources that allow students to work in groups. Discussion forums and wikis are introduced.
Day Four Podcasting, Screencasting and RSS	Today, participants learn how to incorporate multi-media content into their online courses. Podcasting, screencasting and RSS are introduced.
Day Five Simulations and Content Specific Resources	Can a simulation be "better" than reality at teaching students specific skills and content knowledge? We tackle this question today and overview specific sources of education research based simulations for math, physics and chemistry.

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