The Report
Use of Web and Multimedia Technology
This capstone project has resulted in an actual course that is currently being, and will continue to be, taught on online. As such, the use of Web and Multimedia technologies is evident in three main applications. What was used in the creation of: 1. The course materials; 2. This site (the course analysis); and 3. The delivery of the course content, i.e. the Learning Management Systems (LMS). All three will be reviewed briefly.
The course and report creation
First, let us investigate the technologies used in the creation of the course materials and the creation of this report. This course content was created using Macromedia (now Adobe) Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Photoshop, and Flash. The graphics, when they were not borrowed from other sources (see credits), were produced with Fireworks, and optimized for the web using Photoshop. Most of the the course content was created directly in HTML (Dreamweaver), using CSS for most of the formatting.
For the course HTML, I used a simple file setup and an external CSS file for formatting the document. I used the color scheme of NSCC (Nashville State Community College) to make the screen consistent with the school's web site. The school, located in Nashville, TN, USA is where I teach. The course materials were then uploaded to two different Learning Management Systems: WebCT and Moodle. Each have their own embedded tools for file transfer.
WebCT is the platform of course at NSCC. At the time this capstone course was being developed, I was also teaching it live online. Therefore, each finished lesson, assignment, and quiz was first uploaded to WebCT so the learners could complete their coursework. However, the instructor of my own graduate capstone course, Dr. Oliver Schwabe at Jones International University (JIU) lives in Frankfurt Germany. Due to what we surmise may be a firewall issue, Dr. Schwabe was unable to access the WebCT course. So another platform had to be used so he could observe the results of my efforts. The solution was Moodle.
I have web space through an ISP, webmasters.com. I downloaded the latest Moodle installation package, uploaded the Unix archive to my web space, created a new directory and MySQL database, decompressed the file, and installed the software. I bought a book on Moodle that would get me up to speed as quickly as possible, and then began uploading my already finished course content to the Moodle installation. Dr. Schwabe was able to access this space and assess the work I did.
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
Without going into too much detail, Learning Management Systems are the way to go to manage the content of your course materials. They offer many benefits. Following is a short list:
- The content is easily manageable and archiveable because all of the information is stored in a relational database. Relational databases are the most efficient way to store information. With a database, the information can be accessed quickly because of the efficient was it is stored. Databases take less space, are essential when managing large amount of information, can be easily archived and restored, have security built-in, and have multiple way of indexing and searching the information.
- Learning Management systems have tools for creating and managing user accounts. This also includes easily assigning users to groups, assigning permissions, ease of contacting them, giving them access (or denying them access) to any course, content, or the entire site, and tracking their behaviors and accomplishments online.
- An entire feature set of tools designed for education, including: quiz creation (true and false, multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blanks, essay, matching, etc.), lessons, assignments, HTML and CSS creation tools, the ability to save the entire course as a learning object in several formats (SCORM, IMS, etc.), chat rooms, forums, email, polls, surveys, message boards, and a robust grading system.
- The list goes on and on.
The capstone project uses the following LMS features:
- Lesson tools to introduce new concepts
- Assignment creation tools for tracking due assignments
The assignment tool offered me a way for learners to upload their files, and provided an integrated grading feature that linked into the main course grading system. - Forums for interactive dialogs
The forum was used for peer feedback on assignments (files can be attached to forum postings)
The forum also proved useful for learners to create a learner profile pages to upload personal information and photos of themselves.
Note: I provided a detailed rubric of what I expected in forum interaction and let them know how they would be graded - Mail
I asked the learners to conduct course related correspondence using the course mail feature. In this way I could ensure the spam filter on my personal account would not eat their message. It also provides an easy way to archive ALL course related dialogs. - Backup
I periodically backed up my course and download the file. I prefer to have multiple copies of the course. This ensures that my efforts and those of my students do not "go up in smoke" if a system goes down, a hard drive crashes, or some other unforeseen catastrophe happens. Protect the data... protect the data.