Teaching with Technology: Using the Internet for Instruction

The Internet presents many opportunities to involve students more actively in their learning and expand communication between students and between faculty and their students. This section presents ideas for using the Internet to enhance teaching and learning. Several links offer general strategies, while later sites present information on such specific approaches as using WebQuests, wikis, and blogs.

“Putting the Learning Back into Learning Technology,” Barry McMullin. (Dublin City University). In Emerging Issues in the Practice of University Learning and Teaching, Eds. Geraldine O’Neill, Sarah Moore, and Barry McMullin, AISHE, 2005.
This article makes a case for enhancing substantive learning and social constructionist approaches through the use of such Internet resources as open content, wikis, blogs, and moodle software. Offers detailed descriptions of each and applications to learning.
Link: http://www.aishe.org/readings/2005-1/mcmullin-D01-M10-2004.html

“Active Learning on the Web,” Bernie Dodge (San Diego State University).
Ways to use the Internet for active learning, with examples from several disciplines.
Link: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/Active/ActiveLearning.html

Using Online Technology to Break Classroom Boundaries. Speaking of Teaching, Stanford University Newsletter on Teaching, Vol. 8, No. 1, Fall 1996. Adobe Acrobat/PDF.
Ways to use the Internet in on-campus courses to extend communication beyond the classroom: email, course web pages, electronic discussions, mailing lists, Usenet Newsgroups, and class bulletin boards.
Link: http://ctl.stanford.edu/Newsletter/technology.pdf

Teaching and Learning on the Web (Maricopa Community Colleges, Center for Learning and instruction).
This site provides a searchable collection of examples of how the web is being using for instruction. Also offers an online workshop for instructors who would like to find and use web resources for courses in their discipline.
Link: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tl/index.html

“Handbook for Instructors on the Use of Electronic Class Discussions,” Nancy Chism (Ohio State, Office of Faculty and TA Development).
Guidelines for using electronic communication to extend classroom boundaries. Presents several electronic discussion formats, the need for goals, and tips from Ohio State faculty using electronic discussion in their classes.
Link: http://ftad.osu.edu/Publications/elecdisc/pages/index.htm

The WebQuest Page, Bernie Dodge (San Diego State University).
A comprehensive site for using the WebQuest model to teach with the web. Contains an overview and introduction, guidelines, activities, examples, templates, and much more. Although this site is geared for K-12 teachers, the ideas are applicable at the postsecondary level.
Link: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/

WebQuest Evaluation and Use, Annette Lamb (eduScapes).
More on WebQuests: evaluation materials, including rubrics, and examples from PreK-3 through college and university.
Link: http://eduscapes.com/sessions/travel/use.htm

“The WebQuest Goes to College,” Deanya Lattimore (Syracuse University).
Presents an argument for and the challenges of designing WebQuests for college and university students. Links to the Literacy WebQuest she designed and other WebQuests at the secondary and postsecondary level.
Link: http://web.syr.edu/~mdlattim/essays/webquest_goes2college.html

“Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not,” Brian Lamb (University of British Columbia). EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 39, No. 5 (September/October 2004).
All you ever wanted to know about wikis, what they are, their benefits and challenges, their use in postsecondary education, and links to additional information on wikis.
Link: http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0452.asp

“Exploring the Use of Blogs as Learning Spaces in Higher Education,” Jeremy B. Williams (Universitas 21 Global) and Joanne Jacobs (Queensland University of Technology). Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2004.
Click on “overview and literature survey” for a PDF file of this article, which reviews the literature on blogs and explores their potential uses in higher education. Gives examples of a Weblog at Harvard Law School and an MBA blog at Queensland. Contains links to many online references and resources on blogs.
Link: http://sunsite.utk.edu/archives/2004/09/000137-blogs_in_higher_education.html

See also on this site section Integrating Instructional Technology into Your Courses.

MSU Resources

Virtual University Design and Technology: http://vudat.msu.edu/resources/

LON-CAPA: http://loncapa.msu.edu/

MSU Online Learning & Continuing Education: http://online-contined.msu.edu/