SYLLABUS

COMS 491 CLASSROOM COLLABORATION USING THE INTERNET

NOTE This syllabus is for the course as taught at Western Montana College of the University of Montana. Costs and Registration Cost for two semester credits is $160, to be paid to Western's Division of Outreach. Western Montana College of the University of Montana Division of Outreach 710 S. Atlantic Street Dillon, MT 59725 For further information, or to register by phone: (406) 683-7537 or e-mail Outreach Director Vickie Lansing(v_lansing@wmc.edu) Or click here for the WMC registration form. Introduction This course was created as component of the Reach for the Sky project, funded by the Annenberg/CPB Math and Science Project and the US WEST Foundation. Course Description The focus of this course "Telecollaboration and Use of the Internet in the Classroom" is on integrating the communicative and educational power of the Internet into the K12 curriculum. A final collaborative project will be required. Objectives The student will: - Gain insights into the current understanding of what constitutes "best practice", and the role that telecommunications can play in educational renewal. - Gain an indepth understanding of the various types of Internet collaborative classroom projects following the types listed in Dr. Judi Harris's taxonomy. - Create a new and original telecollaborative project. - Conduct an existing or original collaborative project with a minimum of three other teachers participating for a minimum of two weeks. Credit One semester credit at the 491 undergraduate level, suitable for recertification in many schools. Texts No printed texts will be used. Selected online readings will be included as a part of the lessons. The book Net Teaching by Ferdi Serum is recommended. Prerequisites This course is intended for those who have completed "Learning Basic Internet Skills" or possess the basic Internet skills as listed in the syllabus for this course. Specifically you must be able to: Use a web browser and search the WWW. Communicate using email, mailing lists, and news groups. Use a web browser to ftp files and search gopher space. Course Expectations (If taken for credit.) In agreeing to take this course you are committing to a minimum of two connection periods per week to send and receive messages from your group listserv. A minimum of one and one half hours per week offline; reading messages and lessons, and writing your responses, will be required. While flexibility is inherent with online courses, to receive credit for this course it will be important for you to understand that it is your responsibility to participate regularly and to complete the activities in the lessons as required by your instructor. Course Project The course project is an integral and important part of the course. Each participant will participate in an online telecollaborative activity. There are many different kinds of activities. The range of such activities will be introduced in the first lesson, and elaborated upon in subsequent lessons. During the course you will need to participate in an activity. (See lesson nine for more details.) Required Equipment and Software 1. 486 or higher PC running the Windows or Windows95/98 operating systems or a Macintosh running the System 7.5 operating system or higher. 2. 40MB's of hard drive space and a minimum of 16 megabytes of RAM. (32 megs is recommended.) 3. Netscape and a SLIP/PPP or direct Internet connection. 4. For participants using a dialup Internet connection a 28.8 or higher speed modem is strongly recommended. Grading Completion of each lesson's tasks will be worth a number of points for a total of 100. "Attendance" will be worth 5 points per lesson. At least one email message per lesson, but in some instances more, will count as "attendance". Grading will follow the traditional 90% or greater equals an A, 80% or greater equals a B, etc. The course is based on a mastery learning approach. Ongoing individualized assistance will be available through online messaging and/or voice phone conferencing. Technical Support Your local provider should be able to provide most of the technical support that you require.