Institute on Internet Assisted Teaching and Promotion CREATING A COURSE PAGE

This on-line tutorial will help you create and format your own course page. You will need to have a basic knowledge of html tags. Utilizing a course page, an on line syllabus, provides a variety of advantages for the professor:

• Instant Updates
  
  
• Internal links to other course material
  
  
• Internal links to surveys, quzzes and other feedback devices for the semester
  
  
• External links to course related material
  
  
• An Extended Professional presence on the internet
  
  
• Student participation through adding links they themselves discover

The major disadvantage of using a course page is that students tend to print out the page at the beginning of the semester and do not log on to chec the page. I have compensated for this by putting assignments on the page that will compel them to check the course page (such as quizzes or information updates). I also keep a mailing list of all my students and inform them when there is a significant update in the page. I also count their correcting or adding to the page as part of classroom participation.

You will have to instruct your students on how to use Netscape to access the course page. While a variety of faculty currently utilize such documents and many students "surf" the web, you cannot assume that all the students will know how to use this technology. I find it helpful to do one class in basic use of Netscape. I also ask them to write down what I explain so they can refer back to it when they actually use the program. Ideally you can have a class in the lab and have every student try the program with your supervision but it is not always possible to schedule a lab for a one class use.

Finally, there are flyers outside of information system and there are student lab assistants who can help students. I find that office hours are ideal for instructing individual students who are having particular difficulty. This is possible only if you have netscape running in your office!

Below are some "templates" which you can use to quickly construct your course page. Each template is in bold print. You can cut and paste from Netscape into whichever html editor you are using. This will not work if you are using a wisiwig editor. Naturally, as you master html, you will develop your own style. For a model I am using my own syllabus from SOC303, Social Theory in Sociology and Anthropology. There are just initial suggestions for a quick start:

The Heading

I basically use a bold title along with an "establishing picture" to give the syllabus a little color and distinctive look. I also use a background image on my syllabus wich runs a vertical shaded green bar along the left side of the page. Here is what the Heading looks like:

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SOCIAL THEORY
IN ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY

Tarascan Occupational and Social Groups (16th Century)

ANT 303 - SOC 303
FR. BUCKO, S.J.
REILLY HALL 440 (8:30)
REILLY HALL 440 (11:30)
FALL SEMESTER 1996
(SECTION 01) TU TH 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM
(SECTION 02) TU TH 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM

Here is a template for you to create your own heading. Note that I remove specific text and provide guiding statments for you to fill in your own information:

Course Description

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course explores sociological and anthropological theory by studying a number of classical thinkers in the disciplines. We will strive to understand the theories presented by various authors, the historical and social contexts of these theories, and the relevance of these theories for social science today. The student is expected to gain a competence in both the historical development of social theory and an ability to 'theorize' about social phenomena. The course will be divided into lectures and discussion of basic concepts and issues covered both in class and in the readings.

A 5-10 page paper anaylzing a film based on the ideas one of the theorists whom we study is required. The paper should follow the format proposed in the Sociology Department's Student Handbook, Appendix D. These papers are subject to audit according to the audit policy.

Watch the page each week for this symbol or, if you are using a text based viewer such as lynx, the word [carrot]. This "course page" acts not only as a syllabus for the course but also as a learning resource. The carrot indicates activities in which the professor would like you to engage. You may be asked to fill out a survey, visit a research site, or suggest topics for discussion in the class.

In-Page Search Engine

• Try Alta Vista: WWW Search Engine
  Search the Web Usenet and Display the Results in Standard Form in Compact Form in Detailed Form

  Type key search words in this box:

September 12 (Thursday) Class #4
Auguste Comte 1795-1857
Part II Masters of Sociological Thought pp. 20-42
Comte's Times Comte was born during the French Revolution. To understand his intellectual production it is essential to understand the contexts in which he lived. Try this site for some background.
The Spirit of the Times in Art Take a look at some of the artistic productions of the French Revolution and Restoration.
READING QUIZ 1 (due at beginning of class)

Throughout this tutorial I have basically allowed your to "View Document Source" which you can do with any web page using Netscape's menu bar and selecting "View" and then "Document Source". You can then cut and paste selections from the source into your own documents or simply read the html tags to see how it is done.

I encourage you to use this technique as it is the fastest way to climb the learning curve to quickly produce fine looking pages.

This page is managed by Rev. Raymond A. Bucko, S.J. of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Le Moyne College, the Jesuit College of Central New York. E-Mail: bucko@maple.lemoyne.edu Page Last Updated: August 26, 1997