Table of Contents:

Seminars at The Open University, Milton Keynes, U.K.

Creation of British Literature I Online Course

Preparation of Material for the Online Course

Addition of multicultural Material to World Literature I Web Site

Completion of World Literature I as an Online Course, Summer 2000

Recommendations

Seminars

"Teaching with Audio and Video in Open and Distance Learning," a workshop with Adrian Kirkwood

Textbook:

Rouwntree, Derek. Preparing Material for Open Distance and Flexible Learning. London: Kogan, 1994.

Articles:

Bates, A.W. . "The Open University: Television, Learning and Distance Education," 1987.

Crooks, Beryl and Adrian Kirkwood. "Video-Casettes by Design in Open University Courses," 1988.

Laurillard, Diana. "Mediating the Message: Programme Design and Students' Understanding," 1991.

 

Durbridge, Nicola. "Developing the Use of Video Cassettes in the Open University," 1982.

Course Content:

Evaluate the advantages and limitations of some of the most commonly available learning media'

Observe and discuss the ways in which audio and video materials have been used in some sample teaching sequences.

Examine some criteria for choosing media.

Plan how you might use audio or video in your own teaching.

Make more effective use of whichever media you choose.

"Writing Materials for Open and Distance Learning"

Textbooks:

Laurillard, Diana. Rethinking University Teaching. London: Routedge, 1993.

Rowntree, Derek. Teaching Through Self-Instruction: How to Develop Open Learning Materials. London: Kogan, 1990.

Articles:

Rowntree, Derek. "Exploring Open and Distance Learning."

Course Content:

What's Special about ODL Materials?

Profiling Your Learners

Which Media Will You Use?

Defining Your Learning Objectives

Deciding Your Content and Sequence

Activities

Readability and Presentation

Evaluating and Improving Your Materials

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Creation of British Literature I Online Course

Click here to see the web site. Currently being taught Fall 1999

http:// iws.ccccd.edu/andrade/britlit/britlit1.html

Preparation of Materials for the online course

Using the University of London, Senate House Library, I embarked on extensive research of the texts I had undertaken to teach online, texts that I felt I needed to check on the latest interpretations and texts I had not previously included in the teaching of British Literature: the latest interpretations of Beowulf, the contradictory critical analysis of the Quest for the Holy Grail in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur, John Donne's love and religious poetry, the sonnets of Shakespeare.

After reading many secondary sources, I wrote "lectures" to post on the web site for the online course. These lectures can be found under the names of the writers studied in the online course: Beowulf, Chaucer, Malory, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (author unknown), Shakespeare, Milton, and Swift.

Multicultural Addition to World Literature I: Egypt

During the sabbatical, I traveled to Luxor, Egypt, the site of the ancient temples of Luxor and Karnak, and the site of the Necropolis of Thebes: The Valley of the Kings, The Valley of the Queens, and The Valley of the Nobles. I visited these fascinating sites and took photographs which I have posted on my World Literature Web Site, Ancient World. In addition, when I returned to London, I researched Egyptian religion and literature, and added these to the study of the ancient world in my World Literature class.

World Literature I Online,

My World Literature I Web Site is ready as an online course to be taught Summer 2000.

Please click here to review the web site for this course.

Studying at the Open University gave me many great ideas. I would like to be able to send distance learning students audio cassettes of poetry readings to supplement the online materials. This would recreate the classroom setting in which the instructor typically reads portions of the literature and then discusses the meaning. Videos would also be a great addition to materials sent to the students, so that students could see art, maps, timelines, diagrams, and hear music, while I tell them what I feel is important about these materials in relationship to the literature we are discussing.

The college needs a media lab where instructors can go and make professional-looking audio and video tapes.

The Open University has a well developed evaluation instrument that is tailored to distance classes and is not just the general evaluation students get in the conventional classroom.

The college needs a group to create such an evaluation, and a group to evaluate the evaluations. I think this group should be composed of faculty members who are directly involved with online teaching.

Quality control will become a problem as more and more instructors want to create classes online. Not all online classes are good. The college needs a group to guide and monitor the quality of the online classes. Learning how to put up a web site is not enough for a good online course.