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Session 1547

Development and Implementation of Web Based Courses for Engineering Technology Carole E. Goodson and Susan L. Miertschin College of Technology University of Houston

Distance education in general and on-line courses in particular have an increased presence in university curricula. In 1993, Peterson’s College Guide noted at least 90 schools that offered on- line educational opportunities while the 1997 Distance Learning guide included over 700 institutions. The increase in interest is attributed to a student population that is increasing in age, and thus, has increasing off-campus demands on students’ time. This environment makes off campus learning a desirable alternative.

The Distance Education Division of the Continuing Education Program at the University of Houston (UH) is responding to the needs of the diverse UH student body by offering distance education opportunities. The initial effort was directed at courses delivered in real time via one-way video with two-way audio delivered to remote locations in the greater Houston Metropolitan area and also courses delivered via local cable television in a delayed broadcast mode. In 1996, on line courses delivered via the Internet were added to the distance education opportunities. Within the college of Technology, three course were adapted for on- line delivery: Applied Technical Statistics, Industrial Computer Applications and Control Instrumentation. These courses were initially offered on line in the Spring 1997 semester.

Development Process On line education involves any form of learning or teaching that utilizes a computer network. For the three UH courses, the Internet was used to deliver the courses in an individualized instruction format. World Wide Web pages were developed for each course and e-mail was used to conduct instructor/student transactions at a distance (e.g., turn in homework, send out homework assignments or special class handouts, etc.). E-mail was also used on a limited basis to simulate class discussions. In the initial development of the course, attention was given to the following considerations:

• Simplicity in development - For our faculty, this was a first attempt at on-line learning and teaching, so it was important to begin with an approach that was simple. • Simplicity of use - The intent was to design a course web page that would enable students to follow the organizational structure of the course and easily navigate the site. • Use of the instructional resources on the Internet - It was important to the instructors to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Internet in course development.

Initial efforts to implement on-line learning included the following:

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Miertschin, S. L., & Goodson, C. E. (1998, June), Development And Implementation Of Web Based Courses For Engineering Technology Paper presented at 1998 Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/1-2--7029