Abstract
As online course has become a popular course delivery method in American higher education, developing online courses has raised controversial issues and challenges for many instructors. University administrators continually put pressure on them to develop and deliver online courses. Most instructors, however, are not responding as quickly as administrators would like. They faces some issues such as lack of technical support, lack of software/adequate equipment, lack of faculty/administrative support, the amount of preparation time required to create assignments, and student resistance. This chapter describes some issues in online courses using Course Management System (CMS) along with challenges that instructors face in higher education when preparing online courses.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Web-Based Instruction (WBI): WBI is the application of a repertoire of cognitively oriented instructional strategies implemented within a constructivist and collaborative learning environment, utilizing the attributes and resources of the World Wide Web (Khan, 1997).
WebCT Course: WebCT course is a fully online course developed and delivered in WebCT.
Web Course Tool (WebCT): WebCT facilitates the creation of a Web-based educational environment (Goldberg, 1997).
Web-Based Instruction (WBI): WBI is defined as “an innovative approach to delivering instruction to a remote audience, using the Web as the medium” (Khan, 1997, p. 5).
Distance Education: Distance education is the delivery of a planned learning experience to students separated from the instructor or each other, by geography and/or time. Distance education can incorporate a variety of media including audiotapes, videotapes, telephone conferences, cable or satellite television, fax, e-mail, or the World Wide Web to deliver the instruction or facilitate student interaction (Moore & Kearsley, 1996).
Online Learning: Online learning is any distance education experience that is delivered via the Internet. Online learning courses typically use Web-based courseware or a combination of Web and e-mail communication. Some online courses use more sophisticated multimedia tools such as RealAudio/Video, Microsoft Net Meeting, or Macromedia Flash (Holmes, 2000).