Hope Scale of Electrification

Hope Greenberg has suggested the following scale for classifying the electrification (cyberization?) of a course. As we go up the scale (and down the page), each step reflects a slight shift in the nature of work that may already be being done (e.g. via paper), but a large shift in the mindset of a course.

E-mail for Personal Communication

• teacher publishes personal e-mail address
• students send e-mail questions much in the same way they ask questions after lecture.

E-mail for Group Collaboration

• listserver is created for a course
• students participate in online discussions with teacher being a gentle moderator, as in a classroom setting.
• assignments are made via e-mail
• assignments are turned in via e-mail
• students use e-mail to solve problems as a group (open lab)
• news group is close cousin; news reader, however, may support discussion threading and www links.

Web is used for Course Support

Instructor creates a course homepage containing

• syllabus
• reading list
• assignments
• solutions to assignments
• collateral material (e.g. slides, graphs, charts, programs)
• course handouts (e.g. papers, articles, clippings, etc.)
• lecture outlines
• lecture notes (from professor)
• previous exams
• previous exam answers

Web is used for Course Knowledgebase

As above, but the couse knowledge-base is not a creation of the professor, but becomes focus of student course work -- e.g. students write

• book reviews
• articles
• essays