WWW5

Fifth International World Wide Web Conference

May 6-10, Paris, France

Workshops: Call For Participation


Teaching and Learning on the WWW


"In the Industrial Age, we went to school,
in the Communications Age, the schools will come to us."

- from the masthead of
The Online Chronicle of Distance
Education Communication

The goal of this workshop is to bring together people interested in the use of the Web technology for teaching and learning. New ways of teaching, and presenting material, and new environments are being developed that could change the way we think about the learning process. This workshop will discuss the current state of Web-based learning projects, and look at where they may go in the future.

Latest Information

The latest information concerning the workshop: position papers, attendees, detailled program, will be made available by the workshop chairman at the following URL:

Format

Full-Day

Workshop Committee

Chairman:

Martin Westhead
martinwe@epcc.ed.ac.uk
http://http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/~martinwe/
Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre, University of Edinburgh, UK

Workshop Committee:

Dr Marcus Speh
marcus@andersen.co.uk
http://theodore-sturgeon.MIT.EDU:8001/HyperNews/get/admin/staff/5/3.html
Anderson Consulting
Director of the Globewide Network Academy

Peter Murray-Rust
pmr1716@ggr.co.uk
http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/PPS/index.html
Glaxo Wellcome

Thomas L. Marchioro II
tlm@ameslab.gov
http://uces.ameslab.gov/
Ames,
Project Coordinator of the Undergraduate Computational Engineering and Sciences

Abstract

The goal of this workshop is to discuss the use of the World Wide Web for teaching and learning , in particular how it has developed in the last few years, and where it will go in the future.

Communication is at the heart of the learning process. The Web and the associated Internet technologies provide a new medium for this communication. The question is, how best to harness its potential. Providing courses on the Web is not just a matter of writing hypertext text books, it is also about creating a learning environment, for communication and interaction.

Many projects, some now well established have begun to exploit these possibilities. Distance learning projects like the Globewide Network Academy and affiliated courses like PPS (The Principles of Protein Structure) are using the breadth of communications tools already available on the Internet, to create complete environments for their students.

The possibilities of the Web technology for education are being stretched by projects like Yorick from Ames, and EPIC from the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre. Both these technologies use the Web browser as an interface to external applications, making it possible to manipulate other packages from an exercise page. With the development of Java, it is clear that many more possibilites are opening for the creators of Web-based course material.

This workshop will review the existing projects on the Net and then consider directions are for the future. It will be divided into two sessions, below are some lists of topics that may be discussed. The issues that are raised are very broad, the intention is to focus on the application, and the potential application of this technology, rather than to get too lost in detailed technical or eduactional issues. The emphasis of the workshop may however change depending on the interests of the participants.

Where are we now?

This first session will look at the current state of play in teaching and learning projects on the Web. It will be opened by a presentation from the chair, and then give participants the opportunity to talk about the projects with which they are involved. Topics for discussion could include:

What does the future hold?

This session will focus on the vision of the future. This session should build on topics which arose in the morning. Topics for this discussion could include:

Position papers

Those wishing to attend should have at least some involvement in Web based education. Prospective participants for the workshop should submit a short position paper outlining their interest, suggesting a couple of important items for discussion and detailing their present knowledge and experience.


INRIA EC ERCIM W3C
martinwe@epcc.ed.ac.uk, Martin Westhead, Workshop Organizer
Last updated: April 14, 1996