BY CHARLES D. GHILANI
SURVEYING PROGRAM CHAIR
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
LEHMAN, PENNSYLVANIA, 18627
URL: http://surveying.wb.psu.edu
PRESENTED AT:
XVITH NORTH AMERICAN SURVEYING AND MAPPING EDUCATORS CONFERENCE
LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO
JUNE 10, 1997
Dr. Charles Ghilani is an Associate Professor at The Pennsylvania State University where he has been the Surveying Program Chair since 1990. The Pennsylvania State University, P.O. Box PSU, Lehman, PA 18627. URL http://surveying.psu.edu. E-mail address: cdg3@psu.edu.
Working professionals regularly seek correspondence courses to further educate themselves. Furthermore, many professionals who are not yet registered are seeking surveying education in their locality. Correspondence courses offer one approach in meeting this demand. However, correspondence courses suffer from a lack of interaction with an instructor. With the Internet and some of the latest software products, courses can be developed which are creative, interactive, and educational. While courses on the Internet are similar to correspondence courses in delivery, the Internet offers the instructor an opportunity to deliver courses which can adapt to the student's needs as they progress in the course. This paper will present some of the techniques and software that are available to create courses for the web.
I. REACHING OUT TO PROFESSIONALS
Working professionals often lament on how they would like to obtain some formal education if only it was closer to their home, ... if only it was at hours that matched their work schedules, ... if only they didn't feel so threatened by the classroom. All of these reasons are valid. Educators must respond to these concerns if the status and well-being of the surveying community is to improve. We must provide not only for our students in the classroom, but also for the surveyors in the profession. With so few baccalaureate surveying program's in this country, we must find ways to reach students that go beyond what academic programs traditionally provide.
Some institutions have developed a handful of correspondence courses, but seldom do these courses cover enough material to take the student beyond the basics in surveying. Technology on the other hand has advanced at such a rapid rate that many professionals are struggling to keep pace. Thus, the standard weekend workshop scenario does not provide sufficient background or depth to adequately cover the newer technologies. Furthermore practicing professionals often lack sufficient education to understand the more advanced topics such as least squares, GPS, GIS, etc. This often results in calls to program chairs concerning the closest surveying program in the caller's locale. Seldom are the results of these interactions positive in response. In fact, the most often used response is, "We're sorry, but we can't help you."
The educational community must reach out to these potential clients. The educational community must develop a strategy to further the educational advancements of the profession as a whole. All too often we as educators are seeking financial assistance from professional organizations due to low enrollments without providing any assistance to them in return. This is not only shameful, but fool-hardy in a period of declining budgets and enrollments. Institutions will no longer accept programs with high-priced faculty that can only attract 5 to 10 students a year. We must respond by expanding our client-base.
The largest group of potential students is the working professional. Many of these professionals "discovered" surveying by accident. Some have degrees in non-engineering fields, and some are self-educated. Many are married with families, and thus cannot afford to return to a traditional academic setting. They often wish they could return to school, but realize and resign themselves to the fact that their family cannot afford it.
II. VARIOUS MEDIUMS OF INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY
There are several methods of extending resident-based instruction to the working professional. Correspondence courses are the traditional method of doing so, but they lack the instructor and peer interaction that is readily available to resident students. However, correspondence courses do allow students to progress at their own rate. Compressed video offers a medium by which educators can deliver classroom instruction to both resident and non-resident students, but suffers from transmission quality, lack of out-of-class contact with peers and instructors, and availability of second sites. The Internet offers a third medium by which students can take a course that closely parallels correspondence courses, allows for student, peer, and instructor interaction through chat sessions and e-mail, and can be delivered in the client's home or office.
COMPRESSED VIDEO
Compressed video has both positive and negative aspects. Some positive aspects are that it provides off-site education which is equivalent to resident instruction, and allows the instructor to teach both resident and off-site location(s) simultaneously. On the negative side are the low video quality due to compression and transmission times, the need for students to take courses at a specific time and site, and the cost of the equipment and personnel to operate and maintain the equipment.
The negative effects of picture quality can be reduced by higher transmission speeds, fewer off-site locations, and instructor training. The communication industry is currently in the process of upgrading to higher transmission line speeds. When this is completed some of the effects of video compression and transmission will be reduced. However, these effects can also be reduced with instructor training. For instance, when an instructor moves their lecture notes or pointer, the effect is a blurred image at the off-site location. The students at this site will have problems following not only the motion but also reading any displayed notes. The negative impact of this effect can be reduced by using (1) prepared notes that are provided to the students, and (2) a pointing device which does not move. However, a better method of presenting notes would be to prepare a computer presentation that can be connected to the compressed video equipment. The instructor must also be trained in the effective use of the camera, and appropriate text size and quality used in lecture notes.
Since compressed video equipment is expensive, a second site must be found that already has the equipment and is within reasonable driving distance for the client. This site must also provide a technician to maintain and operate the equipment. In surveying education this may be one of the biggest drawbacks of compressed video, since the profession by its vary nature is geographically dispersed. At Penn State, in our two attempts to provide compressed video courses for professionals, one successfully ran. Currently, we are planning to provide a surveying exam review course throughout the state utilizing compressed video. Even though this technology has limitations, it is improving and can be used effectively in situations where a sufficient number of students are available at one or more offsite locations.
INTERNET COURSES
Internet courses have problems and advantages similar to those in a correspondence course. However because the Internet allows for two-way communication between the class and the instructor, it provides a medium that enables students to pose questions, get feedback, and work jointly on projects. Additionally the Internet allows students to take courses in their homes. Thus this medium may provide the best avenue for reaching the professional who often has a personal schedule that prevents him/her from attending courses at a prescribed hour.
Problems associated with Internet courses are also similar to correspondence courses. For instance, it takes more time to develop an Internet course than a traditional classroom course since the material must be developed in a written form that the student can readily understand. In fact, this may be its biggest danger to the educator since even after development, the class will demand considerable time of the instructor in its virtual classroom responding to individual student questions. Furthermore this medium does not allow for the personal interaction and discourse that will naturally occur between students and instructor with either compressed video or a traditional classroom setting.
To be successful in delivering an Internet course, the faculty must be provided with the appropriate hardware, software, and release-time to develop a course. In a time of diminishing budgets this may appear to be a foolish adventure. However, Internet courses may provide access to the largest population of prospective students; That is, the practitioner who desires to either begin or further their education.
Once a course if fully developed, it is likely that the time to deliver this course will also be higher than the traditional class. This is due to the fact that all conversations must be read and responses written by the instructor. Again the instructor has the advantage of being able to do this wherever Internet access is available. Thus a laptop computer is an important item to consider for the instructor who is teaching such a course.
III. BASICS IN WEB PAGE DEVELOPMENT
As with compressed video courses, the instructor must be educated in the use of both the hardware and software as related to Web page development. Items such as background and text colors affect the readability of the pages. The hypertext markup language (html) and software used in developing Web pages must be learned. The following list of guidelines is useful in developing Web pages.
If a department is to be involved in creating courses for the Web then a specific style of presentation should be adopted. This guarantees that the student who takes more than one Web course from the department will see a familiar Web page with each lesson and course. Items such as text and background color and style should be consistent. The layout of the page header and footer should be the same. Rule lines should appear the same on every page. Consistency in design helps others feel comfortable.
This consistency in design can be accomplished with a page template. A template provides the author(s) with a consistent page appearance. It also speeds up the page development process by removing the author from the need to define and create the basic elements and format of any Web page. This includes standard information on any Web page such as the author, e-mail address, copyright notice, and use of horizontal rules. The template can also contain sample buttons, navigation icons, and other items such as under construction warnings. Simply stated any item which may appear on several pages in a Web site should be referenced on the template.
A style guide helps multiple authors create a consistent look-and-feel Web page. Information such as the basic page template, use of header fonts, bold and italic text, and when and how to use rule lines should be included in the style guide. Image guidelines may include the appropriate file size of an image and its location on the server. Likewise any comments or keywords should be identified for each document so that they may be indexed later. More information on defining a style can be found at the Web sites of http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Pubs/ StyleSheet/NCSAStyleSheet.html, which was created by the developers of Mosiac and at http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/Provider/Style/Overview.html, which as generated by Tim Berner-Lee.
Unfortunately it is very unlikely that all Internet students will feel comfortable reading text displayed on a computer monitor. Thus, some other medium for the lessons should be provided for these students. The easiest method of providing an alternate document is to convert the pages to a single file document which can be printed. If your Web generating tool is a word-processor, you can use its capabilities along with second-party software such as Adobe's Acrobat or Envoy to generate these files. Students may then download each lesson's file for viewing and printing at their convenience.
Since the student will be progressing through the course at their own rate, you may wish to generate some method of monitoring and tracking their progress in the course. This can be accomplished through the use of passwords provided to the student for each lesson. That is, as a student completes a lesson, they may be required to pass a test or submit a homework assignment. The student must then successfully complete the task before they receive a password for the next lesson. This provides the instructor with a method of benchmarking the duration of a lesson and the progress of the student.
The instructor should also provide a method for the student to analyze their own readiness to proceed to a new lesson. While the electronic correspondence from the students may indicate a problem, many undergraduate students have difficulty in assessing their own understanding of a subject. Thus, every lesson in a course should be followed by a test or homework assignment. If a test is planned, a practice exam should be prepared for the students. This will allow the student to assess their own understanding of the subject matter before being scored or evaluated.
Unfortunately, educators occasionally fail to recognize a lesson that is weak or lacking in detail before its delivery. When this happens in a conventional classroom, the lack of positive student response often forces the instructor to backtrack in an attempt to correct the problem with additional explanatory information. Thus well developed courses are the best courses to place on the Web since the instructor is often aware of particular concepts that most students have difficulty comprehending. In a Web course, the instructor must provide some alternative methods of reinforcing concepts for the students. This should involve additional explanatory information linked to the lesson where the student can view this additional information as he/she deems necessary. Likewise when a discussion group reveals a weak area in a lesson, additional explanatory information can be added as the class proceeds. Experience dictates that due to variations in student learning abilities, no course is ever without need of improvement. Thus a Web course should develop and mature each time it is offered.
One of the best locations to provide additional information for a course is from the Web itself. Scattered throughout the Web are educational sites on various subject matter. The Web provides a virtual library for student use. These sites are maintained by individuals, corporations, institutions, and governmental agencies. For instance, a course in least squares theory and adjustment could be linked to sites that provide instruction on C programming. The wealth of information available on the Web should not be overlooked by any instructor. Providing links to these sites enables our students to better fulfill their educational objectives.
Similarly our own lessons should provide backward links to previously explained concepts. Often in the traditional classroom, the instructor must review to provide the students with previously learned, but forgotten, material. In general, the inability of our students to retain concepts is a basic human flaw. The instructor should provide links to earlier concepts presented in the course when developing a Web page. Thus when a student experiences difficulty in remembering a previously taught concept, they can quickly link back to the topic. Similarly a course should have an index that allows the student to select key words and view their topics.
A key advantage of an Internet course over a correspondence course is the ability of the Internet to provide interactivity between students and instructor. A forum must be arranged where students and instructors can ask questions and exchange ideas. This service could be provided by a basic list-serve maintained by the instructor or by an electronic discussion group. In either case, the instructor of the course should be able to monitor student questions and responses. Students should be encouraged to interact with each other in a manner similar to a conventional class. Students should always be provided with a method of interacting since this often fosters the greatest learning.
IV. CREATING A WEB SITE
It is very likely that the prospective Web author already owns the appropriate software for developing presentations and Web pages since many office products contain the necessary utility. In fact, a simple ASCII editor is all that is needed to create html pages. Still, many web developers prefer to use software specifically designed to generate html pages. These can vary between those that insert html codes but have the appearance of an ASCII editor, to those that provide WYSIWYG editing capabilities. In fact, Netscape version 3.x provides a html WYSIWYG editor. Similarly, there is both commercial and free graphic editing software. The Internet is a source for many free and shareware versions of software packages designed to aid the author in writing html pages. Furthermore commercial sites often provide free beta versions of their software for limited use. Thus, the educator can often experiment with both html and graphic editors before purchasing the software.
Some Web editors will help the user generate an entire site providing a linked database of the pages. These software packages allow the developer to interact with the pages a manner similar to a browser, and are preferred by people developing an entire Web site. Other editors aid the author in generating a single page. These editors are adequate, but leave the author responsible for generating and maintaining the inter-site links.
Regardless of the editor chosen by the author, some final cleanup of the files before they are placed on the server will probably be necessary. For instance, some editors will generate a separate directory for graphics. However, on the server all graphics may be maintained in a single directory. Thus all links to the graphics must be changed before the file is loaded on the server. This problem can and should be minimized. The easiest method is to create the server's directory structure on the author's computer. With matching directories, the author can create and test links before files are loaded.
No matter what html editor is finally chosen, the following items should be followed when creating a Web site.
The rationale behind all of these items is to minimize the load time of the file. It must be remembered that students may be loading these files over phone lines with comparatively slow modems. Graphics tends to be the single-most misused item on the Web. In an attempt to create impressive pages, authors forget that the readers may never see the page if they are frustrated by load times. Likewise, it may appear to make sense to generate one large file for each lesson or for the entire class. However if the file is overly large, the students will often be frustrated by the load time, and will avoid jumps that would force the file to be reloaded. It is recommended that the author tests the Web site performance using a modem anytime a new file is loaded to the server.
V. CONCLUSIONS
As the newer technologies of geographic information and global positioning systems take hold in the field of surveying, working professionals are searching for additional education. The technologies of compressed video and the Internet are providing the instructor with two ways to reach out to professionals. This group of prospective students may provide the largest potential market for surveying education programs. When enough students are found at a site with compressed video technology, academic programs can provide off-site classroom instruction. However, due to the nature of the profession, most potential students are dispersed over large regions. In this case, Internet courses provide the most exciting potential for distance education.
Each technology has advantages and disadvantages, however, all are capable of providing solid instruction for working professionals. As educational institutions head into the 21st century, an increasing number of courses will be developed for the Web. Furthermore an increasing demand is developing for distance education by the profession. It is only natural that programs will begin to develop courses which are delivered in the client's home. The Surveying Program at The Pennsylvania State University is currently in the process of developing credit courses on the Internet, and has been delivering compressed video courses for the past two years.
REFERENCES
Lemay, Laura 1995. Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML. Sams-net Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.
Stanek, William 1996. HTML, CGI, SGML, VRML, JAVA, Web Publishing. Sams-net Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.