On Sun, 12 Sep 1999 17:54:55 -0700 Larry Dickerson
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Ken Steele wrote:
>
> >....What is important to note here is that a simple task like
> >putting up a reference (only a text string) has been turned into
> >this multi-step process. I have to go to a special add
> >reference function, which is going to put my reference in a
> >database, require me to give it a label to put in my resources
> >list, and then I reference the label in the list. And if
> >this were a link to an image or a sound file or url, then I
> >need to go through separate menus to accomplish the same
> >task.
> >
> >For me, it is much easier to type in my table "Check out the hot
> >new article by Smith & Jones in the current issue of Psych
> >Bulletin"
>
>
> Yikes, Ken, I had forgotten it could be this bad. What you described sounds
> a lot worse than anything I've had to do on WebCT in two years. I provide
> links for my students all the time; I just use a bit of very basic html
> code to add them to my pages, and WebCT displays them just fine. The
> gyrations you describe bring to mind the old adage "Build something so
> simple even a fool can use it, and only a fool will want to use it." For
> the kinds of tasks I've wanted to use in an intro psych course, I just
> really haven't had to worry much about complications like these.
>
I wrote this as if I didn't know anything about html (etc) and
was using the program as presented. Just adding the HTML is
what I would do of course. And that is what I found with a lot
of WebCT, I found myself saying "but there is an easier way to
do that"
> I don't think most users will find WebCT nearly as scary as the manual
> makes it sound; I would put the slope of its learning curve way below
> PowerPoint, for example. And they do offer good support, maintain a good
> users' listserv, and have a very competitively-priced licensing schedule.
> Anyone who wants to compare the different programs for offering web courses
> might check out http://www.ctt.bc.ca/landonline/ ; Bruce Landon teaches
> Social Psychology at Douglas College in British Clumbia.
>
Thanks for posting the url. For sure I will take a look.
Ken
----------------------
Kenneth M. Steele [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Associate Professor
Dept. of Psychology
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608
USA
