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Using WebTycho to Enhance a F2F Class

CSI Staff

Staff Writer

Center for Support of Instruction

Published: 0 2004

Category: » Online-pedagogy » Teaching-strategies

The Graduate School made a commitment in 2000 to provide a WebTycho online classroom to every face-to-face (F2F) class, and asked all its faculty to find ways to use the online classroom to enhance their F2F classes. The principle reasons for this commitment were to enable all graduate students to have ready access to online resources (e.g., UMUC's library resources) and to promote information literacy for all graduate students.

Faculty who are new to using WebTycho to enhance a face-to-face class often express questions and concerns about how to get started and how to get student buy-in. This article addresses these frequent questions in video and audio format -- with transcripts provided.

We asked two veteran faculty members, Dr. Maggie Elgin and Dr. Ted Field, to answer these frequently asked questions from their own perspectives:

1. How do you get started using WT in your F2F classroom?
2. In what ways can you use WT to support your F2F course?
3. How do you help students get started using WebTycho in the F2F class setting (especially those who specifically want the F2F experience or don't want the online experience)?

*If you have difficulty viewing or hearing the video or audio segments below, you may need to download and install the latest version of basic RealOne Player from RealNetworks. (Look for the basic Free RealOne Player, not the Free Trial.)

Question 1: How do you get started using WT in your F2F classroom?

Question 2: In what ways can you use WT to support your F2F course?

Question 3: How do you help students get started using WebTycho in the F2F class setting?

Biographies of Participants

Dr. Margaret A. Elgin

Dr. Maggie Elgin began her teaching career with UMUC Graduate School in 1990. She has continuously taught ADMN 638 (Research Methods for Managers) since then. In addition, Dr. Elgin currently eaches UCSP 630 (Introduction to Research and Statistics) and ADMN 688 (Marketing Intelligence and Research Systems). She received the UMUC Stanley J. Drazek Teaching Excellence Award in 1995.

Dr. Elgin is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park. She earned her doctoral degree in education with a concentration in research methods and statistics and business administration. She has a master's degree in psychology and a bachelor's in sociology. She currently directs the Educational Research and Analysis department at the National Association of Home Builders.

Dr. Ted Field

Dr. Ted Field is Program Director for the Not-For-Profit Management track and course manager for ADMN 601 (The Manager in a Technological Society). He currently teaches the Doctoral course DMGT701 (Epistemology and Research Methods); OMED 610 (Digital Information Literacy for K-12 Educators); and ADMN 635 (Organizational Leadership and Decision Making). He has taught in the Graduate School since 1996.

Dr. Field took his Ph.D. in Development Sociology from Cornell University after spending many years in Africa, first as a Peace Corps Volunteer, then in Botswana, Somalia, and Mozambique as a development expert. Dr. Field is Chair of the Board of Directors of Heartlands International, a nonprofit group dedicated to facilitating community development worldwide. He also serves from the board of the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council (NACC) as a member of NACC's Curriculum Guideline and Membership Development Task Forces.