Assignments are to be uploaded to the homework folder. Assignments will be posted on the web by the instructors. All assignments are due no later than Sunday night at which time that week's folder will be closed. The assignments are to have the assignment number clearly marked in the subject line of your message together with the title. Assignments will then be reviewed and posted by the instructors to the papers folder for all to read. Each on-line week will be devoted to discussion on one topic. Conversations on previous topics may continue in the FirstClass' chat area.

Send everyone a 250-word biography of yourself to help others get to know you. Write using a word processor and then "cut and paste" it into the FirstClass message. What are your interests, hobbies? Upload your autobiography to the bios folder. Note: Individual student biographies are available only in FirstClass. You must have FirstClass access to read them.

Refer to tutorials on writing HTML found under General Resources on our web page. Using the HTML template, write a essay of approximately 1000 words on the topic "Current research in distance education". Use the ICDL database, Deosnews, and the Online Chronicle to identify topics that appear in those online sources for the years 1994-1997. What appears to be the trend for research in distance education? What type of articles are being reported? What are the reported findings? Take your examples from our online references. Be sure to cite references and use hotlinks in your paper where appropriate. Hot links are to point to the source and not for navigation through your paper. Use APA style for references. Cut and paste your homework to a FirstClass message and send it to the homework folder in FirstClass.

Using the guidelines found on pps. 49-51 of Rudestam for critiquing a research article , critique 2 research articles from 1996-99. These articles should report current research in CMC. Look for articles by Harasim, Hiltz, Mason, Dixon, Gunawardena, Garrison (although you may use others). Cite references and use hot links. You may want to do a library search on the silver platter, check ERIC, Deosnews, American Journal of Distance Education, International Journal of Telecommunications, etc. Using the HTML template cut and paste your critiques in a FirstClass message form and send them to the homework folder on FirstClass.

What is transactional distance? What did Michael Moore mean by the term? What have others (Saba, etc.) done to expand on this notion? Why is it an important research construct for distance educators? In a well constructed essay of approximately 1000 words, answer these questions and describe two studies that examine transactional distance. Address the questions found in Rudestam p. 49. Make hotlinks where appropriate. Use the HTML template and cut and paste your essay to a message form and send it to the homework folder.

There are various types of interaction that are of interest to distance educators; Learner-instructor, Learner-content, Learner-learner, and Learner-interface. Find one research study which examines each of these interactions and critique the four studies. What do they have in common? What were the results they reported? How important do you think these four types of interaction are for distance educators? In a well written essay of approximately 1000 words describe your findings. Then cut and paste your essay that incorporates the four critiques to a message form and send to the homework folder.

What does the research say about learner control? Examine studies that report learner control and locus of control. What type of learner is most likely to be successful in a distance course? Report on two research studies that describe learner control. In your essay of approximately 1000 words, discuss the importance of learner control as a theoretical construct to distance education. Incorporate the two critiques into your essay and cut and paste your essay in HTML format to a message form and send them to the homework folder.

Upload to the instructors, using FirstClass, a 3 level outline covering the content of your proposed research paper. Be sure to include detail about your topic. Make your 3 levels 1, 1.1, and 1.1.1. Remember that every level must have at least two items. Check your formatting before you send it. Cut and paste the outline to a message form and send it to the homework folder. No HTML.

Select the topic for your research paper and have it approved by the instructor. Your paper will follow the format of the handout "EMC 703 Research Outline Format" supplemented with information from Rudestam (pp. 45-78). Each student will complete a brief version of chapters 1,2, 3. The result will be a 10 page single spaced precis for a dissertation. For those students who are farther along, a pilot study can be conducted. The topic and level of depth of the papers is determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. The paper includes a bibliography of library and online resources. Please use APA style. References from 1990 and later are preferred. The research papers are to be uploaded to the Research Paper folder on FirstClass. Use the HTML template to format your paper for the Web. The papers will be evaluated on content, substance and technicals. Support your statements with in text citation, such as (Brown, 1990) and in text hot links. Hot links are to point to the source and not to be used as navigation through your paper.

Class presentations will take place in class on April 18. Presentations should use visuals and may last 15-20 minutes. You may want to use a system like Powerpoint to present your information in a visual format. Include handouts for the class. Since this will be a professional presentation, you may want to consider submitting it to a local or national conference at the end of the semester.