Web-Based Teaching Systems and Technologies

Abstract

In Chapter 1, you are given a brief overview about Web-based teaching and technology-based courses. The discussion in Chapter 1 indicates that Web-based teaching is heavily dependent on technologies, especially for technology-based courses and extra effort is needed to implement Web-based teaching for technology-based courses. As technology advances, even those technology-based courses that depend on a computer lab can be taught one hundred percent online. Students are able to access the computers specially designed for their courses via the Internet. Technology tools have been assisting us in achieving this goal. It will be beneficial for the development of an online computer lab if we can better understand the functionalities of the technologies involved and the role played by these technologies. In this chapter, we will discuss the issues related to the technology tools that are commonly used to create online teaching materials, manage Web-based teaching (WBT) systems, and develop online computer labs. An overview will be given about what the technologies can do and how we can use them in creating online teaching materials. After those technologies are introduced, we will exam the types of Web-based teaching systems that require online computer labs to support hands-on practice.