Week 3’s emphasis on server-enabled interactive features will ask you to do two kinds of things:

1)       post to our Resourcer database (http://cternt1.ed.uiuc.edu/resourcer) up to five links that you think are especially useful for others in the class to know about, with a couple sentences or so of commentary on each. These can be resources that you listed in your questionnaire, or recommended to others in WebBoard posts, or others that you know about. They might or might not be the same as the sites for Activity Type 2, below.
Due date: Monday, June 18

2)       Investigate two websites that offer either server-side interactive resources, or tutorials about server-side or client-side interactive resources. Use the Resourcer entries to decide what two sites you’ll focus on, or get a head start by choosing from the list below – you may choose either sites you’re already familiar with, or new ones you’ve learned about from classmates. The extent of your investigation is up to you, and will depend both on your own interests, and the kind of site you are looking at. For instance, if the site offers a particular kind of service, like hosting a chat space or a gradebook, then you might want to check out how the service works, for possible inclusion in your major project. If the site is a tutorial, you might want to work through at least part of it. For each of the two sites you select, create an HTML page (each a maximum of two word-processed pages) to answer questions like the following:

a.       Site name and URL

b.       Why did you select this site?

c.       How might the site help you with your major project?

d.       What other uses might teachers have for this site?

e.       How did you make use of this site?

f.        What did you learn from your explorations?

g.       To whom would you recommend this site, and for what purposes?

Due dates: one on Wednesday, June 20; one on Friday, June 22.

 If you would like to get a jump on the Week 3 activities in advance of when the Resourcer will be fully populated on Monday, here are some superb sites that people have come up with so far. You’re welcome to work with any of these, or to follow other directions that seem especially worth pursuing:

Comprehensive sites for course management with interactive features:

www.blackboard.com - construct an entire course and host it on their site, free of charge.

www.quia.com - simpler but still feature-rich environment for course construction

www.teacherweb.com - create a teacher homepage instantly; one nice feature is a template for creating WebQuests.

www.edgate.com - free services include a searchable matrix of lesson plans, online e-classes, features, homework postings by teachers, and games.

www.epals.com - This free site bills itself as the world's largest classroom, linking over 3 million students in countries around the world. There's a well spelled-out privacy policy, and only teachers may register their classes. The site strives for a balance between open communication and protection of the users. 

IBM’s Learning Village districtwide software - Learning Village can be a very expensive package, but IBM sometimes offers it as a grant – it’s well worth checking with them about this. More information about Learning Village is available from:
http://houns54.clearlake.ibm.com/solutions/education/edupub.nsf/detailcontacts/IBM_Learning_Village?OpenDocument
Information about IBM grants can be found at: http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ibmgives/, and by contacting D. Doers, IBM Corporate Community Relations Manager, 3rd Floor, One IBM Plaza, Chicago, IL 60611, 312-245-6302, dedoers@us.ibm.com

Database-backed repositories for teaching materials:

www.bigchalk.com - links to thousands of educational websites and resources for teachers, categorized by skill area/level, and rated by fellow teachers.

http://ali.apple.com - the Apple Learning Interchange; see especially their links to lesson plans and curricula for a wide variety of grade levels and subjects, at http://www.ali.apple.com/ali/resources.lasso.

http://www.ali.apple.com/springfieldli/ - Springfield (IL) school district’s implementation of the ALI resource.

http://village.pekin.net - Pekin (IL) School District’s implementation of a district site built with IBM’s Learning Village package. Guest access gives you a general overview of the site.

http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/DCHC/search.htm - The Digital Cultural Heritage Community, a virtual online museum with information about, and pictures of, aspects of 19^th-century life in Illinois. Useful both for its own content, and as a possible model for using web-enabled databases.

Construction kits for free interactive elements to put on your own site:

http://bravenet.com - free hosting of chat spaces, emailed surveys, discussion spaces and more, all built from templates on their servers.

www.resource-o-matic.com - free hosting of emailed surveys.

www.blogger.com - free hosting of interactive ‘blogs’ (short for ‘weblogs’), or communal discussion-type spaces that allow people to collaboratively construct web pages; source code (Linux) also available.

Three web-enabled database resources I’ve developed for CTER, all of which we’ll support your use of on our server, during and after the course:

These have been copied into 490i-specific folders, with usernames and passwords set up for each person in the course:

C-Base – http://cternt1.ed.uiuc.edu/490isu01/490cbase - this one you’re familiar with. Each of you can log in to this version as an instructor, under your own username and an initial password of ‘changeme’, to create a C-Base for your class or other learning group. Sample students are provided, for you to enter into your course, or you can add your own.

Interactive Multimedia Papers – http://cternt1.ed.uiuc.edu/490isu01/490imp - this is a resource for constructing ‘interactive papers,’ which both guests, and people you supply with a login, can use to collaboratively respond to papers in HTML format. The ‘M’ in IMP refers to a feature allowing automatic insertion of embedded streaming video and audio clips, in both RealMedia and QuickTime formats. Each of you can log in under your own username and an initial password of ‘changeme’, to create and manage one or more Interactive Multimedia Papers.

SurveyIt – http://cternt1.ed.uiuc.edu/490isu01/490surveyit - this is the tool we use to create those end-of-semester surveys you’ve been responding to. It automates the construction of survey forms using all kinds of html form inputs (textlines, textareas, radiobuttons, checkboxes, and pulldown menus). Survey creators can log in again later to see the responses on line, and to email them to themselves as attachments ready to be loaded into a spreadsheet or database program. Each of you can log in under your own username and an initial password of ‘changeme’, to create and manage one or more online surveys.

Tutorials about client-side and server-side interactivity:

These are for the “grow-your-own” minded among you, particularly those of you who are comfortable setting up servers and rolling up your sleeves to do some serious coding (you know who you are):

www.webmonkey.com - tutorials on all manner of client-side and server-side advanced topics.

www.webreference.com - tutorials on all manner of client-side and server-side advanced topics. 

http://www.outreach.uiuc.edu/ijet/v1n1/yu/ - online article about two technologies for supporting web-enabled databases, Filemaker and Active Server Pages.

Tutorials for web-enabling Filemaker:

http://www.online.uillinois.edu/lynnward/fmpro/

And/or http://scrtecne.unl.edu/SCRTECNE/TechTopics/tutorials/default.html

And/or http://www.k12.hi.us/~tethree/00-01/content/lesson23_fmpweb.htm

These are all tutorials designed for teachers, on setting up your first web-enabled database using Filemaker Pro (v. 4 preferred) and the Claris Homepage 3.0 web editor. (Somewhat dated technologies, but by far the easiest for anyone just starting out with creating a web-enabled database. Trouble is, they work best with Filemaker 4.0/4.1 – the current version is 5.5 – and with Claris Homepage 3.0 - which is no longer marketed.)

A critique of ‘empty’ uses of interactivity:

www.webpagesthatsuck.com - Despite the disparaging (but humorous) tone of this site, it serves as a nice reminder that not all uses of interactivity are, well, useful. The site developer deals harshly with things like content-obscuring rollovers and Mystery Meat Navigation.