Planning for Publishing Lecture Notes on the Web Deirdre Hetherington Educational Technology Unit

Why publish lecture notes on the Web?  Accessible at all times  For revision purposes  Adding an extra element  Illustrate a process  To engage the student with the learning material

What will motivate the students to go to your page? Directly related to coursework Related to the exam Pre-class preparation

Once there, what will keep them there? Content Useful, relevant information Presentation & layout Navigation Consistency of style And what will make them return regularly? Keep content up to date, include new items Continue to develop the site further

Question and feedback Adopt a problem-based approach Include an online experiment Student contribution How do I get the students to engage with the material as participants and not just observers?

They check the contents Ensure that a list of contents appears early in the page Use a table They scan rather than read Give key information early Use everyday language How do students behave online?

Considerations for the student On the plus side:  Access to lecture notes both at home and on campus at convenient times  Will not miss a lecture due to absence  Greater variety in the learning environment thus catering to a variety of learning styles  Increased computer literacy

Considerations for the student On the minus side:  May be using a slow modem therefore resources take time to download  Access may require the use of plug-ins  Access to audio and video files in open access centres  Will have to bear the cost of printing

Looking at how others structure their lecture notes

The Production Line Plan State aims and objectives Structure, layout, navigation Prepare Resources Produce Using a conversion tool Composing in HTML Using an authoring tool Publish Using Queen’s Online

Using images in web pages Gif, jpeg formats Provide alternative text in the field Check the download time Reduce loading delays Reduce file size of image by Reducing the physical size (number of pixels) Reducing the number of colours Making 'thumbnails' Example: Bodleian Library

Maintaining your pages  Review your overall design; there are some useful do’s and don'ts at onts.html which you may find useful. onts.html  Evaluate your work  Update the content  Check that links work. Proprietary software such as Site Mill & Front Page will check links.  Get access statistics to find out if your page is being used.

Consider……… Use Spellchecker Include a “Last updated” date on your page Include contact details? Copyright Data protection Act 20Protection%20Act% htm Check your page for browser compatibility Check for accessibility

Going live via Queen’s Online at

Where next? Follow-up workshops with the Educational Technology Unit Training Unit courses Media Services See handout

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