North American Web Developers Conference, October 1998:

Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

 The World Wide Web is being used successfully in the TESOL field for a variety of activities such as quizzes, web page creation, on-line chat, key-pals and MOOS, (Moore 1998;). This paper looks at some of the problems and limitations of developing and using web-based tasks and quizzes. It also suggests ways of overcoming these difficulties.

 Previous research undertaken by one of the authors had given positive evidence as to the success of computer-based independent learning materials for foundation students in higher education, whilst the other author had investigated the use of Question Mark Designer for computer-aided assessment. As a follow-up to this previous research, the authors decided to develop some extension tasks to consolidate valuable independent learning skills whilst developing their own knowledge of using the world wide web for educational purposes.

 Their suggestions based on their experiences should be of interest to other novice designers who wish to use web-compatible software to make use of web facilities and to incorporate multimedia aspects into their learning materials.

 Key issues were raised when the authors undertook a college-funded research project as part of a Quality in Teaching & Learning initiative at the Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates. The paper debates these issues and offers suggestions on designing and implementing web-based learning modules.

 Issues to be discussed and suggestions to be elaborated include:

• limitations of existing web-based exercises;

• problems faculty face developing exercises using web-compatible applications such as Toolbook Assistant II;
• expectations about learning experiences;
• expectations and achievements of novice quiz designers;
• the problems of the technology dictating the content and/or task types and how to overcome these;
• resources required for developing successful web-based learning in TESOL and other disciplines.

The paper includes viewing at least one of the "books" created in Toolbook Assistant II.

This paper covers several issues that could help the novice designer when they are thinking of developing web-based activities. Although the experiences of the authors are in the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) field and with very specific cultural aspects found in a college of higher education in an Arab country, the problems encountered and issues raised can be applied to other disciplines and other cultural contexts. The limitations of traditional web-based TESOL activities will also be discussed.

As Kibby (1998) states,

The second part of this paper describes the web-based exercises which were developed as part of a Quality in Teaching and Learning project (QTL), including the problems faced and how they were overcome.

 (To view the "books, using Asymetrix Neuron plug-in, refer to HCT web-site at http://adw.hct.ac.ae/lrc/lrcfrm.htm)

 Finally, some of the concerns relevant to creating web-based quizzes and general guidelines for this type of web-based learning are discussed.

 Although the Internet is a rich source of activities for TESOL teachers, the web-based tasks and quizzes that the authors looked at were mainly of three kinds: multiple choice and true/false question types or reading an English text followed by the student answering questions on the text.

Some examples of these can be found at:

To view these ESL examples go to (http://planetenglish.com/)

• their lack of diversity – these types of quizzes become monotonous for the student who soon loses interest;

• lack of content culturally inappropriate;
• they do not promote active learning;
• they do not challenge thinking.

 It was for these reasons that a project was undertaken at Abu Dhabi Women's College to produce computer based / web-based TESOL quizzes, not only relevant to our students' cultural context, but which also involved them in more creative learning activities.

 The Higher Colleges of Technology (of which Abu Dhabi Women's College is one of ten colleges) has been a leading provider of higher education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the past ten years. Its mission is to provide high quality technical and professional education for the national people so that they can take their place in running of the country, which at present has a 75% expatriate working population.

 To assist in the quest for excellence, several funded initiatives have enabled teachers to undertake small-scale research projects within the system. The Quality of Teaching and Learning (QTL) program focuses on the improvement of the educational process and the Teaching with Internet and State-of –the-art Technologies (TWIST) initiative promotes the use of new learning technologies. It is through the QTL program that the authors, with the valuable assistance of another colleague, Inaam al Kazzaz, were able to undertake their project.

 The Higher Diploma Foundation and first year Certificate/Diploma programs, (for which the materials were designed), include intensive English Language training to enable students to cope with their career studies, as the majority of teaching is in English. Information retrieval and independent learning skills are incorporated into these programs and these learning materials are designed.to reinforce these skills.

 The original aim of the project was to develop an item bank of computer (including multi-medial) based independent learning materials which could be used as extension tasks to two specific study skill courses. These tasks were designed to:

• easily be further developed to cater for changing / diverse student needs and course revisions.

• Include built in self assessment of the material would increase student motivation and provide immediate feedback on performance, both of which are key factors in enhancing student learning.

• provide accurate feedback to teachers using the reporting feature on student performance (and ease teacher marking load which is very heavy in the INDE courses).

• enhance the scope, authenticity, interest level and the learning opportunities by integration of multi-media resources.

It was expected that four to five hours of stimulus materials would be created, given the project development time of six months. At this stage, it was thought that Question Mark Designer (QMD) would be the best software to use, as one author had successfully produced similar learning materials using QMD and had considerable expertise with the program.

 However, during the course of the project, several major adjustments were made by the project team. Decisions were based on practical reasons and the realisation that original aims were too ambitious and QMD did not meet all of the requirements. The changes included:

 On expert advice, the team evaluated Tool Book Assistant (TBA) software and decided to use this software instead of Question Mark Designer. This decision was based on the team's early understanding that TBA would:

• allow creation of a greater diversity of question types such as drag and drop, arrange objects fill in the blanks and text match;
• include more stimulus material; and
• provide easier integration with the Internet for distribution to other colleges in the HCT system.

 Amount of material produced

 Although TBA provided the variation of question types, a disadvantage was that the learning time needed to master them was high. The team quickly realised that the original aim of producing four to five hours of student material was not realistic. In addition to the development time, considerable time was spent with the technical centre staff, sorting out and dealing with TBA’s various quirks for example, the manual does not give instructions for developing question types, only a description of what they are.

 Features and distribution of the material

 Originally the computer based material was to have the following features:

• A variety of multi-media characteristics such as animations, sound, video as external stimuli to increase student interest;

• A built in report and analysis of student performance for teacher use; and
• Links to and distribution via the Internet.

 As the team's knowledge of Toolbook Assistant increased, it became apparent that the limitations and cumbersome nature of linking sound files and "visual instructions" did not add to the quality of the learning environment for the students, so it was decided to keep each page as simple as possible. In this way, students could concentrate on understanding and completing each task without the distraction of too many images and external stimuli. This understanding was a fairly lengthy process and much time was "wasted" learning technical intricacies of the program which were later discarded.

 The limitations of TBA meant that there could be no built in assessment report but, as the final materials were to be used as supporting extension tasks rather than for testing purposes, it was felt that assessment statistics were not required by the teacher. The value to the student was the increase in learner confidence by completing simple tasks, rather than in their assessment.

 At the time of the project, only certain question types of TBA could be deployed on the Internet . The authors decided to sacrifice this feature and maintain diversity of tasks and questions. (Since completion, it was discovered that Internet distribution is possible through the use of Asymetrix "Neuron" plug-in.)

 The final outcomes of this project included:

 The creation of four computer based learning modules or "books" which could be accessed from the college server or distributed on disk. The titles of the books are

 Alphabetical Order and Call Numbers

About the HCT

 The features of these books include:

• Stimulus material
• Instructions
• A variety activities or question types e.g.- gap-fill, ordering information, drag and drop, matching items;
• Immediate feedback to students after each question on their performance;
• End of book score - useful to both student and teacher;
• "Reset quiz" button so multiple students can complete the tasks.

On trialling the first three books feedback from teachers confirmed that students found the exercises useful, interesting, and relatively easy to manipulate. They also felt the books provided a useful and effective way of revising and reinforcing the skills the students had learnt in the course and for developing student library skills. The materials thus provide useful enrichment to the students by extending their knowledge of the library and library resources. They can also be used for remediation where comprehension is lacking by giving additional practice on such things as alphabetical ordering and number sorting.

• Expectations and Achievements

 The professional development that the design and development aspects afforded the team members was an important outcome. Learning the software and combining this with the educational aims of the materials produced valuable insights on how to produce educational materials.

• Collaborative methods

Collaboration of team members with different areas of expertise greatly assisted the development process. One author is a TESOL teacher, the other a teacher trainer and the third a technical expert. By combining these expertises, and working together on the first "book" , the quality of the experience and of the product was much greater than if individuals had worked alone. When learning the software, each person prepared a page with a particular question type and then taught the others. This way of working necessitated regular scheduled meetings and shared network space, so that work could be done on the same book, albeit not at the same time.

Following this, each person prepared a "book" to practise their skills. Even though the team were able to combine their skills, it was still necessary to have access to a higher level of technical expertise. Without support from the HCT’s Interactive Multi-media Training Centre (IMTC), the many quirks and idiosyncracies of the software would have defeated the team.

 CONCLUSIONS / STRATEGIES / GUIDELINES

 At the end of the project time, less than one hour of learning materials had been produced. For the number of hours of development time, the team wondered if it was worth the effort. People with programming skills advise teachers that these powerful programs are easy to learn. The authors agree that a basic level of expertise can be gained in a short time, but this would only produce the "traditional question types" similar to the existing web-based quizzes i.e. multiple choice or true false. The more interesting types such as drag and drop, gap filling and arrange objects requires a much steeper learning curve.

 Some general guidelines to consider before embarking on web-based quizzes are:

• Be clear about what you want your students to do and understand before embarking on the materials preparation, (Moore 1998, p1).

• Be realistic in your expectations. Ask yourself if the effort's worth it. Consider the time you have and what you will be able to produce.

• Think carefully about instructions and language level. After several false starts, the authors opted for audio instructions to improve listening skills and avoid visual clutter.

• Ensure you have adequate technical support at hand (preferably a member of your project development team - manuals are usually not sufficient.)

• Like any teaching / learning resource, think how it can be improved. Do not let the technology lull you into believing that just because it's computer based it must be good.

• Keep student needs and learning objectives as a focus at all times during development and avoid unnecessary gimmicks.

 References

 Kibby, M. 1998 "Offering a course on-line"

 Moore, M 1998 "Strategies and Guidelines for Using the Internet in TESOL"

Independent Learning Centre Co-ordinator

Abu Dhabi Women’s College, Higher Colleges of Technology, PO Box 41012, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

mmoore@hct.ac.ae

Faculty, Information Administration Program

Abu Dhabi Women’s College, Higher Colleges of Technology, PO Box 41012, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

prichard@hct.ac.ae

www.hct.ac.ae

©1998. The authors, Marion Moore and Patricia Richardson, assign to the University of New Brunswick and other educational and non-profit institutions a non-exclusive license to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The authors also grant a non-exclusive license to the University of New Brunswick to publish this document in full on the World Wide Web and on CD-ROM and in printed form with the conference papers, and for the document to be published on mirrors on the World Wide Web. Any other usage is prohibited without the express permission of the authors.