Phase theory is introduced as a taxonomy that describes Web course management based on the educators’ intuition, personal preferences and their prior educational experiences with Web course tools. The principles and underlying assumptions of the theory are discussed in the light of current capabilities and recent research. I have found (Mann, 1998a), with similar observations by Schrum and Berenfeld (1997), that instructors assimilate Web course management into their teaching in phases. They begin in lesson enhancement, then learn resource-based teaching, followed by an online learning environment. Notably, only the phases are distinctive, the tasks are not, which is why educators working in different phases of Web course management can be doing similar tasks for different purposes.

Several Web-based products offer educators information and design tools for managing their Web courses. Since these tools are customarily grouped together under a course name and protected by a password, they can be considered a system; a Web course management system (WCMS). Some examples of popular WCMS’s include LearningSpace (Lotus Corporation, 1998), Virtual-U (Harasim &Calvert, 1997), TopClass (WBT Systems, 1997), and WebCT (Goldberg,1997), to name a few.

College instructors have discovered three problems associated with using a WCMS’s. The first problem concerns the unsubstantiated claim that any instructor with minimal technical skill can employ the most appropriate methods they deem necessary and sufficient to manage their own Web courses. I have found that under certain educational conditions, these claims were not supported (Mann, 1998a). The instructors needed more assistance than the tools and help offered in the WCMS. Moreover, experienced educators have told me in discussions and workshops around the world, they are not fouled by the assumptions and claims of the developers of these systems. They know that the current status of online collaborative environments in no way matches the variety of classroom interactions and discussion, as developers claim. They also know that the provision of software management tools in no way guarantees continuous student collaboration.

A second problem associated with using these WCMS’s is that instructors are unable to apply instructional design (Bloom et al,1971; Dick & Carey, 1996) to create Web courses (Mann, 1998a).Instructional design has been found to be too static (Boshier et al,1997), inert (Yang et al, 1995), or unusable for prescribing the necessary conditions of learning for all learners and all learning situations for interactive environments (Wild & Quinn, 1998) like the Web. Some (Tergan, 1998) believe that instructional design is based on psychological and educational theories that are simply too broad in scope and too rigid for delivering instruction on hypermedia systems like the Web. In fact, instructional developers hardly ever use these models and theories with contemporary authoring, multimedia and hypermedia systems, and when they are used, are regularly misapplied (Gros et al, 1997). Despite these reports, some proponents of instructional design (Bannan-Ritland et al, 1998; Driscoll, 1998)are still advising novice Web managers to adapt instructional design procedures to Internet technology.

The third problem associated with using a WCMS resides in adopting appropriate guidelines for developing Web-based instruction (e.g., Bannan-Ritland et al, 1998; Berge, 1998; Bonk & Cummings, 1998;King, 1998; Maddux & Johnson, 1997; Riley, 1998; Wilkinson et al1997). There appear to be five shortcomings associated with using Web design guidelines, namely: The origin. Web design guidelines are derived from browsing Web sites, visiting virtual classrooms, as well as attending conference presentations, teleconferences, mailing lists and newsgroups (McCormack & Jones, 1998; Porter, 1997), instead of rigorously controlled studies on small groups of variables. The second inherent shortcoming is that instructors cannot always find relevant information even when it is present in the WCMS, and spend a lot of time reading irrelevant material. The third shortcoming associated with using design guidelines is their recency; the guidelines are sometimes seen as irrelevant; as too general or occasionally too proprietary (Mann, 1998b). The fourth shortcoming of Web design guidelines is that instructors have difficulty in determining the trade-offs among conflicting guidelines. And the fifth shortcoming associated with using Web design guidelines is that instructors often feel that the guidelines are not sufficiently helpful in supporting decisions about software patches or changes in the WCMS; in other words the "guidelines lag behind the times".

Theories are meant to explain something or to help us understand the way things are within a certain domain (Wilson, 1997). Phase theory is intended to help educators understand the way things are for Web course management. Central to phase theory is that instructors learn to adapt their instruction to the Web in phases, namely: Lesson Enhancement, followed by Resource-Based Teaching and Learning, then Online Learning Environments.

Usually with help from the resident technologist, instructors decide to introduce the Internet or Web-supported material as an extra-curricular activity to enhance a lesson. I have found that there can be any one of three uses of the WCMS for lesson enhancement, namely: immersive collaborative environment; for online self-expression; or, for online lesson assessment.

Once they have become familiar with enhancing a lesson or two, some instructors attempt resource-based teaching and learning (RBTL). I have counted as many as fifteen types of RBTL using a Web course management system and operated directly by instructors themselves, namely: 1) to provide content (i.e., online notes, online reader, or an online resource pack); 2) to support a learning activity (i.e., online manual, online lab guide, a seminar guide, a fieldwork guide; online projects facts guide, or an online work placement guide); 3) to support a learning process (i.e., online skills guide, skills profile, or an online student log); or, 4) to build on other resources (i.e., online textbook study guide, online readings guide, or an online lesson outline). These types are reminiscent of the conventional resource-based learning categories described in Parsons and Gibbs’ (1994) ‘Developing Teaching’ series published by Oxford Brookes University Press.

Once they have become familiar with enhancing their lessons, and uploaded resources for their students, a few instructors will venture into the graphic intensive worlds of the online learning environment. An online learning environment is a virtual world of the Internet where students work together on a problem or project. They usually must support one another to take full advantage of the online tools and information resources. Five components comprise the learning environment, adapted from Perkins (1991), namely: 1) information banks; 2) symbols pads; 3) construction kits; 4) phenomenaria; 5)online microworlds, and; 6) virtual environments.

What has changed? First, more instructors are becoming skeptical about unsubstantiated claims concerning minimal technical skills for using Web course management systems. Second, these instructors no longer feel the need to apply instructional design to a WCMS. Third, phase theory can assist practitioners in the determination of their own inventions with Web course management systems based on the their intuition, personal preferences and prior educational experiences with Web course tools (Mann, 1998b). And as a descriptive taxonomy (Reigeluth, 1997), phase theory may be applied as a descriptive theory of professional development in Web course management.

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Bruce Mann, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada