Choosing a Virtual Communal Space for Your Course

This month's Virtual Companion, designed to accompany the article, Choosing a Virtual Communal Space for Your Course, The National Teaching and Learning Forum, Vol. 6 No. 6, provides links to several hands-on demonstrations of virtual communal spaces, as well as links to several sites that have information relevant to virtual communal spaces.

• Principles of Learning and Behavior
  This is my course's "hybrid" Virtual Communal Space (VCS), parts of which are powered by Web Course in a Box (see below). Feel free to be a student. You can do everything my students can do except post to the electronic conference.

• Web Course in a Box
  The WCB main page has both student and faculty demonstration versions, and information on the product. The WCB program resides on your server, and is free for downloading. You can purchase a support package. To get a feel for the Web Course in a Box component of my course, click on WCB main page here or from the menu frame from the course page. To get a feel for the strengths and weaknesses of WCB, you can eavesdrop on the electronic conference, WCB Forum (since it is a forum powered by WCB, it's a good way to see the conferencing function of WCB), that the good folks at Virginia Commonwealth University maintain.

• WebCT
  WebCT is downloaded on to your server. This page lets you try out WebCT as a student or a course designer, and has links to more information on the program. Interesting pricing structure--it's free until you actually use it in a course.

• Nicenet
  Nicenet is another complete VCS which, like WCB, is free. Nicenet provides the server, all you do is set up your course, have your students register, and you're off and running. If you would like to see a sample of Nicenet, when you get to their opening page, use the class key s580p13 and you can join a sample "class" I've set up. Nicenet is soon to have a new release available, and you can test out the beta version at ICA2 beta forum.

• NetForum
  NetForum is a pretty good web-based discussion forum system. If you are thinking of a hybrid approach to a course VCS, and the only piece you still need is the conferencing part, this could do it. You can try it free for 30 days. If you like it, it costs $50.00. To try it out, click on Test NetForum here or from their main menu.

• TopClass (WBT Systems)
  A demonstration of WBT Systems' (formerly WEST) TopClass Server for web-based training. You can choose between the "class" that won TopClass first place in PC Week Labs test of Internet-based training systems, or a course on the Irish Potato Famine taught in Australia.

  If you have any experience with these or similar environments, please post them to NTLF's Discussion Forum by clicking on Experiences with Virtual Communal Classroom Environments.

• Web-Based Instruction Resource Site
  A set of links to several very useful web-based resources for those interested in building a course VCS. Site maintained by William Milheim of Penn State.

• World Lecture Hall
  A hyper-linked listing of hundreds of courses on the web. A great resource for seeing the different approaches people are taking to web-based courses. Arranged by subject matter.

• Forum One
  A site packed with lots of valuable information. It has several valuable components:
  • Groupware product sites,
  • Articles on virtual communal spaces,
  • Finding ongoing web forums by categories,
  • How to build your own web forum, and
  • How to manage a web forum.

• Information and Communication Technology For Methods of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
  A site maintained by Brenda Stewart of the University of Minnesota. Has several links to atricles and sites on virtual learning communities. A very good starting place for the topic.

• Virtual Communities--A Research Project
  Briefly describes a research project that a team of Swedish professors are conducting. Has many links to virtual communities.

• The Virtual Community
  An on-line version of the book written by Howard Rheingold in 1993. Interesting reading.