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Technical CommunicationQuarterlyPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/htcq20

Worlds within which weteach: Issues for designingWorld Wide Web coursematerialMary F. O'Sullivan aa Coordinator of Virtual Online InstructionCenter , Western Wisconsin Technical CollegePublished online: 11 Mar 2009.

To cite this article: Mary F. O'Sullivan (1999) Worlds within which we teach:Issues for designing World Wide Web course material, Technical CommunicationQuarterly, 8:1, 61-72, DOI: 10.1080/10572259909364649

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10572259909364649

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Worlds within Which We Teach:Issues for Designing World WideWeb Course Material

Mary F. O'SullivanWestern Wisconsin Technical College

Initially, online courses were created by pioneers—self-taught Web site writerscomfortable with uncertainty. As Internet-based instruction has becomeincreasingly popular, others are less inclined to struggle with writing their ownWeb pages but are nonetheless interested in having an instructional Web site.A growing number of course-construction programs are becoming availablewhich could make Internet-based instruction more accessible. Only byaddressing both pedagogical and technical issues can evaluation of suchcourse creation products provide information useful for thoughtful and appro-priate use of that technology to support and extend traditional pedagogies.This article concludes that creating online instructional sites by hand with thehelp of an HTML editor is generally preferable to using course-in-a-boxsoftware because instructors can select the components needed to supporttheir pedagogy and construct successful learning experiences for theirstudents. On the other hand, the dilemma of faculty intimidated by thetechnical expertise needed to produce even a basic Web site can be amelio-rated by the use of course-in-a-box software. However, that software shouldbe seen only as a stepping stone. Instructional sites created by course-in-a-box software certainly are worthwhile, but the course or site produced by thissoftware remains constrained by its box, even if that box is often commodious.

C omputer as both tool and environment is quickly becoming asubiquitous as the telephone in the work and recreationallives of not only North Americans, but also for a significant

portion of the world's population. In some respects it is less the actualconnection of physical computers around the world and more theconcept of that connection which influences our milieu. This influ-ence is found in the content of what constitutes technical writing, andin the pedagogy as well (see, for example, Hawisher and Selfe;Hawisher and LeBlanc). It influences the way we look at documentsin an electronic medium, requiring a new awareness of what consti-

Winter 1999, Vol. 8, No. 1. (61-72)

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tutes literacy (Selfe; O'Sullivan). It seems natural that just as writingdocuments for Web publication has become part of the purview of atechnical writing course (see, for example, Norton, Segaard, and Duin;VanHoosier-Carey), instruction in the discipline of technical writingshould also migrate to the World Wide Web. A quick survey of thelinks from the World Lecture Hall (http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture), or a search with any of the popular search engines willuncover technical writing courses supported by World Wide Webcontent or taught online using Web pages, conferences, and e-mail.

Initially, these online courses were created by pioneers—self-taught Web site writers comfortable with constant uncertainty and theongoing necessity of learning one more thing. As Internet-basedinstruction has become increasingly popular, those who are lessinclined to struggle with HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) andCSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are searching for ways to put coursesonline. A growing number of course construction programs arebecoming available which could make Internet-based instruction moreeasily accessible.

My interest in course-in-a-box software and my efforts to evaluateit began in the fall of 1996. At that time, only a handful of suchprograms and no extensive reviews were available. By March 1998, asis the rule on the World Wide Web, the status of course-in-a-boxsoftware availability had changed dramatically, as had the evaluativereviews of that software. Even the Chronicle of Higher Education(McCollum) reviewed some of what it termed the "dozen or so leadingsoftware packages." In fact, there are around three dozen programsavailable to assist in creating Web sites for teaching and learning, notincluding those programs designed to help ease the writing of HTML,such as Homesite from Allaire or Visual Page from Symantec.

Any evaluation of these course-creation products must addressboth technical and pedagogical issues. The mechanics of delivery forcourse package software certainly are important, as are costs to acollege and to the students, and as are considerations about theplatform that supports the particular software. This technical informa-tion is readily obtainable at a number of sites on the World Wide Web(see Table 1). Rather than summarize what is available, or comparespecific components of course-creation software, I will focus on howthat software influences the creation of an online course. I cannot, ofcourse, examine all three dozen course-in-a-box software applications;instead, I have chosen some which are representative of those avail-able. Finally, I do not debate the worth of online or Web-supportedinstruction; rather I argue that good teaching with or without technol-ogy has some commonalties, which software used for Web site creationand instructional support may help or hinder. In other words, course-in-a-box software may offer opportunities or constraints to the teach-ing endeavor.

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Table 1

Course-Creation Software Comparison Sites

Web Site URL Contents

The NODE:Technologies forLearning

Murdoch On-Line:University of Murdoch,Australia

http://node.on.ca/tfl/integrated/details/

http://cleo/murdoch.edu.au/asu/edtech/webtools/compare.html

PC Week: ZDNET

Dr. Bruce Landon's Site http://www.ctt.bc.ca/landonline/

http://www8.zdnet.com/pcweek/reviews/0818/18chart.html

Web-Based Training http://www.filename.com/wbt/pages/wbttools.htmInformation Center

University of Manitoba http://www.umanitoba.ca/ip/tools/courseware/evalmain.htm

Tools for Developing http://kell167.ed.psu.edu/trdev-l/summary/wbt-tool.txtWeb-Based Training

Links to software sites, technicalspecifications, reviews, and user storiesfor 24 course-creation packages

Links to 14 software sites includingfive not available at the NODE site,links to examples of university-basedcourse-creation tools, comparisons,and references

Chart comparing software evaluatedin WTCS test

Comparison of software features anda discussion list on the topic

Lists tools for Web coursepresentation

Chart comparing features ofLearningSpace, TopClass, WebCT,and ToolBook

This is the appendix froman upcoming book from Jossey-Bassby Margaret Driscoll.

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Purpose and Goals for Course-in-a-Box Software

Institutional and individual goals affect evaluations of course-in-a-box software. For example, an educational institution that is attempt-ing to create a virtual college parallel to a physical college might needthe resources provided by, for example, the Real Education ActiveLearning system (REAL). REAL (http://realeducation.com) sets up atotal online campus with a course catalogue, academic calendar,degree information, student inquiry form, application form, and courseregistration as well as individual virtual classrooms for courses. Theresulting site resides on the Real Education server. The product isimpressive; it uses streaming audio and video, synchronous chat,asynchronous threaded discussion, and internal e-mail. In this in-stance, the college or university abdicates some control, and certainlypays for the services rendered. On the other hand, if an educationalinstitution is only attempting to foster college-wide faculty onlineventures, it might find the technical support and course managementfeatures of LearningSpace more attractive. If ease of site creation is amajor issue, then perhaps TopClass or WebCT might be chosen tofacilitate such an endeavor and be worth the licensing costs. Or if aneducational institution simply wants to make a free resource availableto faculty, it might turn to Web Course in a Box (WCB). Finally,college technical personnel might create in-house, course-in-a-boxsoftware. Some, like the University of North Carolina (Share Caro-lina: http://www.unc.edu/courses/ssp/share/) and the University ofWashington (Web Worksheet: http://weber.u.washington.edu/-lspace/), also offer their software for free download. All of thiscourse-in-a-box software could fit specific institutional requirements.Because this article is focused on pedagogical opportunities andconstraints inherent in course-in-a-box software, I will not discuss thecomponents that manage courses or create an online campus, but willinstead be concentrate on those components that support instruction.

The purpose and goals of an instructional site can also be different.For this discussion, I will use the definition offered by both JohnSechrest and Chuck Shave of a four-level hierarchy for instructionalsites: informational, supplemental, dependent, and fully online. Theinformational course Web site provides essentially the same informa-tion an instructor would provide on the first day of a course, includinga syllabus, statement of goals, list of required books, and so on. This isa fine first step, but often is not, of course, an integral part of a course.The second step is the supplemental Web site. In addition to syllabiand so on, a supplemental Web site contains other course materials.Sites at the first two levels are usually created by those who have littleexperience with discussion lists, synchronous conferences, or othermore interactive World Wide Web elements. The material on the siteis useful, but not actually required for successful completion of thecourse. The third level is the dependent Web site, one that requiresthe students to use the materials online if they are to successfully

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complete the course. Finally, the fully online course Web site is anonline class, containing everything needed for completing the course.

Often the development of a site is a progression from creating aWeb page with a syllabus, reading materials, and assignments; toadding conferencing and discussion groups; to linking these confer-ences to Web page assignments, adding testing and course manage-ment tools, and providing for evaluation (Bourne et al.). The level atwhich an instructor utilizes a Web site is dependent on not only thetechnical skill level of the individual, but also on the pedagogicalframework used by the instructor. In other words, a teacher with onlyrudimentary Web site creation skills may choose to create a static pageon which materials that could have been handed out to students ashard copy are posted; or the teacher may see the Web site as simply abulletin board upon which to post materials to manage a class andsupplement lectures.

As is true with all instructional strategies, both those employed ina traditional classroom or in an online classroom, the design emergesfrom specific learning goals and objectives (Pitt and Clark). Ofprimary concern is the level of interaction that is designed into thesite. There are two kinds of interactivity, both of which are impor-tant. Students need to interact with the material they are learning.Students also need to interact in a community of learners made up ofothers in their class and their instructor. The power of the WorldWide Web is communication and any course-in-a-box that does notexploit the communication possibilities is severely handicapping theeducational endeavor.

Thus the questions that must be answered to situate course-in-a-box software in the Web-supported instructional endeavor are: Whatdoes the software produce or what pedagogy does it support? Is theresulting Web site static or active? How is the page created and whatskills does it take to employ? How much control does the instructorhave over the result, aesthetically and also mechanically?

Pedagogy SupportedPurchased software will reflect the designer's conception of

instruction. Technological advances are only partially a constraint ora freeing mechanism. For example, in 1988 at the New Jersey Insti-tute of Technology (NJIT), Starr Roxanne Hiltz and her colleagueswere creating what they called a "Virtual Campus," which focused oncommunication among participants (students and teachers alike) andwhich was remotely accessible. It also ran on a Unix machine with atotally text-based interface, however, it more resembles today's sophis-ticated online courses than it does those that use the "drill and kill"approach. The NJIT's Virtual Classroom continues to design onlineinstruction based on a pedagogy of communication, but now designsfor Web browsers and satellite television (Turoff). Establishing acourse online entails both instructional and technological design

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considerations, which must happen simultaneously (Benyon). Thus itis not so much the level of technical sophistication that influences thedesign of a Web site, but rather the pedagogical intent of the softwaredesigner and the Web site writer.

In the arena of course-in-a-box software, there are two differenttheoretical frameworks out of which the software is developed. Oneresults in an emphasis on independent tutorial; the other, while it mayemploy some tutorial material, is focused on supporting students asthey interact with the course material, their classmates, and theinstructor.

Much of the software in the independent tutorial category grewfrom computer-based training (CBT) software designed for CDs andcompany networks. When that CBT was repositioned to become Webbased, it brought with it the old emphasis on question and answerlessons designed to be used with little or no interaction with aninstructor. For example, Authorware from Macromedia andToolBookll from Asymetrix both have extensive content creationtools with slick graphics and animation, but both also require exten-sive programming skills and do not have built-in messaging capabili-ties. These are essentially authoring tools that create a multimediatraining that can be run on the World Wide Web, from a CD, or froma combination of the two.

Software of this type is most often used in the corporate world forin-house training. A recent Barron's article by Eric Savitz sheds lighton the basic philosophy of business toward computer and Web-basedinstruction. Savitz states that the largest training category still usestraditional classrooms with teachers. The second largest categoryproduces computer-based training. The third group produces tools tohelp companies produce their own training, and the fourth putstogether virtual classrooms. Savitz concludes that: "Thus far, no onehas invented technology capable of replacing the bulk of the class-room-based learning" (31). That might be true if one were only usingmultimedia authoring tools; however, the software based on thepremise that communication is the strength of the World Wide Weband a crucial element for instruction is certainly closer to replacing atleast some of the classroom-based learning. Authorware andToolBookll are powerful programs that create useful instructionalmaterial which might be used in conjunction with a site that makesuse of the communication possibilities of the World Wide Web. Theyare not, however, true course-in-a-box software applications becausethey do not provide those communication possibilities.

Site Creation

Course-in-a-box software that creates Web sites allowing forfunctionality at all four levels (informational, supplemental, depen-dent, and fully online) includes the following four examples.

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TopClass, created by Dublin University and marketed by WBTSystems was the top-rated CAB in an evaluation done by the Wiscon-sin Technical College System (WTCS) in July 1997. TopClass doesplace emphasis on communication, offering options for student-to-student and student-to-instructor communication. Another course-in-a-box software application, developed by the University of BritishColumbia, WebCT, also emphasizes interactivity and was designed byfaculty. The Virginia Commonwealth University's Web Course in aBox (WCB) was one of the very first integrated course-creationpackages. In fact, its name has become nearly a generic term todescribe all integrated course-creation software. WCB is now beingmaintained by MadDuck Technologies; an online slide presentationon WCB is available from an EDUCOM presentation, at http://www.vcu.edu/idc/gj/educom97/start.html. Finally, a relatively recentaddition is SyllaBase, developed by the 3GB Group at Utah StateUniversity (http://english.usu.edu/3gb/).

In addition to supporting all four levels of instructional Web sitesand allowing for student interaction with course materials and thecommunity of learners in a class, an instructional Web site must befunctional, easy to navigate, and visually appealing. In addition,course-in-a-box software must be preferable to hand-coding a Website; otherwise, the costs associated with it would not be acceptable.All these examples of CAB grow from a pedagogical intent to not onlyprovide content, but also to provide the means for extensive interac-tion with the material, as well as opportunities for communicationamong all the participants learning and teaching in the virtual class-room that the software helps to create.

All three of the example course-in-a-box software applications arefunctional, since they are accessible with any Web browser, areavailable for UNIX and Windows NT servers, and offer conferencingand e-mail capabilities. TopClass requires only an HTTP server, noproprietary server software such as LearningSpace does. It also pro-vides extensive online registration and enrollment management tools.It supports frames and provides a number of testing options, includingtimed testing. WCB creates a course with conferences, course calen-dar, assignments, and tests, but offers fewer student and course man-agement functions than either TopClass or WebCT. WCB has animportant plus: it is free to download and is available in Unix, Win-dows NT, and Mac versions. SyllaBase makes use of Active ServerPages and offers many customization options. It runs on NT, and earlyin 1999, an installable version will be offered free to educationalinstitutions. Most CAB allow for the use of streaming audio and videoand have Java capabilities. This provides instructors with someexciting options for presentation of material. On the other hand, asRuss Williams points out, nearly 70 percent of those connecting to theWorld Wide Web do so with modem speeds of 33.6 kbps or less andmany students have access only to older machines and older browsers,so sophisticated presentation possibilities are not necessarily the mostimportant consideration.

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Not only do the example course-in-a-box software applicationsdiscussed here support all four levels of instructional Web sites, but sodo most of those that I have not discussed directly. They also have incommon a rather dreary sameness in the design options available.TopClass can be customized to enable courses to match those of thecollege or the instructor, but this feature is a rarity among course-in-a-box software. WebCT is not as slick looking as TopClass, nor does itoffer the customization options that TopClass does. WCB is even lessslick than WebCT and allows for less customization. SyllaBase allowsfor easy importing of graphics and backgrounds, and so offers the mostpotential for allowing an individual look and feel to the pages itcreates. Beyond the visual appeal, however, are other importantdesign issues. All of the example course-in-a-box software applica-tions create a front page, the main menu page of the site that includesessentially the same choices: class information, announcements, classschedule, student e-mail pages, assignments, a discussion forum andstudent utilities. This front page is certainly utilitarian, but it is notthe only way information can be arranged on a Web site. In otherwords, an individual instructor cannot emphasize course componentsby placing them on the front page unless the course-in-a-box softwareapplication happens to agree with the instructor on an item's impor-tance.

In addition, instructors may find themselves chafing at the designof elements of a course Web site. For example, my course outline usesa table that includes reading assignments, writing assignments, infor-mation due dates, and links to examples or other information relevantto the week. In other words, everything is available that a studentneeds for that week. None of the course-in-a-box software applica-tions would allow me that option; they parcel out the information toother menu options- My design is not necessarily better than thatproduced by the course-in-a-box software applications; it is just thatthe software offers only one option. Similar examples include naviga-tional conventions, locations of particular class components and so on;but the point is that, while course-in-a-box software applications havethe necessary components for a course, the arrangement of thosecomponents is fixed. The only options allowed are cosmetic, such aschoosing between images or background colors; none of these optionsproduce a site with the visual appeal of those that students frequent.

The appeal of course-in-a-box software lies in the ease with whicha site can be created. If individual faculty members have the majorcomponents of a course in electronic form, creating the Web site issimply a matter of entering that material using the easy to follow formsprovided by the course-in-a-box software. TopClass and SyllaBase, forexample, even allow RTF and HTML for inputting information,making it is possible to have a functional course site up and running inhours rather than days.

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Site ControlIn considering course-in-a-box software, two issues of site control

are also important: individual instructors should have control of theirown sites and their sites should be on the college or university server.Not everyone agrees with this stance because faculty are contentexperts, not technicians. Some (for example, Fell and Greek) believethat the solution to this dilemma is to make the online class a jointproduction of faculty, technical support people, and publishers. Someinteresting possibilities can result from collaboration of this sort, butthe faculty member who will actually teach the course must be incharge. Otherwise, even though the site might contain some razzle-dazzle multimedia, publishers and technicians become the dispensersof instruction rather than providers of texts and technical support;they provide not supplemental help but the whole course. Thus, ifinstructors lack the technical skills to code and organize a site, course-in-a-box software can actually give them more control over the courseWeb site than the alternative.

Not all course-in-a-box software is installed on a college's servers;some reside on the course-in-a-box software provider's server. Thephysical location of the course Web site may not seem importantwhen every server on the World Wide Web is as close as a mouseclick. However, each college is a distinct community with specificneeds. Local system operators are more likely to reflect theirinstitution's culture and understand these needs than are remote servertechnicians. It may be desirable from a cost and support standpoint tooutsource the creation and hosting of a total virtual campus, particu-larly for smaller colleges, but not for courses which are offered byindividual faculty, even if they are totally online.

ConclusionUseful instruction using computer technology begins with

thoughtful and appropriate use of that technology by instructors notonly to support, but also to extend, their traditional pedagogies. Themost important considerations should be how we want to teach in anonline environment, how students access the online class, what itprovides them, and what it costs them. Cost does not refer simply totuition or money saved from commuting costs. Rather, cost refers totypes of instruction that are given up in an online environment and tothe new types of instruction that become available. Are we simplyproviding static pages of information and "drill and kill" exercises, orare we working to help students learn to learn, and learn to write forand within this new educational medium?

To be sure course-creation packages are not fundamentally betterthan the multimedia authoring tools. If one uses the course-creation

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software simply to transfer traditional classroom methods to the WorldWide Web environment so that lectures become lecture notes andsyllabi become static HTML pages, then the results certainly miss thepotential offered by the online medium. Merely turning existingcourse materials into hypertext documents has little benefit. On theother hand, if one employs course creation software to integrate thetools of the World Wide Web (ftp, telnet, e-mail, HTML pages) andto provide students with access to online conferences, library cata-logues, document retrieval and so on, the end result will be an envi-ronment which engages and extends student learning. As teachers, weneed to explore new models which make use of the capabilities ofonline classrooms (Duchastel and Spahn; Duchastel) and we need tobe the ones who drive the technology. It is certain that there will becontinued growth in the amount of technical writing which is related,in one way or another, to a Web-based medium; therefore, we astechnical writers and teachers of technical writing need experiencewriting for and within this electronic medium.

Generally, creating online instructional sites by hand, with thehelp of an HTML editor, is preferable to using course-in-a-box soft-ware. Instructors can select the components needed to support theirpedagogy and construct successful learning experiences for the student.HTML is generic. It is similar to using plain text for word processing,so that text can be read by any word processing software. Just so,course sites coded by hand will work anywhere and can easily beupdated when new capabilities are developed. As Abba Tregobovpointed out in a recent post to the WWWDEV discussion list, thecourse in a box software generally lacks "key structural as well as userinterface features." He goes on to say that this software is meant forpeople lacking the technical skills to design and create their own Website. That is, actually, the whole point. The dilemma of facultyintimidated by the technical expertise needed to produce even a basicWeb site can be ameliorated by the use of course-in-a-box software,but that software should be seen only as a stepping stone.

In addition to teaching technical writing in a traditional class-room as well as online (http://www.western.tec.wi.us/mfo), I am alsothe manager of my college's Virtual Online Instruction Center(VOICe, http://www.western.tec.wi.us/voice). In that capacity, I workwith faculty to help them create Web sites for their courses. I findthat working with raw HTML can be an insurmountable hurdle forsome faculty. I have, therefore, installed Web Course in a Box on theVOICe site so that faculty can get help with their first steps towardcreating an online presence for their classes. On the other hand, I willalso be encouraging them to take the next step by offering tutorials oncourse design. Instructional sites created by course-in-a-box softwarecertainly are worthwhile, but the course or site produced by thissoftware remains constrained by its box, even if that box is oftencommodious.

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Bourne, John, et al. "Paradigms for Online Learning: A Case Study inthe Design and Implementation of an Asynchronous LearningNetworks (ALN) Course." Organization for Asynchronous LearningNetworks Journal. 1998. http://www.alm.org/alnweb/journal/issue2/assee.html.

Crowley, Aileen. "Learning Any Time, Any Place: WisconsinTechnical College System Champions Statewide Internet-BasedTraining." PC Week 18 Aug. 1997: 26.

Duchastel, Philip. "A Web-Based Model for University Instruction."Journal of Educational Technology Systems 25 (1997): 221-28.

Duchastel, Philip, and Sue Spahn. "Design for Web-Based Learning."WebNet'96. Oct. 1996. http://www.nova.edu/~duchaste.

Fell, Susan, and Cecil Greek. "Internet-Based Distance EducationCourses in Criminology: Prolegomena to Production." Syllabus97Conference. Sonoma, CA, 27-30 July 1997. http://www.fsu.edu/-crimdo/sonoma/Syllabus-Conference.html.

Hawisher, Gail, and Cynthia Selfe. Critical Perspectives on Computersand Composition Instruction. New York: Teachers College P, 1989.

Hawisher, Gail, and Paul LeBlanc, eds. Re-Imagining Computers andComposition Instruction. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1992.

Hiltz, Starr Roxanne. The Virtual Classroom: Learning without Limitsvia Computer Networks. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1995.

McCollum, Kelly. "Colleges Sort through Vast Store of Tools forDesigning Web Courses." Chronicle of Higher Education: Informa-tion Technology. 21 Oct. 1997. http://www.chronicle.com/.

Norton, David, Matthew Segaard, and Ann Hill Duin. "The HTMLDecision-Making Report: Preparing Students for the InformationAge Workforce." Computers and Composition 14 (1997): 377-95.

O'Sullivan, Mary. "Literacies Invited and Denied: Reentry Women'sExperience with Computers and Writing in a Two-Year College."Diss. U of Wisconsin, Madison, 1995.

Pitt, Tina Joy, and Anne Clark. "Creating Powerful Online CoursesUsing Multiple Instructional Strategies." Teaching in a Commu-nity College Online Conference Site. Apr. 1997. http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcc_conf97/pres/pitt.html.

Savitz, Eric. "For Adults Only: The Business of Training Workers viaComputer Attracts the Interest of Would-Be Visionaries—andWall Street." Barron's 2 Mar. 1998: 31-36.

Sechrest, John. "Interquest and Questwriter, Experience in OnlineClasses." Teaching in a Community College Online ConferenceSite. Apr. 1998. http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon98/paper/sechrest.html.

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Selfe, Cynthia. "Redefining Literacy: The Multilayered Grammars ofComputers." Critical Perspectives on Computers and CompositionInstruction. Ed. Gail Hawisher and Cynthia Selfe. New York:Teachers College P, 1989. 3-15.

Shave, Chuck. "So You Want to Deliver a Course Using theInternet!" Teaching in a Community College Online ConferenceSite. Apr. 1998. http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon98/paper/shave.html.

Tregobov, Abba. "Custom Designed Web Courses vs. 'In-a-Box'Courses." Listserv posting. 25 Feb. 1998. WWWDEV®hermes.csd.unb.ca.

Turoff, Murray. "Designing a Virtual Classroom." 1995 InternationalConference on Computer Assisted Instruction ICCAP95. Na-tional Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, 7-10 Mar. 1995.http://wwwnjit.edu/Department/CCCC/VC/Papers/Design.html.

VanHoosier-Cary, Gregory. "Rhetoric by Design: Using Web Devel-opment Projects in the Technical Communication Classroom."Computers and Composition 14 (1997): 395-407.

Additional ResourcesPC Week and the Wisconsin Technical College System created a

very thorough set of criteria for judging the technical and manage-ment components of CAB. The list may be found at http://www8.zdnet.com/pcweek/reviews/0818/18crit.html. For a paper whichprovides a model and thorough discussion of this concept, visit theAssiniboine Community College Web site to read Downe's paper.

Mary O'Sullivan has taught first-year writing, technical writing, and creativewriting courses at two- and four-year colleges for more than 25 years. Sheearned a B.S. in English from Mankato State University, an M.F.A. in CreativeWriting from Bowling Green State University, and a Ph.D. from the Universityof Wisconsin, Madison. Mary approached computers reluctantly, but realizedthat familiarity with them would be important for her students. It took her threehours working on one of the first IBM PCs to become a techie convert and shebought her first computer three months later in June 1987. She has beenteaching in computer-supported classrooms ever since and taught her firstonline class in the spring of 1997. She now regularly teaches one writing classonline each semester. Currently Mary is also the coordinator of VOICe,Western Wisconsin Technical College's Virtual Online Instruction Center.

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