COMBINING COURSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND DIGITAL LIBRARIES TO BRING INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA TO THE GEOSCIENCE MASSES

The average user of geoscience multimedia may have a vague sense of how a particular multimedia component was created, but is more likely interested in: (1) the impact it will have on student learning, (2) the ease of finding and incorporating the component into his or her own teaching environment, and (3) the reliability of the component when students access it using a variety of platforms, browsers, and network portals.

The average user now has two powerful tools to help meet these demands. Digital libraries (e.g. DLESE) will enable the average user to find effective, peer-reviewed multimedia and course management systems (e.g. Blackboard or WebCT) allows the user to incorporate these components into in-class and out-of-class activities. Such activities range from pre-lecture assessments (as in Just-in-Time Teaching), lecture presentation, in-class assessment (manual or automated Personal Response Systems), and summative student assessment. Using a course management system, the average user can integrate annotated photographs, interactive slideshows, dynamic video clips, and interactive movies.

Geology 101 students at WWU interact with a variety of multimedia components for every topic addressed in the course. Few of these components were developed by the instructor. Rather, they were mined from sites like The Magma Foundry (http://tmf.gg.uwyo.edu/), The Hidden Earth (http://reynolds.asu.edu), and Geology Labs Online (http://www.sciencecourseware.com). The average user can then employ the course management system to deliver the students to the components and assess student usage of, response to, and, hopefully, learning from interaction with the components. Effective uses of these components could then be submitted to DLESE as distinct educational resources.

Examples of how such components are used in the Just-in-Time Teaching of Geology 101 at WWU will be demonstrated.