Making Your Department Technologically Up to Date

Making Your Department Technologically Up to Date:
What Are Reasonable Goals and Sources of Help?

ASA Academic Workplace Workshop
Washington DC, August 14, 2000

Robert E. Wood, Professor and Chair
Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice
Rutgers University, Camden Campus

This webpage was created to support the workshop and contains links to a few websites particularly worthy of exploration for those interested in these issues.
Online version of accompanying Powerpoint presentation

Ensuring that Pedagogy Drives Technology

Teachnology and Webagogy (Rick Ellis, University of Washington)

Technology in the Classroom

Using the Web in the Classroom (pdf file) (Manfred Kuechler, Hunter College)
Technology for the Statistics Classroom (links to the major statistical packages)
Free (print) subscriptions to Syllabus Magazine and Converge (both industry-oriented magazines, but useful for keeping abreast of technological innovations in education). The Technology Source and Electronic School may be accessed online.

Internet Technologies and Course Design

Multimedia Contents for Course Web Pages (Manfred Kuechler, Hunter College)
Streaming Audio and Discussion Forums (Lynn Nelson, Virginia Commonwealth University)
World Lecture Hall (online syllabi)
SocioSite: Sociology Courses and Curricula Resources
Comparison Table on Online Delivery Applications (Center for Curriculum Transfer and Technology)
Virtual Resource Site for Teaching with Technology (Verizon/University of Maryland)

Types of Department Websites: From Shovelware to a Web-Enhanced Curriculum

Catalog Online
Departmental websites that basically provide information from the catalog and other print resources. Examples of well-designed websites of this type:
Department of Sociology, University of Miami (attractive, well-organized site, but primarily with catalog-type material)
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Northeastern University (accessible site with some special features, such as a graduate student page, but primarily catalog-type material)

Catalog Plus
Departmental websites that mainly provide catalog information, but provide other materials not usually easily available in print form, most notably faculty cv's and course syllabi, usually in pdf format. Examples of well-designed websites of this type:
Northwestern University (nicely-designed informational site especially notable for its attractive faculty pages with cv's)
Emory University (easily-navigated sites with standardized but online syllabi in pdf format for all courses and with standardized but informative faculty pages with cv's and links to course syllabi).
Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Williams College (exceptionally attractive site with course syllabi and some program resources)
Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University (fast-loading and easy-to-navigate site, with faculty cv's)
California State University, Sacramento (a fairly unique variant, written up recently in ASA Footnotes, that includes a departmental portfolio, with a variety of self-assessment tools.)

Web Innovative
Departmental websites that use the internet for purposes beyond delivery of information. Web enhancement of individual courses. Examples of well-designed websites of this type:
Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (crisp and informative site showing extensive use of the internet in teaching; many faculty maintain their own webpages and course websites)
Sociology Department, Hunter College, CUNY (extensive online resources to facilitate technology use by both faculty and students, including RealSlideshow tutorials)

Web-Integrative
Departmental websites showing movement towards full integration of the web into teaching and learning across the sociology curriculum. Examples of well-designed websites of this type:
Skidmore College (this nicely-designed website offers a variety of resources in direct support of instruction, e.g. webpages on sociological writing, proper table construction, guidelines for poster presentations, dataset descriptions, and more; the site also has elements of a department portfolio, e.g. past annual reports)
Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, Camden (this website self-consciously attempts to provide support for a "web-enhanced curriculum," with a variety of curricular resources. The site is constructed around two linked pages: the departmental homepage and the web-enhanced curriculum homepage. It includes detailed resources to support the use of MicroCase, course websites that make use of a variety of distinctively online communication, including course listserves, online forms, bulletin boards and course management systems such as WebCT, and a variety of streaming tutorials on subjects that are relevant for a variety of courses)

Note: These websites were accessed originally from the WWW Virtual Library listing of Sociology Department websites in the United States, maintained by Julian Dierkes at Princeton University. This site is very much worth exploring for further ideas.

The url for this page is http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/~wood/asaworkshop.htm

Updated August 12, 2003
Robert E. Wood

Catalog Online Departmental websites that basically provide information from the catalog and other print resources.	Examples of well-designed websites of this type: Department of Sociology, University of Miami (attractive, well-organized site, but primarily with catalog-type material) Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Northeastern University (accessible site with some special features, such as a graduate student page, but primarily catalog-type material)
Catalog Plus Departmental websites that mainly provide catalog information, but provide other materials not usually easily available in print form, most notably faculty cv's and course syllabi, usually in pdf format.	Examples of well-designed websites of this type: Northwestern University (nicely-designed informational site especially notable for its attractive faculty pages with cv's) Emory University (easily-navigated sites with standardized but online syllabi in pdf format for all courses and with standardized but informative faculty pages with cv's and links to course syllabi). Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Williams College (exceptionally attractive site with course syllabi and some program resources) Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University (fast-loading and easy-to-navigate site, with faculty cv's) California State University, Sacramento (a fairly unique variant, written up recently in ASA Footnotes, that includes a departmental portfolio, with a variety of self-assessment tools.)
Web Innovative Departmental websites that use the internet for purposes beyond delivery of information. Web enhancement of individual courses.	Examples of well-designed websites of this type: Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (crisp and informative site showing extensive use of the internet in teaching; many faculty maintain their own webpages and course websites) Sociology Department, Hunter College, CUNY (extensive online resources to facilitate technology use by both faculty and students, including RealSlideshow tutorials)
Web-Integrative Departmental websites showing movement towards full integration of the web into teaching and learning across the sociology curriculum.	Examples of well-designed websites of this type: Skidmore College (this nicely-designed website offers a variety of resources in direct support of instruction, e.g. webpages on sociological writing, proper table construction, guidelines for poster presentations, dataset descriptions, and more; the site also has elements of a department portfolio, e.g. past annual reports) Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, Camden (this website self-consciously attempts to provide support for a "web-enhanced curriculum," with a variety of curricular resources. The site is constructed around two linked pages: the departmental homepage and the web-enhanced curriculum homepage. It includes detailed resources to support the use of MicroCase, course websites that make use of a variety of distinctively online communication, including course listserves, online forms, bulletin boards and course management systems such as WebCT, and a variety of streaming tutorials on subjects that are relevant for a variety of courses)