Teaching the internet: a protocol for interactive learning

Abstract

A description of our teaching protocol is given which has been tested concurrently on two classes, one at Mercer University and one at California State University. These classes were general-studies/community enrichment courses and were teaching their students how to use the Internet. Both classes met simultaneously and used the Internet to communicate during the course. The students at each site were set up so that they could "talk" with their counterparts across the country, trade files with them, and actually teach each other some different aspects of the Internet. One interesting facet of this protocol is that one site taught its students "A, B and C," while the other site taught its students "X, Y and Z." The students then use the technology that they learned to teach their counterparts across the country. At the end of the short course the students had not only heard about the Internet, they had really used it to solve some real problems.