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asynchronous

At different times. Not requiring participation at a specific time. For example, asynchronous communication occurs with a time delay, allowing participants to respond thoughtfully at their own convenience. Asynchronous capabilities give learners 24/7 access to course materials, embedded and streamed multimedia, external Web sites, facilitated discussions, internal email systems, and individual or group assignments.

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bandwidth

the information-carrying capacity of the mechanisms which connect people in cyberspace

Blackboard

Very popular course management software which is extremely easy to use for the novice but perhaps not as flexible for course designers. Also popular in higher education has been WebCT, which has now merged with Blackboard (Bb). In this course, we are using the Canadian platform, Desire2Learn.

blended

A blended (or hybrid) course is a combination course where participants meet face-to-face with their instructor but also in a virtual situation (at a CMS, Nicenet, Yahoo Groups, etc.) for digital information, links, assignments, discussions, or whatever the teacher chooses to include. Many in the field feel that this configuration offers the best of both worlds because it provides the advantages of both situations.

bookmark

The way to store direct links in your computer to sites you want to visit again. Also called a "Favorite."  

browser

web surfing software, for example, Internet Explorer, Moxilla's Firefox, Netscape, Safari.

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cache

A cache temporarily stores web pages you have visited and documents you have edited on your computer. When you use Go or Back to revisit a document, your browser will check to see if it is in cache and retrieve it from there first because this is so much faster than retrieving again from the server.  

CALL

Computer Assisted Language Learning includes stand-alone products such as CD-ROMs, material on networks, and web-based materials.  

client

A program that requests services from another computer which functions as a server (host).  

CMS

course management system, or learning platform, such as Desire2Learn, Blackboard, WebCT, or the free platform, Moodle. Also referred to as LMS, learning management system.

CNP

Copy and Paste (commands in your word processing and html editor software)

course designer

person in the course who can change all the content. This person can be the Instructor, TA or others.

course management system

software which distributes online learning to those accessing an Internet site, a corporate intranet, etc. Examples: WebCT, Blackboard, eCollege, Desire2Learn.

cursor

The computer mouse is connected to the cursor, which often shows up as an arrow and indicates where you are on the computer screen.  

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DNS

DNS, or Domain Name Service servers change familiar web address names such as www.bizenglish.com into IP addresses. After translation by DNS, www.bizenglish.com becomes 207.150.192.12. The "No DNS Entry" error message you sometimes get when surfing means that your browser can't find the correct number.  

download

to move material from an Internet location to your computer; the process of transferring files from another computer to yours via a modem or local network.  

drill down

To dig down deeper and deeper into the contents of a website by following links.  

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emoticon

smiley faces and so on to express emotions in instant messaging. Although many users love emoticons, many techies refuse to use them.

extension

A filename extension is the last three letters after the last dot: .gif, .jpg, html, htm, .php, .png, .doc, etc.

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f2f

Face-to-face, the traditional, classroom-based mode of learning. The abbreviation "f2f" is common in the online world to refer to traditional classroom teaching and learning.  

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions. Documents which answer common questions about some aspect of a website.  

flame

An intense or personal attack made publicly against a person who writes a posting to a mailing list, web board or newsgroup.

ftp

File Transfer Protocol transfers files from one computer to another via the Internet. You can download files and software from the Internet using Fetch (for Mac) or WS_FTP (for Windows).  

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GIF

A GIF is a compressed image file format. It appears like this in an image filename: picture.gif  

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home page

The first or central web page of a web site. Often referred to as just "home."  

host

A computer (server) that provides services such as software programs to other client computers on a network.  

HTML

Hyper Text Markup Language. The basic universal language used to deliver Web pages over the Internet.

html editor

software which allows the user to create and edit html files, which are necessary for online delivery of materials. Examples: Mac users like PageMill; Microsoft's Frontpage is popular for PC users. Composer is free in the Netscape browser. Most others are a separate purchase.

html tags

code to show bold, italics and other formatting features in a web-based environment. Example: <i> is used for italics. See examples in Fidelman article, "A Language Professional's Guide to the World Wide Web."

hybrid

A hybrid (or blended) course is a combination course where participants meet face-to-face with their instructor but also in a virtual situation (at a CMS, Nicenet, Yahoo Groups, etc.) for digital information, links, assignments, discussions, or whatever the teacher chooses to include. Many in the field feel that this configuration offers the best of both worlds because it provides the advantages of both situations.

Hypertext Markup Language

HTML. The basic universal language used to deliver Web pages over the Internet.

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IMHO

in my humble opinion. This is a common chat room and email abbreviation.

instructional design

The process of creating web-based or other instructional materials to maximize effective learning. Best instructional practices can be identified which cut across all content areas and settings.    

instructor-led training

(ILT) Training in which learners are taught by an actual person: an instructor, teacher, tutor or faculty member. Can occur synchronously or asynchronously.

Internet Explorer

The most popular web browser in use today, produced by Microsoft Corporation. Internet Explorer (IE) allows you to surf the Internet.

IP address

A numerical Internet address, such as 207.150.192.12. Computers also have more meaningful "domain name" Internet addresses assigned to them, such as www.bizenglish.com.  

ISP

An Internet Service Provider allows you to connect to the Internet. AOL, Bell South, Qwest, Earthlink and hundreds of other companies are ISPs.  

IT

Information Technology

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Java

A programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. Java is used for programming applets -- small programs that can be embedded in Web sites.

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keyboard shortcut

A key combination that performs a function such as saving a file. Pressing "Control-S" in Windows or "Command-S" on the Mac is the shortcut to save a document.

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link

word, phrase or image that you can click on to go to another web page  

LMS

learning management system, or learning platform, such as Desire2Learn, Blackboard, or WebCT. Also referred to as a CMS, course management system.

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machine-driven

Describes software quiz programs that allow the teacher/course designer to enter correct and incorrect answers and feedback on correct and incorrect answers. Hot Potatoes and Quia offer machine-driven feedback.

mailing list

An email-based discussion forum which distributes messages to all participants when any member writes a message to the list. Examples include programs like listserv, majordomo, and commercial products such as Topica and Constant Contact. Sometimes the discussions are also available online in the form of a threaded discussion board (Yahoo e-groups).  

modem

Equipment attached to your computer that allows access to the World Wide Web.  

Moodle

A free, open-source course management system (CMS) to organize a virtual classroom. "A Moodle" means a virtual class created in Moodle. (Other CMSs include Desire2Learn, as we are using here, Blackboard (Bb) and WebCT, which has recently been bought by Bb.)

multimedia

images, sounds, recording capabilities, video, Flash movies embedded into web pages

multitasking

using more than one software program at the same time and exchanging information between them. Example: Using a word processed list to add student names into an online course OR uploading a text file list into course management software.

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netiquette

Formed from "network" + "etiquette," netiquette refers to the rules of polite communication on the Internet. Netiquette reflects polite practices that have been generally accepted by the Internet community, but sometimes changes somewhat depending on the situation.

Netscape

A browser or software that is used to surf the Internet. Since AOL bought Netscape, this former leader is now in serious decline with only about 10% of U.S. users, for example. The more popular browser today is Microsoft Internet Explorer.    

network

Multiple computers or other computing devices connected together for file sharing. The Internet is the ultimate network. A company's Intranet is also a network.

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open-source

describes software whose code can be modified by users as long as they post their changes publically so that all developers can experiment with the modified software and then make use of (or ignore)

operating system

the software that drives your computer, for example, Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Unix

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password protected

requiring a user name and password for entry

posting

a public message which is sent using electronic means (email list, discussion board, newsgroup). In our course, we can post messages to Discussions  

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Quicktime

Apple multimedia technology and a popular format for creating and storing sound, graphics, and movie (.mov) files. Available for both Mac and PC.

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ROI

Businesses are always concerned with "return on investment:" what they get back for the investment they make. This is difficult with language learning because measures such as standardized tests tend to be arbitrary, logistically difficult, expensive and time-consuming to administer and interpret.  

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select

The process of choosing a portion of web based material for functions such as copying or printing. To select a sentence, you put your cursor over the words while left clicking. To select a web page for printing, you click one time anywhere on the page. This is especially important when you are trying to print a web page which uses frames. If you don't select by clicking on the portion of the web page you want printed, you may not get a printout of what you wanted.  

self-paced learning

Online learning in which the learner works independently, studying without interaction from other participants or an instructor.

server

A computer, or application that provides files, data, or some other central body of information to multiple client computers by means of a network.  

shovelware

a critical term for traditional courseware material which is "repurposed" for use on the Web without full consideration of the capabilities of the new learning environment

synchronous

real time, (almost) instantaneous communication such as within a "live chat"

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thread

A conversational unit at a web board or "threaded discussion board" such as Discussions in our course. Web boards are organized by conversational thread to organize and stay on topic. When you organize your Discussions messages so that they are "threaded," you see the replies in nested format.

toolbar

a navigation tool which runs up and down the left or right side of a web page, or across the top or bottom of the page. A toolbar allows easy navigation by providing buttons for the user to click on to go to a new page.  

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upload

to move material from your computer to an Internet site

URL

A Uniform Resource Locator is the address of a page on the World Wide Web.  

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vlog

A web log with video entries.

VoiceXML

programming language for voice applications on the web

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Web-based training

(WBT)  Computer-based training in which the training material resides on web pages with text and graphics. Animation, audio, and video can be used, but require more bandwidth. Also called  "online courses" and "web-based instruction."

WebCT

A course management system or platform which is very popular among universities. Blackboard is another such platform. In this course, we are using the Desire2Learn platform.

wiki

A website that allows users to create and edit Web page content freely using their own Web browsers. Wikis are largely created by a collaborative effort of the site visitors.

wikidemia

A term paper researched entirely at wikipedia.org

WYSIWYG

What you see is what you get. Describes html editors where you can see the editing features such as bold, italics, font color and size.

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XHTML

Means "Extensible Hypertext Markup Language," a spinoff of the hypertext markup language  (html) used to build web pages.

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Yahoo!

Yahoo! is one of the Internet's leading search engine and the largest web portal, providing links to thousands of other websites.

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zip

A file format for PCs which is a compressed file that needs to be unzipped with WinZip or similar software. On Macs, Stuffit is the way to zip and unzip compressed files.