- Email: [email protected]
Learning on the web
pp. 43-56 and 75-122, Springer-Verlag DAY, R. A. (1989) How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper (3rd edn), Cambridge University Press DIXON, B. (1973) Sciwrite, Cbem. Br. 9, 70-72 EBEL, H. F., BLIEFERT, C. and RUSSEY, W. E. (1987) The Art of Scientific Writing, VCH LINDSAY, D. (1984) A Guide to Scientific Writing-a
Research Workers, Longman
PATON, A. (1976) How I write a paper, Br.
The Nements of Sty/e (3rd edn), Collier
Med./.6,1115-1117 SHORTLAND,
M. and GREGORY, J. (1991)
Communicating
Science: a Handbook,
SIMMONDS,
D. and REYNOLDS, L. (1994)
Data Presentation
on the
Computers and learning in the life sciences, Since the introduction of the first viable and affordable personal computers, educators have explored the possibilities of computer-aided learning (CAL). However, it is only in recent years, with the appearance of powerful desktop computers with userfriendly interfaces, capable of handling complex graphics, animations, video and sound (multimedia) that CAL has really taken off. The computer environment offers the student self-paced interactive learning. Modern desktop computers can now display threedimensional (3D) representations of complex structures such as cells and macromolecules, aiding understanding of topics that can be difficult when taught by conventional methods. Software for producing tailor-made CAL packages has become easier 0 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd PII: SO962.8924(96)60006-3
WOODFORD,
and Visual Literacy in
Medicine and Science, pp. 69-73
Previous articles in trends in CELL BIOLOGY have highlighted the growing relevance of the Internet, and in particular the World Wide Web, to the cell biologist as a research tool. Indeed, the Internet is becoming as important a research tool as any conventional laboratory instrument. The value of the Internet lies in the huge wealth of linked information it contains, readily accessible via a desktop computer. These features also make the Web an attractive resource for learning, especially in the rapidly advancing life sciences. At its most extreme, the Internet can provide the platform for ‘virtual courses’, where students participate entirely via their desktop computer. Even without going totally ‘virtual’, the Internet can provide a rich and valuable learning environment for anyone interested in the life sciences.
160
WAINWRIGHT,
C. R. (1993)
Successful Business
Writing in a Week, Hodder F. P. (1968)
for Graduate
and
& Stoughton
in Scientific Writing
Students (Woodford,
ed.), p.18, Rockefeller
University
F. P., Press
Web
Fergus Doherty
The author is at the Dept of Biochemistry, University Medical School, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK NC7 2UH. E-mail address: Fergus.Doherty@ nottingham.ac.uk
Macmillan
Longman
Manual for Students and
Learning
105-l 21, Butterworth-Heinemann STRUNK, W., Jr, and WHITE, E. B. (1979)
to use (e.g. Authorware, HyperCard, ToolBook), allowing academics to produce their own packages. Commercial publishers are also increasingly entering the field. However, CAL material of this kind suffers from several disadvantages. As research progresses, material can quickly become out of date, necessitating frequent updates. In addition, the rapid advances in knowledge mean that teachers and researchers are necessarily specialized and find it difficult to keep up with current knowledge. Finally, academic institutions have limited funds to invest in expensive commercial software. Many of these problems can be overcome by using the Internet as a resource for learning. Learning and the Web Markup Language HyperText (HTML), the technology that underpins the Web, enables the display of multimedia items over the Internet. HTML also includes clickable links to other ‘pages’, which may be physically located anywhere on the Internet. These features make the Web a valuable learning environment. Teachers can easily build up a learning environment composed of material produced in-house, together with resources from the wider scientific community. For example, a simple, student ‘Home Page’ can be created that includes course timetables and course descriptions produced in-house. A series of lectures in a timetable page can then be linked to any relevant learning material on the Web. Many teachers produce lecture outlines as documents, slides or overheads prepared on computer. These can easily be converted to HTML documents, either with a simple text editor or with one of the many free or shareware utilities
available. Electronic lecture notes of this kind can then provide the framework for links to animations, graphics and relevant information elsewhere on the Web. The ‘Home Page’ approach is relatively simple and provides the student with an easy way to use the Web, reducing the risk of being ‘lost in hyperspace’. More advanced pages can be created by extending the facilities of HTML with external programs or scripts. An example of this is John Maber’s (Leeds, UK) glycolysis tutor (see Box I), which takes the student through the glycolytic pathway via a series of choices and prompts. Combining external routines with the forms feature of HTML allowed David Davies at Birmingham (UK) to create Web-based self-assessments for students (Box 1). External helper applications can also be used to extend the functionality of HTML. Links can point to files that are opened by applications available to the user. I have used this approach to display 3D protein representations using Brookhaven data base files and the molecular visualization program RasMac (Box 1). The Web provides a more open environment for the student than ‘traditional’ CAL, which is often focused to teach a particular point. Access to the Web allows the student to explore freely the growing amount of information that is published on the Internet. Increasingly, scientific journals are appearing on the Web, and the Internet seems likely to become an important medium for scientific publication, perhaps the ‘first stop’for any researcher or student. As well as subject-specific pages, the Web can provide more general features for education. Local Usenet news groups for students and staff can be created to promote discussions about the course (e.g. see the author’s pages, Box 1). This interactive approach has been taken even further trends
in CELL BIOLOGY
(Vol.
6) April
1996
MISCELMNEA
BOX
1 - EDUCATIONAL
For each entry, of the resource Cell biology
ADDRESSES
the first line gives where relevant.
ON THE INTERNET
the address
of the site, the second
line gives
the name
of the site and a brief
description
sites:
http://esg-www.mit.edu:8001/esgbio/7001main.html The ESC Biology
Hypertextbook
Home
Page
http://lenti.med.umn.edu/-mwd/cell-www/cell.html Course/Tutorial
on Cell Biology
http://www.tiac.net/users/pmgannon/teaching.html Cell and Molecular
Biology
Online
-Teaching
Resources;
a list of educational
sites,
including
virtual
courses
http://arnica.csustan.edu/CE.html CSU-BIOWEB-Cell
Biology;
a manual
including
electron
microscopical
images
of cells
http://www.mblab.gla.ac.uk/-julian/Dict.html Dictionary Other
of Ceil Biology life-science
sites:
http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/education/AminoAcid/overJiew.html Introduction
To Amino
Acids;
a description
of amino
acids
with
graphics
http://bitmed.ucsd.edu/ Welcome
to BITMed;
simulations
and simulation
language
http://vflylab.calstatela.edu/edesktop/Vir~pps/VflyLab/IntroVflyLab.html Virtual
Fly Lab; Web-based
simulation
of fly genetics
http://molbio.info.nih.gov/modeling/ The
NIH Molecular
Modeling
Home
Page; images
of macromolecules
http://www.ccc.nottingham.ac.uk/-mbzmail/students/student.html Student
Home
Page; the author’s
pages
for students
http://Wwww.leeds.ac.uk/designs/diygly/home.htm DIY Clycolysis;
interesting
The
CAL in education:
Web
and
use of the Web
as a glycolysis
tutor,
includes
other
useful
links
http://medweb.bham.ac.uk/ MedWeb
- Home
of Medical
Teaching
Innovation;
Web
site including
pages
for student
self-assessment
http://west.ucd.ie/ Welcome
to WEST;
description
of package
of Web
education
resource
tools
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/bionet.html BioNet
TLTP;
home
page
of a biomedical
CAL group
http://www.liv.ac.uk/ctibiol.html CTI Biology;
pages
linking
to useful
teaching
resources
for biology
NISS; useful
for graduates
http://www.niss.ac.uk/news/jobs/disc.html NISS -Job
Vacancies
advertised
through
and postgraduates
seeking
employment
http://www.demon.co.uk/westlake/ DataLake
Home
Page; information
on undergraduate
and postgraduate
courses
in the UK
http://rescomp.stanford.edu/jobs.html JobHunt; Virtual
a listing
of Internet-accessible
job-search
resources
and services
in the USA
courses:
http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/PPS/index.html VSNS-PPS
MAIN
INDEX;
recently
completed
protein
structure
course
http://WWW.hpctec.mcc.ac.uk/hpctec/courses/Biocomputing/vsns/bcd/welcome.html VSNS BioComputing Web
technology
Division; and
Web-based
other
Internet
course
in biocomputing
resources:
http://www.macromedia.com/ Macromedia;
information
about
macromedia
products
for the Web
http://java.sun.com/applets/index.html Java Applets;
a listing
trends in CELL BIOLOGY
of current
(Vol.
Java applets
6) April
1996
161
MISCELLANEA
B at the University of Dublin, where a Web-based tutoring environment (WEST) has been created. At this site, assignments can be set and submitted via the Web (Box 1). Advantages and disadvantages It is relatively easy to produce simple Web pages with links to external pages, so most teachers should be able to provide some Web pages in a short time. However, the more advanced features often require the use of other complex packages or languages, and, for some material, the best recourse will still be to use dedicated authoring programs to generate courseware running from the user’s hard disk or from a local server. The Web does provide access to a huge amount of information on the Internet, which is growing all the time, and thus makes use of others’ expertise! However, external links can be very slow, especially across the Atlantic, and some of the busy sites can be essentially unusable during the normal working hours. Improvements to the transatlantic link and increased duplication (mirroring) of
162
important sites should alleviate these problems. One major disadvantage of providing students with access to the Web is that it can lead to Web ‘surfing’, not always a productive pastime! Readymade links to relevant sites can help to reduce surfing but cannot prevent it. Each student should have their own locked browser preferences file and bookmarks file so that the appropriate home page appears when the browser is loaded. However, once a user is connected to the Web, the network of links and the availability of search engines means that the dedicated surfer can find almost anything and can go almost anywhere. This can be advantageous to students using the Web to help with an assignment, but teachers and computer administrators need to be aware of the possible problems. The future Technological improvements to the Web continue at an accelerating pace. Sun Microsystems’ Java is a Web ‘language’touted as a way to produce Web ‘applets’ (mini-applications) to extend the functionality of the Web.
These can be located either on the Web server or on client hardware and are platform independent, provided the browser on the user’s computer supports Java (e.g. Netscape 2.0). When a link demands it, the Java applet is sent to the client’s computer to enable it to access the appropriate data (animation, etc.). This obviates the need for a locally installed helper application, but will probably have a penalty in performance. Other commercial software developers are working on the enhancement of the multimedia capabilities of the Web. With the additional strain that these features put on network performance, improvements to national networks (e.g. JANET in the UK) and international links are needed urgently. In the future, the Internet should facilitate the implementation of distance learning -the Protein Structure virtual course points the way (Box 1). As more students are connected to the Internet via local area networks and modems, the Web may well provide the most convenient way for students to study at their own pace wherever they may be.
trends
in CELL
BIOLOGY
(Vol.
6) April
1996
Research Workers, Longman
PATON, A. (1976) How I write a paper, Br.
The Nements of Sty/e (3rd edn), Collier
Med./.6,1115-1117 SHORTLAND,
M. and GREGORY, J. (1991)
Communicating
Science: a Handbook,
SIMMONDS,
D. and REYNOLDS, L. (1994)
Data Presentation
on the
Computers and learning in the life sciences, Since the introduction of the first viable and affordable personal computers, educators have explored the possibilities of computer-aided learning (CAL). However, it is only in recent years, with the appearance of powerful desktop computers with userfriendly interfaces, capable of handling complex graphics, animations, video and sound (multimedia) that CAL has really taken off. The computer environment offers the student self-paced interactive learning. Modern desktop computers can now display threedimensional (3D) representations of complex structures such as cells and macromolecules, aiding understanding of topics that can be difficult when taught by conventional methods. Software for producing tailor-made CAL packages has become easier 0 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd PII: SO962.8924(96)60006-3
WOODFORD,
and Visual Literacy in
Medicine and Science, pp. 69-73
Previous articles in trends in CELL BIOLOGY have highlighted the growing relevance of the Internet, and in particular the World Wide Web, to the cell biologist as a research tool. Indeed, the Internet is becoming as important a research tool as any conventional laboratory instrument. The value of the Internet lies in the huge wealth of linked information it contains, readily accessible via a desktop computer. These features also make the Web an attractive resource for learning, especially in the rapidly advancing life sciences. At its most extreme, the Internet can provide the platform for ‘virtual courses’, where students participate entirely via their desktop computer. Even without going totally ‘virtual’, the Internet can provide a rich and valuable learning environment for anyone interested in the life sciences.
160
WAINWRIGHT,
C. R. (1993)
Successful Business
Writing in a Week, Hodder F. P. (1968)
for Graduate
and
& Stoughton
in Scientific Writing
Students (Woodford,
ed.), p.18, Rockefeller
University
F. P., Press
Web
Fergus Doherty
The author is at the Dept of Biochemistry, University Medical School, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK NC7 2UH. E-mail address: Fergus.Doherty@ nottingham.ac.uk
Macmillan
Longman
Manual for Students and
Learning
105-l 21, Butterworth-Heinemann STRUNK, W., Jr, and WHITE, E. B. (1979)
to use (e.g. Authorware, HyperCard, ToolBook), allowing academics to produce their own packages. Commercial publishers are also increasingly entering the field. However, CAL material of this kind suffers from several disadvantages. As research progresses, material can quickly become out of date, necessitating frequent updates. In addition, the rapid advances in knowledge mean that teachers and researchers are necessarily specialized and find it difficult to keep up with current knowledge. Finally, academic institutions have limited funds to invest in expensive commercial software. Many of these problems can be overcome by using the Internet as a resource for learning. Learning and the Web Markup Language HyperText (HTML), the technology that underpins the Web, enables the display of multimedia items over the Internet. HTML also includes clickable links to other ‘pages’, which may be physically located anywhere on the Internet. These features make the Web a valuable learning environment. Teachers can easily build up a learning environment composed of material produced in-house, together with resources from the wider scientific community. For example, a simple, student ‘Home Page’ can be created that includes course timetables and course descriptions produced in-house. A series of lectures in a timetable page can then be linked to any relevant learning material on the Web. Many teachers produce lecture outlines as documents, slides or overheads prepared on computer. These can easily be converted to HTML documents, either with a simple text editor or with one of the many free or shareware utilities
available. Electronic lecture notes of this kind can then provide the framework for links to animations, graphics and relevant information elsewhere on the Web. The ‘Home Page’ approach is relatively simple and provides the student with an easy way to use the Web, reducing the risk of being ‘lost in hyperspace’. More advanced pages can be created by extending the facilities of HTML with external programs or scripts. An example of this is John Maber’s (Leeds, UK) glycolysis tutor (see Box I), which takes the student through the glycolytic pathway via a series of choices and prompts. Combining external routines with the forms feature of HTML allowed David Davies at Birmingham (UK) to create Web-based self-assessments for students (Box 1). External helper applications can also be used to extend the functionality of HTML. Links can point to files that are opened by applications available to the user. I have used this approach to display 3D protein representations using Brookhaven data base files and the molecular visualization program RasMac (Box 1). The Web provides a more open environment for the student than ‘traditional’ CAL, which is often focused to teach a particular point. Access to the Web allows the student to explore freely the growing amount of information that is published on the Internet. Increasingly, scientific journals are appearing on the Web, and the Internet seems likely to become an important medium for scientific publication, perhaps the ‘first stop’for any researcher or student. As well as subject-specific pages, the Web can provide more general features for education. Local Usenet news groups for students and staff can be created to promote discussions about the course (e.g. see the author’s pages, Box 1). This interactive approach has been taken even further trends
in CELL BIOLOGY
(Vol.
6) April
1996
MISCELMNEA
BOX
1 - EDUCATIONAL
For each entry, of the resource Cell biology
ADDRESSES
the first line gives where relevant.
ON THE INTERNET
the address
of the site, the second
line gives
the name
of the site and a brief
description
sites:
http://esg-www.mit.edu:8001/esgbio/7001main.html The ESC Biology
Hypertextbook
Home
Page
http://lenti.med.umn.edu/-mwd/cell-www/cell.html Course/Tutorial
on Cell Biology
http://www.tiac.net/users/pmgannon/teaching.html Cell and Molecular
Biology
Online
-Teaching
Resources;
a list of educational
sites,
including
virtual
courses
http://arnica.csustan.edu/CE.html CSU-BIOWEB-Cell
Biology;
a manual
including
electron
microscopical
images
of cells
http://www.mblab.gla.ac.uk/-julian/Dict.html Dictionary Other
of Ceil Biology life-science
sites:
http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/education/AminoAcid/overJiew.html Introduction
To Amino
Acids;
a description
of amino
acids
with
graphics
http://bitmed.ucsd.edu/ Welcome
to BITMed;
simulations
and simulation
language
http://vflylab.calstatela.edu/edesktop/Vir~pps/VflyLab/IntroVflyLab.html Virtual
Fly Lab; Web-based
simulation
of fly genetics
http://molbio.info.nih.gov/modeling/ The
NIH Molecular
Modeling
Home
Page; images
of macromolecules
http://www.ccc.nottingham.ac.uk/-mbzmail/students/student.html Student
Home
Page; the author’s
pages
for students
http://Wwww.leeds.ac.uk/designs/diygly/home.htm DIY Clycolysis;
interesting
The
CAL in education:
Web
and
use of the Web
as a glycolysis
tutor,
includes
other
useful
links
http://medweb.bham.ac.uk/ MedWeb
- Home
of Medical
Teaching
Innovation;
Web
site including
pages
for student
self-assessment
http://west.ucd.ie/ Welcome
to WEST;
description
of package
of Web
education
resource
tools
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/bionet.html BioNet
TLTP;
home
page
of a biomedical
CAL group
http://www.liv.ac.uk/ctibiol.html CTI Biology;
pages
linking
to useful
teaching
resources
for biology
NISS; useful
for graduates
http://www.niss.ac.uk/news/jobs/disc.html NISS -Job
Vacancies
advertised
through
and postgraduates
seeking
employment
http://www.demon.co.uk/westlake/ DataLake
Home
Page; information
on undergraduate
and postgraduate
courses
in the UK
http://rescomp.stanford.edu/jobs.html JobHunt; Virtual
a listing
of Internet-accessible
job-search
resources
and services
in the USA
courses:
http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/PPS/index.html VSNS-PPS
MAIN
INDEX;
recently
completed
protein
structure
course
http://WWW.hpctec.mcc.ac.uk/hpctec/courses/Biocomputing/vsns/bcd/welcome.html VSNS BioComputing Web
technology
Division; and
Web-based
other
Internet
course
in biocomputing
resources:
http://www.macromedia.com/ Macromedia;
information
about
macromedia
products
for the Web
http://java.sun.com/applets/index.html Java Applets;
a listing
trends in CELL BIOLOGY
of current
(Vol.
Java applets
6) April
1996
161
MISCELLANEA
B at the University of Dublin, where a Web-based tutoring environment (WEST) has been created. At this site, assignments can be set and submitted via the Web (Box 1). Advantages and disadvantages It is relatively easy to produce simple Web pages with links to external pages, so most teachers should be able to provide some Web pages in a short time. However, the more advanced features often require the use of other complex packages or languages, and, for some material, the best recourse will still be to use dedicated authoring programs to generate courseware running from the user’s hard disk or from a local server. The Web does provide access to a huge amount of information on the Internet, which is growing all the time, and thus makes use of others’ expertise! However, external links can be very slow, especially across the Atlantic, and some of the busy sites can be essentially unusable during the normal working hours. Improvements to the transatlantic link and increased duplication (mirroring) of
162
important sites should alleviate these problems. One major disadvantage of providing students with access to the Web is that it can lead to Web ‘surfing’, not always a productive pastime! Readymade links to relevant sites can help to reduce surfing but cannot prevent it. Each student should have their own locked browser preferences file and bookmarks file so that the appropriate home page appears when the browser is loaded. However, once a user is connected to the Web, the network of links and the availability of search engines means that the dedicated surfer can find almost anything and can go almost anywhere. This can be advantageous to students using the Web to help with an assignment, but teachers and computer administrators need to be aware of the possible problems. The future Technological improvements to the Web continue at an accelerating pace. Sun Microsystems’ Java is a Web ‘language’touted as a way to produce Web ‘applets’ (mini-applications) to extend the functionality of the Web.
These can be located either on the Web server or on client hardware and are platform independent, provided the browser on the user’s computer supports Java (e.g. Netscape 2.0). When a link demands it, the Java applet is sent to the client’s computer to enable it to access the appropriate data (animation, etc.). This obviates the need for a locally installed helper application, but will probably have a penalty in performance. Other commercial software developers are working on the enhancement of the multimedia capabilities of the Web. With the additional strain that these features put on network performance, improvements to national networks (e.g. JANET in the UK) and international links are needed urgently. In the future, the Internet should facilitate the implementation of distance learning -the Protein Structure virtual course points the way (Box 1). As more students are connected to the Internet via local area networks and modems, the Web may well provide the most convenient way for students to study at their own pace wherever they may be.
trends
in CELL
BIOLOGY
(Vol.
6) April
1996