Using the Web to support a traditional lecture-based course

Most courses taught in Computer Science still use the traditional lecture plus lab format, usually with one or more required texts as reference. While many instructors now also use the web to augment this, many if not most use it simply as a convenient place to put materials they would normally hand out on paper in class. Some keep all their lecture notes and slides on their laptops or on the web and then display them during class as the basis for their lectures. Students do find it useful to have access to lecture notes and many appreciate being able to print out lecture notes before a class so they can follow along during lectures. Since access to computers and skill in their use is fundamental to any Computer Science curriculum it would seem a natural step to use the Internet as an undergraduate course. Virtually all computer science students have access to the Internet, either from campus or from their home. But instead of just being used as a source for handouts the Internet can and perhaps should be used as an integral part of any computer science course. The use of the Internet for the delivery of distance education has enjoyed a tremendous surge in popularity in the last few years. Considerable effort has been put into studying the design and effectiveness of such courses [WILK97]. Much can be learned from an examination of the distance education courses but it must be remembered that there are a number of vital differences