2.

Self Course Management

2.1. Introduction of Self Course Management
A teacher or instructor needs to be organized so that he/she can conduct
courses effectively and efficiently. Self course management includes:

• planning a course

• deciding course contents

• lecture wise course breakdown and scheduling

• grading policy

• evaluation plans

• result generation and display

• attendance management

2.2. Online Applications for Course Management

Due to Internet, applications/programs available online can be accessed
anywhere and anytime. Many educational institutes are now using online Course
Management Systems (CMS). This facilitates both teachers and students.

Online CMS allows the administrator user (teacher) to add course outlines,
course related announcements, lectures/notes, lab manuals, book references,
samples papers, upload of quizzes and assignments, etc.

The student user can download these resources and upload completed
assignments. Course Management can be done using proprietary software which
can be custom developed or by using freely available software on internet. A few
examples online CMS are as follows:
 Figure 2.1 A proprietary web-based CMS application used in UETTaxila

Figure 2.2 An open-source CMS application initiated by Stanford University

 Figure 2.3 An open-source CMS Moodle by Google

2.3. Database Driven websites

All the course management systems (CMS) used now days are database driven
i.e., CMS websites get and / or retrieve their data from the database every time
they load.

Data of each faculty member along with the detail of courses that faculty member
is teaching is stored / maintained in a database. Whenever, a teacher performs a
login operation in CMS, the CMS website looks for his/her details and data in the
database. The data retrieved from the database is then presented in an
organized way on the CMS website.

The CMS website provides a user friendly interface that allows the teacher to add
new data and update/delete existing data in the database. For example,
whenever, a new lecture or assignment is uploaded by a teacher, the CMS
stores this information in the database.
2.4. Course Tracking
Planning the course ahead of time is a good practice. This plan should involve
lecture-wise break down of course contents to be covered. The plan can be
developed using specialized software, e.g. Microsoft Project’s Gantt charts or
even simply using tables in Microsoft office Word or Excel, etc. Once the course
has started, it is also important to keep track of the course progress according to
the plan. The teacher must cover up for any lapse in the course plan or
scheduled activities.

2.5. Sharing Lectures/Assignments and Results

There are many ways in which students and teachers share course related
resources. A popular way is using group-based e-mails, for example yahoo
groups. Another interesting way of handling this is through CMS.

2.6. Online Discussion forums for Teachers,

Students
These days the Internet provides discussion platforms for sorting out different
problems whether general or educational. Many technical discussion forums
provide a healthy environment for exchanging ideas and sharing knowledge.
Discussion can be initiated by anyone and experienced people of the related field
give their suggested answers. Discussion forums are available for a diverse
range of fields, for example, programming languages, operating systems,
configuration and use of software, research topics, etc.

Teachers and students can gain benefit from such forums. These forums can
help them build knowledge bonds with peers all around the world. The same idea
of forums can be used for online discussions among teachers and students after
university hours.
2.7. Online Teachers Evaluation
Many educational institutes use the “teacher evaluation forms” as a tool for
analyzing teachers’ performance. These forms contain a number of questions.
There are different answer options against each question. For example:

• Does the teacher always come prepared in class?

Answers options: (a) Always (b) Sometimes (c) Never

• Does the teacher encourage students to ask questions?

Answers options: (a) Always (b) Sometimes (c) Never

These forms (if truthfully) filled by students can provide performance analysis
data. These forms are usually distributed to the students towards end of the
term/semester. This involves taking hard copies of forms, getting them filled form
students, collecting them and analyzing results.

The same forms if placed online can save the cost of forms printing, the exercise
of forms distribution and collection.

Online availability of forms will also facilitate students as they will be able to fill
forms whenever they have free time.

2.8. Resource Management

All course related resources including lecture notes and tutorials can be
managed either at a central server or on the online course management website.
The teachers should update these resources after every lecture so that students
can get the latest copy of lectures and other reference material.
 Figure 2.4 A snapshot of UET CMS showing downloadable lectures

Figure 2.5 A snapshot of UET CMS showing uploading of lectures

2.9. Activity
Using Moodle, perform the following tasks:
• Add your course outline

• Upload lecture

• Announce a Quiz