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1. |
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What level students do you teach? |
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Public High School |
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Private Preparatory School |
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Community College |
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College/University Undergraduate |
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Graduate School |
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Other |
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2. |
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Please list the course(s) you teach using the Commanding Heights Web site, the academic level of your course(s), the number of students in each course (all sections), and URLs for the online syllabi for the courses, if available. |
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A. |
Course
High School
Community College
College/Univ.
Grad. School
Other
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Number of Students |
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Syllabus URL: |
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B. |
Course
High School
Community College
College/Univ.
Grad. School
Other
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Number of Students |
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Syllabus URL: |
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C. |
Course
High School
Community College
College/Univ.
Grad. School
Other
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Number of Students |
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Syllabus URL: |
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D. |
Course
High School
Community College
College/Univ.
Grad. School
Other
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Number of Students |
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Syllabus URL: |
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3. |
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How did you learn about Commanding Heights Online? |
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Television |
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Web search engine |
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Another Web site |
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Professional contacts |
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Print (e.g., magazine) |
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Other |
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4. |
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In preparation for and during you course(s), how many total hours would you estimate you personally used the Commanding Heights Web site? |
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Total Hours |
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5. |
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Please check all of the ways you have personally used the Commanding Heights Web site. |
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Learning more about a topic |
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Developing an overall instruction/learning plan |
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Developing a classroom/computer lab activity |
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Developing a homework assignment |
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Making a presentation |
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Satisfying my curiosity |
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Other - please explain below |
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6. |
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Which version of the Commanding Heights Web site did you make most use of? |
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Rich-media (broadband) version |
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Low-bandwidth (text-friendly) version |
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I used both equally |
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I don't know |
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7. |
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Check all of the features that you know you have used, listed under each version of the Web site. |
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Rich-media |
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Low-bandwidth |
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Storyline |
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Storyline |
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Time-map |
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Key Events |
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Countries |
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Countries |
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People |
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People |
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Ideas |
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Ideas |
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Glossary |
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Glossary |
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Discuss |
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Discuss |
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Educators Guide |
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Educators Guide |
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Resources |
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Resources |
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Search |
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Search |
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Help |
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Help |
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8. |
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Did you design your own instructions/learning plan associated with Commanding Heights Online? |
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Yes |
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No |
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9. |
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Did you use the Educators' Guide in familiarizing yourself with the site? |
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Yes |
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No |
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10. |
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How useful was the Educators' Guide for you? |
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Very useful |
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Moderately useful |
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Okay |
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Slightly useful |
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Not useful |
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I didn't use the Educators Guide. |
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11. |
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Check the lesson plans contained in the Educators' Guide that you used. |
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Introducing Economic Growth |
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Shock Therapy in Latin America & Eastern Europe |
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I didn't use either lesson plan. |
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12. |
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As presently organized, how useful is the site for obtaining resources that support your teaching? |
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Very useful |
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Moderately useful |
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Okay |
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Slightly useful |
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Not useful |
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I didn't use the Educators Guide. |
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13. |
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Tell us about your ability to find information you are looking for on the site.
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It is... |
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Very easy |
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Fairly easy |
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Possible with a little trial and error |
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Somewhat difficult |
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Impossible |
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14. |
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What, if anything, did you look for on the site but were unable to find? |
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15. |
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In which of the following ways did you ask your class(es) to use Commanding Heights Online? |
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Log onto the site in class |
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Use in a regular homework assignment |
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Use in preparing a major term paper or report/essay
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Use to make an in-class presentation |
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Use in independent study |
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Other - please explain below |
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16. |
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Which areas of the site, if any, did you specifically ask your students to use/explore? |
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Storyline |
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Discuss |
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Time-map/Key Events |
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Educators Guide |
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Countries |
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Resources |
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People |
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Search |
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Ideas |
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Help |
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Glossary |
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17. |
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What percentage of your students' course related Internet
assignments involved use of the Commanding Heights Web site? |
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Percent Related to Commanding Heights |
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18. |
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During your course(s), on average, how many hours did you
expect each student to spend on the Commanding Heights Web site?
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Hours expected on Commanding Heights |
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19. |
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Where were your students usually located when they visited this Web site? |
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Classroom |
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Computer Lab |
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Library |
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Home |
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Other |
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20. |
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In which of the following subjects, if any, do you think the Web site increases student interest? |
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International Political Economy |
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International Relations |
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Political Science |
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U.S. History |
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European History |
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World History |
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21. |
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In which of the following subjects, if any, do you think the Web site increases student knowledge? |
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International Political Economy |
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International Relations |
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Political Science |
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U.S. History |
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European History |
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World History |
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22. |
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Please describe how your instructional strategies have changed, if at all, as the result of using the Web site. |
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23. |
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Please describe how, if at all, the Web site replaces and/or enhances a textbook. |
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24. |
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What word best describes the Commanding Heights Web site? |
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25. |
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Overall, what do you think of the Commanding Heights Web site? |
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Very good |
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Good |
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Average |
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Poor |
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Very poor |
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26. |
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Compared to other educational Web sites you have asked students to use in your course work, how does the Commanding Heights site rate? |
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Very appealing |
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Good |
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Average |
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Poor |
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Unappealing |
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27. |
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Overall, how informative do you consider the site to be? |
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Very informative |
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Moderately informative |
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Okay |
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Slightly informative |
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Not informative |
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28. |
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Do you feel the site offers an editorially balanced, sufficiently broad spectrum of views on the topics it covers? |
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It is... |
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well balanced and broadly based. |
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balanced, but not sufficiently broad. |
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broad in range, but poorly balanced. |
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poorly balanced and too narrow a range. |
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If you wish, say more about editorial balance below. |
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29. |
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What do you like most about the Web site? Why? |
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30. |
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What do you like least about the Web site? Why? |
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Questions about technical performance |
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31. |
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Do you have broadband or high-speed access to the Internet at school? |
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Yes |
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No |
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32. |
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Do you have broadband or high-speed access to the Internet at home? |
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Yes |
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No |
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33. |
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Do your students have broadband or high-speed access to the Internet at school? |
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Yes |
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No |
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I don't know |
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34. |
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Do your students have broadband or high-speed access to the Internet where they live while at school? (at home, in dorms, off campus) |
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All do |
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Most do |
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Some do |
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A few do |
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Very few do or none |
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I don't know. |
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35. |
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Did the site perform in a generally reliable fashion? |
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Very reliable |
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Good reliability |
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Average reliability |
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Poor reliability |
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Very poor reliability |
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36. |
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Did the security features of your institution's network in any way interfere with your ability to access the site and any of it's features? |
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Yes - If so, please explain and tell if you were able to overcome the difficulties: |
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No |
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37. |
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Which streaming media format did you prefer to use to watch the video on the site?
Note: the rich-media broadband version of the site uses Quicktime only |
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I prefer to use: |
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The rich-media site format: |
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QuickTime high bandwidth |
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One of the formats available on the low-bandwidth site: |
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Windows Media low bandwidth version |
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Windows Media high bandwidth version |
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QuickTime low bandwidth version |
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QuickTime high bandwidth version |
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RealMedia low bandwidth version |
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RealMedia high bandwidth version |
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38. |
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Did the video chapters stream smoothly enough on your screen to produce and acceptable viewing experience? |
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Yes |
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No - If not, please explain: |
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39. |
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How would you rate the technical quality of the video on this site relative to other online video you have seen?
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Very good |
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Good |
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Average |
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Poor |
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Very poor |
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40. |
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Have you printed any pages from the site? |
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Yes |
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No |
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41. |
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Do you prefer to print html files (i.e., normal Web pages) or PDF files?
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Web pages |
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PDF Files |
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Either one is okay |
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I don't know |
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Questions about specific site features |
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42. |
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Please rate the value of the following Commanding Heights features:
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43. |
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Please check all of the following Web site features that perform the way you expect them to: |
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Storyline |
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Discuss |
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Time-map/Key Events |
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Educators Guide |
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Countries |
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Resources |
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People |
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Search |
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Ideas |
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Help |
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Glossary |
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44. |
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Storyline is the section of the Web site that offers access to the complete video documentary. If you used both the rich-media (broadband) and low-bandwidth (text-friendly) versions of Storyline, did you find any added value viewing the rich-media video chapters rather than the low-bandwidth version
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Yes |
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No |
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I only viewed the rich-media Storyline chapters. |
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I only viewed the low-bandwidth Storyline chapters. |
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I haven't used either version. |
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I don't undertand the difference |
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45. |
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Which of the following two statements best describe your thinking about the usefulness of breaking the program into chapters compared to watching the whole program at once?
Breaking a vide into chapters is...
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more useful than watching it all at once. |
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not more useful than watching it all at once. |
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46. |
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The rich-media site's Time-Map and the low-bandwidth site's Key Events feature both offer timelines of global economic events. If you used both versions, which did you find more informative?
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Time-Map |
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Key Events |
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I only viewed the rich-media (broadband) version (Time-Map). |
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I only viewed the low-bandwidth (text-friendly) version (Key Events).. |
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I haven't used either version. |
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I don't understand the difference |
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47. |
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Countries contains 41 individual reports. If you used both the rich-media and low-bandwidth versions, which did you find most useful?
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The rich-media (broadband) version |
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The low-bandwidth (text-friendly) version |
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I haven't used either version. |
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Potential Improvements |
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48. |
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Please describe anything about the Web site that you think is confusing or too challenging. |
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49. |
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Please describe any information contained on the site that you feel is inaccurate or unbelievable. |
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50. |
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What viewpoints, if any, would you suggest we add or expand our coverage of? |
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51. |
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Which countries, if any, would you suggest we add to the Country Reports or expand our coverage of within the existing reports? |
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Market value
Please read the following before answering the last set of questions.
Commanding Heights Online is an experimental prototype built to test the educational utility of a new kind of rich-media educational resource. PBS plans to make Commanding Heights Online available for several years, free of charge, to learn as much as we can about the best ways to support higher education online.
These kinds of rich-media Web sites are expensive to produce, update, and distribute, however. For example, PBS is charged incrementally to stream the site's video, based on the amount of bandwidth required to meet aggregate demand. The more you use, the more it costs PBS.
If more sites like this are to be built by public broadcasting in the coming years, a hybrid funding model will probably need to be established -- one that combines corporate and foundation underwriting to support initial production with end-user subscription fees to cover ongoing distribution and updating of content.
With that information in mind:
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52. |
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Do you think the value this site provides to your students is sufficient to warrant charging a reasonable fee for its use? |
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Yes |
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No -- if not, please explain: |
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53. |
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Would you, your peers, your department, and/or your institution be willing and able to pay a subscription fee for its use by students, should that become necessary? |
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Yes |
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No -- if not, please explain: |
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54. |
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How would you rate the value of this Web site compared to the value of textbooks your students are currently required to use/buy when they take your course? |
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It's much better than a textbook. |
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It's better than a textbook. |
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It's about the same as a textbook. |
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It's poorer than a textbook. |
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It's much poorer than a textbook. |
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55. |
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How would you rate the value of this Web site to your class compared to the television series ' DVD and VHS tapes that do not contain the additional interactive content that's included on the site? |
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It's much better than a DVD/VHS. |
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It's better than a DVD/VHS. |
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It's about the same as a DVD/VHS. |
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It's poorer than a DVD/VHS. |
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It's much poorer than a DVD/VHS. |
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56. |
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Do you have any other suggestions for improving the Commanding Heights Web site? |
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57. |
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Is there anything else about Commanding Heights that you would like to tell us? |
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58. |
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Please tell us your name and title:
name:
title:
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59. |
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What institution do you teach at?
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59. |
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What is your e-mail address?
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61. |
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Do you want us to keep you informed of future developments related to this site?
(No junk mail, no sharing of our e-mail list, that's a promise.)
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Yes |
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No - If not, please explain: |
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Thank you again for your patience in answering these questions. |
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