Below are various terms that are explained in greater detail than in the text of the various tutorials. 

Asynchronous: Most email programs, chat rooms and other online tools, such as WebCT's Whiteboard, are asynchronous. This means that teachers and students will communicate back and forth with a pause: that is, will not interact as if talking on a phone or face-to-face. The pause is the time to type in a response or to receive and reply to an email. So some immediacy is lost, but then, reflection may be gained. The pause can give you time to think. Today, more and more programs are available for synchronous communication on the web. This would involved the use of live video cameras and microphone/phone technology to transmit signals from computer to computer directly, in real time. These programs, like Instructional TV, serve their purposes, as well, and may simulate the face-to-face classroom environment,.but these will not replace the asynchronous mode and reflective thinking and writing. The key to the usefulness of all the new tools and media, is integration. Students must learn to use all these tools, to become computer literate in a multimedia environment. The all have their value and their limits.

Back: The Back button on browsers such as Netscape or Internet Explorer is a simply navigation tool. By clicking this, students are returned to the last page that they had accessed in the browser. However, students may not be returned to the same place on that page. WebCT has its own internal navigation tools (a Home and a Back feature). While in WebCT itself (not in this tutorial), students should use WebCT's navigation tools and not those on the browser.

Bookmark: All browsers have bookmark features. When doing research or exploring the Internet, students should bookmark pages or sites which may serve as resource pages. by using the bookmark feature, students can simply open bookmarks and then return to the page. Thus, the have created an electronic directory of URLs (uniform resource locators) or web addresses. The bookmark feature allows students to create folders so that they can organized their book marks in various categories. Bookmark folders and files can serve as online or electronic bibliographies.

Button: A common name for a navigation tool in browsers and other programs. There are various types of hot links or buttons: radio buttons, graphic buttons, text buttons, etc. All such buttons serve the purpose of linking the user to other pages in a web site.

Compose: The compose feature is much like any email or bulletin board program in familiar browsers, such as Netscape or Internet Explorer. Students must be sure to enter a subject line and designate to whom in he class the message will be sent by accessing the class list under the browse button. Students can send messages to individuals, to a group of students, or to the whole class, if need be.

Copy: from the keyboard Control + C (PC) or Apple + C (Mac). First highlight the text or thing to be copied, and then enter the command.

Folder: Folders are simply organization tools for file storage on your computer's hard drive or on removable media. With the graphical interface, such as Windows 98 or OS 8.5, a folder icon is used to indicate that a folder has been created. Organizing material into folders is essential. Without this, students will have a hard time navigating or finding files that they have made. Creating folders in both the PC and the Mac is as easy as clicking on a create folder button in a dialog box.

Forum: A forum in WebCT is a group. This group can be either closed (private) or open (public). Forums are often used for peer editing groups, for survey questions, or for group or class projects. Collaborative work may be done in a forum, sending and receiving messages and sharing work focused on a common topic. Students may even use the Whiteboard feature of WebCT, which allows a group of students to write and draw on the same documented in an asynchronous manner.

Home Page Designer Tools: WebCT allows students to create home pages by using the designer tools provided. The tools enable students to create HTML pages, to place banners and headers on their pages, and to upload custom graphics and text. These tools, however, are also very limited and are not as powerful as those in HTML tag editors such as Homesite 4.0 or in WYSIWYG programs such as Front Page or Adobe Pagemill.

HTML: (hypertext mark-up language) The text-only code used to describe and structure a web page. HTML contains a series of "tags" that tell a browser how to display text and graphics on a page. All web pages begin with the <HTML> tag and end with it </HTML>. A header (title) over a text block would be defined as such a the <H1> tag. This tag would create a title in the highest order size or 1. HTML is a very useful language for web designers and for anyone interested in the Internet. There are many useful books on HTML and many easy to use WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) programs, such as Dreamweaver, Adobe Page Mill, or MS Front Page. Also, tag editors, such as Homesite 4.0, are also great tools for working in HTML.

Hypertext link: HTML pages are linked together by code. Students navigate through pages by clicking on (activating) links. Links are usually highlighted in blue, but can be set to show in any color. Once the link is activated, it will then appear darker or as another color in order to inform users that this link has already been explored.

Internet Service Provider: (ISP) This is the company that provides Internet access and that hosts web pages on its servers. One such ISP is Mindspring. Students pay a fee and have local, dial-up access to the Internet from their home computers. The ISP also sets up email accounts for users and can offer web page hosting.

Keyboard Commands: Using the keyboard to perform various functions that may otherwise be performed in a browser or word processing program. The most common keyboard commands for PCs would be Control + C (copy), Control + V (paste), Control + S (save), Shift click (to highlight a block of text or a list of email messages), Control click (to highlight select bits of text or email messages in a list). The most common keyboard commands on a Mac are similar: Apple + C (copy), Apple + V (paste), Apple + S (save), etc. Before these features will work, students will usually have to highlight the text to be copied and then hit Control C or Apple C to perform the command.

Paste: from the keyboard, Control + V (PC) or Apple + V (Mac). Put the cursor into the window or text area where the copied material is to be pasted. Then click Control + V or Apple + V to paste the material where desired.

Posting: When student post a message, it is put on the Bulletin Board. Post is synonymous with BB messages.

Save: When students use the Save function, either on the Message Bar in WebCT's Mail or BB, or otherwise, a Save As Window will open on their computers and will prompt them about where to save the file. Usually, it is best to save the file in a Folder, either on the Hard Drive or on a removable disk. To create a Folder on a PC, click on the folder icon at the top of the Save As Window; to do so on a Mac, click on the Folder Button and then name it. Once the folder is created, the student can then save the file, naming it appropriately.

Search: This is a built in search engine for WebCT, much like the search features found on many commercial web sites where searching for a particular product is required. Students simply put in the Value that they want to find, whether word string or number, and click the Search link. However, read the instructions about how to delineate the search (specify) on the bulletin board menu tutorial page.

Sending: When a student sends a message, it is sent in private Mail. Send always is synonymous with Mail and not with a bulletin board.

Show All: (or Show Unread) This is a feature of WebCT that allows students to view either only new messages that are unread or all messages (read and unread) that reside in their email and bulletin board accounts on the server. By default, WebCT will hide all old or read messages, unless students us the Mark as Unread feature to save messages as new after they have opened them. The hide feature is convenient because it reduced clutter from the message screen and enables students to see clearly new messages. However, there are times when an old message or assignment needs to be reviewed. This is when the Show All feature on the Mail and BB menus comes in handy. Students can also use the Show Unread feature, as well, to show only those messages that haven't been opened.

Split Screen: The split screen feature in WebCT is simply another name for frames. In split screen mode, which is best on larger monitors, there are three frames on the screen: a menu frame, a message list frame, and a message body frame. If split screen is not used, then students will get two frames: a menu frame and a message body frame with a Listing Bar Button at the top of the message area. This Listing link will serve as an alternative to the message list that is displayed in the split screen mode. By clicking on the Listing link, students will go back to the message list and leave the message body that they were viewing. They can then click on another message and return to the new message's body, toggling back and forth.

Threading: Threading is simply a way that bulletin boards are set up to organize messages in an orderly manner. A thread is a message and its reply. The reply is categorized under the primary message as a reply or sub-message. Threading is often used by instructors to conduct surveys: the instructor posts a question and students respond to this one question. All the replies should be posted as messages, as replies to the question, under the primary category or link of the instructor's question. This keeps the BB neat and orderly. In WebCT, students Reply to a message simply by clicking on the navigation bar (Reply) at the top of the Message Window. If instead, they click on Compose on the Main BB Menu, the messages they send will not be linked (not threaded) to the question they are responding to and will appear on the BB as separate and independent messages and not answers to the single question.

URL: (uniform resource locator) URLs are pointers to bits of information on the Internet. In a sense, they are addresses. URLs are generally divided into three parts: the protocol, the host name, and the directory or file name: http://www.csubak.edu/english. Http is the protocol or how the page is accessed; www.csubak.edu is the host address; english is the file name or specific page which will be accessed.

Unthreading: Unthreaded messages are the opposite of the above. Instead of being organized under another message or associated with a group of common messages (organized by subject. date, etc), unthreaded message are generally organized in simple chronological order.

Update Listing: This is simply a refresh tool that enables students who are online with other students to load new messages into the email or BB message boards. This is convenient when you are trying to work in a more synchronous manner with a classmate. Sometimes messages sent back and forth while both students are online together do not get loaded or seen unless this update tool is clicked and the board is refreshed.

Virus Definitions: When students use virus scan programs, such as Norton's Antivirus, it is important that they up-date the virus definitions on a weekly--or at least monthly--basis. Virus definitions are new virus strains that have been discovered by companies specializing in this research. If these definitions are not current, virus programs will miss (not detect) the virus and it may infect systems. Every day, many new viruses are created by hackers. Therefore, virus definitions must be updated to keep up with supply. Norton has an excellent update feature called "Live Update." With this, students can access the Internet and a Norton web site automatically and update their definitions as much as they'd like.