Writing a Dream Class for the World Wide Web
Course Development
1. Writing:
Below is a table summarizing the amount of material written for each lesson and each assignment. This does not include the material for the course home page which is summarized above. The page estimates are based on double spaced, 12 point Times type:
| Lesson Title | # of Lesson Pages | # of Assignment Pages |
| Lesson #1 - Introduction to Dreaming | 21 |
14 |
| Lesson #2 - What Do Most People Dream About? | 12 | 6 |
| Lesson #3 - Dreamwork Tools & Techniques | 24 | 20 |
| Lesson #4 - Dream Connectedness | 31 | 11 |
| Lesson #5 - Selected Topics | 20 | 11 |
| Totals: | 108 | 62 |
*In some cases, especially assignment #3, there are extensive programming notes in the assignment which contribute to these page estimates.
Writing Lesson Content:
Because the course is offered on a web site, which allows for extensive use of hyperlinking, the writing of the course had to be done in small bits of information which stand on their own. That is, after an introduction to the unit the student is presented with a table of contents for the topics included in that unit and can read the unit through linearly or skip around in the topics picking which are most interesting or relevant for them. For instance, after a brief introduction to lesson #1 the student can choose from this table of subtopics:
| Importance of Dreams | Biology of REM | Dream Recall Tips |
| Logistics of this Course | Biology of NREM | Techniques for Dream Diarying |
| Historical Views of Dreaming | Why is Dream Forgetting Common? | Day Residue Notes |
| Two Basic Types of Sleep | Enhancing Dream Recall | Confusing Time Line |
| Sleep and Dreams Across the Lifespan | Pad and Pen Beside the Bed | Dream Titles |
| Falling Asleep | Relaxed Rehearsal | Retroactive Self-Awareness |
| The Course of the Night | High Tech Dream Recall | How Long Will This Take |
| The Sleep Laboratory | Enhanced Self-Awareness | Record in Pictures |
In addition to the demand to write in relatively fully contained idea units, the level of the writing had to remain rather elementary because of the potential target market. Also much of the writing was done in the first person in order to enhance the felt experience of the student of being in a dialogue with the instructor. Thus personal examples from the authors own life and work were used in an effort to personalize the instruction.
Writing Assignment Content:
The assignments were designed to be primarily closed ended questionnaires with ample opportunity for commentary and dialogue. Here is an example of a closed ended item from the first assignment:
B. Sleep, Dream and Related Phenomenon Habits/Experiences
12. How many hours of sleep do you average in a night?
( a. less than 4 hours
( b. between 4 and 6 hours
( c. between 6 and 8 hours
( d. between 8 and 10 hours
( e. between 10 and 12 hours
( f. more than 12 hours
13. How many dreams do you recall on the average per MONTH?
( a. less than 1
( b. between 1 and 2
( c. between 2 and 4
( d. between 4 and 10
( e. between 10 and 20
( f. between 20 and 35
( g. between 35 and 70
( h. more than 70 per month
14. Have you ever kept a dream diary/journal?
( a. yes
( b. no
This allows for a containment of the information gathered and thus an easier feedback process to the students. That is because the information gathered is with limited choices/responses, the shape of the students information is quickly understood with relatively simple statistics. Additionally, this form of response appeals to students in terms of increasing the likelihood that they will initially fill out the questionnaire. As they become more confortable with the material they tend to prefer more open ended items. Opportunities for comment are provided at the end of each close ended questionnaire and in many places in the later assignments where the analysis of their own dreams becomes more a focus of the course. The feedback reports for the first three assignments are appended to this report.
An important contribution of a web site based assignment is the opportunity to take advantage of hyperlinking to increase the information possibilities and structural potentials for learning. On a relatively simple level when filling out questionnaires people are often curious about how others may have answered a particular item. In some assignments the student can link to such normative data. For instance, this item is taken from assignment #2:
15. Many people have aggressive dreams in which verbal or physical fighting occurs. Do you have dreams in which fighting takes place?
( a. Yes, often
( b. Yes, on occasion
( c. Rarely
( d. Never
The student can then click on a box labeled "Norm Data" and receives this information:
Frequency of aggression in dreams (N=76)
- often ........................................... 3.9%
- on occasion .................................. 36.8%
- rarely ......................................... 47.4%
- never ......................................... 11 .8%
They are then offered another box labeled "Return to Question 15" so they can return to where they were in the assignment.
Although from a researchers perspective this may bias the students response it helps, especially with sensitive material, to encourage the student to realize that their experiences are not as unusual as they often fear when working with dreams. Thus educationally and psychologically this is an advantage for the learner.
On a more complex level hyperlinking allows for the creative design of assignments. Part of the third assignment was an activity designed to help the student understand the nature of metaphor as dream language is largely metaphoric. First the student is led through a metaphor generating activity for their chosen dream imagery. Then after they have been through the activity once, they are provided with multiple options to further personalize their dream interpretation. Specifically they are initially asked to think of a dream animal as a metaphor for a particular dream action (say they dreamt of running through the woods and think of a deer as an animal metaphor for their dream activity of running through the woods). After having done this and answered a series of questions about their choice they submit this part of the questionnaire with their ID. The students are then given the opportunity to do the same exercise 10 more times with ten different dream aspects (like dream characters, dream emotions, etc.) which can be associated with multiple potential metaphors (like buildings, weather, etc.). After each sequence of dream aspect/metaphor they are asked the same questions.
For the fourth assignment the students are given an opportunity to participate in an on-line dream group. The model of these groups is that they are leaderless and without theoretical assumption. After acknowledging that they have read a series of ‘groundrules’ which not only explain the procedure of the groups but also the ethical aspects of working in a dream group in any setting, the student is assigned to a dream group. The form of these on-line dream groups is using a bulletin board to which they can post their responses to the dreams of their classmates. These dream group postings are monitored by the instructor to insure the psychological appropriateness of the various groups participation. Suggestions for appropriate posting on a bulletin board as well as the basic outline of the group procedure are available to the student each time they access their dream group bulletin boards. The students can participate anonymously, simply read postings without posting themselves or give details about themselves in the text of their postings. This allows for a wide variety of self-disclose as is comfortable for the various participants.
The final assignment serves as a course evaluation and feedback vehicle for the students. They are also given an opportunity in this assignment to indicate future dream classes they may like to take and to sign up for on-line dream groups.
2. Editing/conceptual feedback
After each module was written it was read over for academic integrity by a colleague who also has considerable expertise in the dream literature, Russ Powell. Dr. Powell’s job was to ensure that the content of the class represented not only the general thinking of the field but also fit with the image of Grant MacEwan Community College as a provider of higher education. This external read for substance was most helpful and in some instances instrumental in the shaping of the content of the material.
3. Secretarial assistance/tape transcription
Due to time restrictions and in order to get the flavor of lectured material, the initial drafts of all the lessons were audio-taped and transcribed by Lil Kison as part of her regular secretarial duties. I also asked her to give me feedback on the interest of the material and any places where it may seem especially confusing.
4. Copyediting
Initial attempts at copyediting were tried in house by Lynn Anderson-Cook and James Morrissey. However it quickly became apparent that the demands on their time and the need for an expert copy-editor necessitated hiring a copyeditor, Nancy Walker. This gave a much more professional finish to the courses in much the same way that the publication of a book would not go to print without being copy-edited. And also as would be the case with any publication after the copyediting was completed the course author reviewed the comments for accuracy.
5. Technical supervision/programming
Technical supervision was done by Fred Sawka, head of The Internet Training and Development Centre aspect of the Computer Literacy Outreach Department, Grant MacEwan Community College's Arts & Science Division. The course is offered on their server. Mr. Sawka was the crucial person in making the connections between ideas of the author/instructor and the realities of computer/Internet course offering.
6. Programming
The majority of the programming was done by Kevin Collard and Greg Farris. Mr. Collard did the bulk of the initial HTML programming to get the material into format for reading on the Internet while the deeper programming needs of the course were handled by Greg Farris who is also the web master for the class. Mr. Farris designed the bulletin boards for the dream classes which took considerable adjustments to actually work, he also worked with Mr. Collard to create the highly interactive assignment #3 discussed above. Mr. Farris also programmed the course assignments to be automatically put into a spreadsheet format upon submission by the students with each assignment linked to every other one done by the students.
Because of the high percentage of technical problems which constituted about 50% of the course instructors e-mail from students the registration process now includes technical information and access to Mr. Farris as the web master for the class.
Throughout the process of coverting the class from written form to Internet form Jayne Gackenbach consulted. In fact it required close and frequent communication between the author/instructor and the programmers/technical supervisor in order to make this class a web reality. There was/is a deep appreciation for each others expertise and a willingness to work together heeding advise from each other in order to bring this complex and rich course to reality.
7. Test runs of components of course
Various components of the class required test runs. Judith Schadow, Joyce Nethercoat, James Morrisey, and Ann-Marie Scholock worked with the course author/instructor and programmers/technical supervisor to iron out the problems before a beta run was made. For instance the development of the exact format for the on-line dream groups required several adjustments based on trying out various forms until one was found that worked for the logistical needs of this medium of delivery. So too the more complicated assignments were test run by some of this group in order to make their presentation to the students smoother.
8. Recruiting beta students
Students for the beta run of the class were recruited by Russ Powell and Jayne Gackenbach from their students at GMCC and at other college where Dr. Gackenbach teaches. Also contacted people interested in dreams who have Internet access 19% of those registered. Here is a breakdown of the beta group:
Number: 43 registered
Sex: 16 males and 27 females
Age:
16-19 = 4
20-29 = 6
30-39 =8
40-49 = 15
50-59 = 4
60-69 = 2
70-79 = 3
Occupation:
Full-time employed = 17
Part-time employed = 3
Student = 14
Other = 7
Retired = 2
Dr. Gackenbach knew before as dream colleagues: 8
Local/Edmonton = 13
9. Instructing beta class
It became quickly apparent when instructing the beta class the necessity to test run such a new media offering. Many glitches ranging from technical to content to person based were identified in this process. Although the course was greeted with much enthusiasm participation trailed off toward the end. These students were after all helping debug as well as learning about dreams. The drop off in participation can be seen in the following statistics regarding assignments done and e-mail correspondence received:
Assignments:
one assignment - 29 (67% of total registrants)
two assignments - 26 (60% of total; 90% of those doing assignments)
three assignments - 20 (47% of total; 69% of those doing assignments)
dream group participation 14 (33% of total; 48% of those doing assignments)
The last two assignments were not filled out by enough beta students to warrent analysis.
Correspondence:
- 198 e-mailed messages through May 16, 1996 (92 from students to me and 106 from me to students, of these 106, 6 were to the whole class from me)
- messages were received by me from 40 different e-mail addresses
- Timing of Received Messages:
April 8 - 14 = 10
April 15 - 21 = 14
April 22 - 28 = 22
April 29 - May 5 = 31
May 6 - 12 = 10
May 13 - 16 = 5
- Type of Received and Sent Messages based on Subject line:
Course logistics/problems 72 (36%)
Assignment Feedback 38 (19%)
Other 88 (44%)
10. Marketing first paid offering
Marketing of the first paid offering was handled by James Morrisey and included listing with search engines as well as news releases and one e-mail based paid advertisement.
Future Directions
Authors/instructors credentials: Ideally selected reprints would be available to the student so that they can get not only a better idea about the nature of the credentials of the author/instructor but it would also give the student more detailed information about the specifics of the authors/instructors area of expertise. Copy write permission would have to be obtained but often there are papers which have been presented but never published in their presentation form which the author/instructor holds copyright to which could be used in this form. This depth of information could also take the form of links to other places on the Internet where the author/instructor has publications/interviews/works of art.
Course Bibliography: Because the course is designed for the general population references were not cited in the body of the text. However, links could connect the student to the appropriate references in the bibliography. In fact, even in more academically oriented courses referencing could be done in this way as it may make the read smoother without the traditional in the body of the text referencing.
Course Content: In addition to the normal need to update the content of the course periodically a further enhancement of the course presentation would be further hyperlinks between coups components. For instance, when a student is reading in a lesson about a particular area of focus there might be a link right there to a place on the dream resources page where further details could be found on the Internet. Or a link to the authors/instructors vitae or a link to another course offered by the college where the student could get more information.
Also more visual aspects of the course would enhance its delivery. Similar to a text book pictures, diagrams, tables, etc. inserted in the course help the student to more quickly understand the content. The down side of this is that it increases load time but such imagery could be offered as an option at any one session or in any one section of the course.
Course Assignments: As with the course content the addition of visual aspects would increase the attractiveness and thus the deliverability of the coups. So that in the metaphor generating activity students could be offered images to choose from or a simple paint option to "draw" their dream. There are dream interpretation techniques which rely on such drawing. These drawings could then be posted in a course "dream art gallery" for other students in the class to appreciate. These "drawing" could be a mixture of selected clip-art with personal adaptations.