How to net yourself a site

Most teachers in higher education, if they are not doing so already, will have considered using the web in their teaching. There is increasing pressure from our peers, students and institutions to create some form of teaching presence on the web.

Sarah Horton's Web Teaching Guide attempts to provide practical guidance for those embarking on such an endeavour. The book is aimed at "educators who are considering adding a web component to their classroom teaching". It is, therefore, pitched at those who are new to the production of web materials, but who have some idea of or interest in using the web in their teaching.

The book is organised into five chapters. Each takes the reader through a particular process of website design and production, from the initial planning stages, through the gathering of content to the assessment of the final product.

In some ways, this mimics the structure of many of the other books and resources that are available on website production, but Horton's book embeds this firmly within the context of higher-education teaching. This is the strength of her approach, as it offers valuable and practical advice in a language and context that her audience will understand.

Frequent reference is made to the classroom environment through the use of examples and interviews with guest teachers. In many cases, these examples illustrate where the educational context differs from the more general advice on effective web communication, for example in using formal assessed exercises as an incentive to engage with web-based materials.

The book is not technical, generally shying away from both HTML technical matters and formal educational theory. This approach makes the book suitable for the web-curious and the novice site developer, but it will not furnish beginners with sufficient technical knowledge to implement their own web-based teaching. For this, the reader will have to turn to the generally helpful references or web resources given at the end of each chapter.

Perhaps understandably, given Horton's background in multimedia, there is some consideration given to the technical issues surrounding the delivery of audio, video and visual imagery on the web. While this information is useful, it seems a little unbalanced considering the deliberate avoidance of technical implementation of other issues such as HTML.

Inevitably, with an introductory text of this nature, there are generalisations and oversimplifications that might benefit from a little more detail. Some of the advice on presentation and layout, while arguably sensible, is more contentious than implied by the text. There are many valid views and approaches to design, not all of which are considered here. The final chapter on the evaluation of websites is useful, but touches only the surface of this important stage of resource development.

This is a valuable guide, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in developing web-based teaching materials. Its readable style and constructive advice make it useful to those managing and delivering web-based teaching - whether as a minor supplement to conventional teaching or as a fully fledged distance-teaching resource.

Jo Wood is senior lecturer in geographic information, City University.