Step 6: Terminology

As part of the HRE Online program requirements, you will need to understand several basic concepts and terms. This section introduces you to some of the basic terms that you will be using throughout the HRE Online courses. There are three broad areas of terminology you need to be familiar with: HRE Online, Web/Internet, and Communication and Collaboration.

Once you complete this section, you should

Feel comfortable with the HRE Online terminology;
Feel comfortable with the Web/Internet terminology; and
Feel comfortable with the Communication and Collaboration terminology.

HRE Online Terms

HRE: refers to the Department of Human Resource Education in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).

CCTL: stands for Community College Teaching and Learning and is a concentration of the Online Masters of Education.

eLearning: a concentration of the Online Masters of Education.

HRD: stands for Human Resource Development and is a concentration of the Online Masters of Education.

HPE: stands for Health Profession Education and is our newest field of study, offered as an emphasis in our HRD program.

AO: Stands for Academic Outreach which is a unit of the Office of Continuing Education at UIUC that provides some of the support services used by off-campus students and programs. For HRE Online, Academic Outreach provides registration assistance, off-campus library services, and webserver space.

Cohort: a group of students who collectively progress through the same HRE Online degree program.

Course Structure

HRE Online courses are organized with the same general structure, consisting of Weeks, Lessons, and Learning Activities. Please note: some courses do not use all levels of the hierarchy. For example, your course might be structured like this:

Week 1
- Lesson 1
  - Learning Activity 1
  - Learning Activity 2
- Lesson 2
  - Learning Activity 1
Week 2
- Lesson 1
- Lesson 2

Week: refers to HRE Online course content's largest unit or division. Courses consist of 10 weeks.

Lesson: a subdivision within a week.

Learning Activity: an assignment or exercise that assesses students' understanding about the week's content, generates class discussions, and/or gathers student perspectives and opinions regarding the cycle's topic. These activities are designed to reinforce and apply content.

Internet Terms

Asynchronous Communication: a method of sending and receiving information that does not occur in real time. That is to say, you may post a message or web page in the morning and someone can view your posting several hours/days/years later. By making your information available asynchronously, you allow others to view it at their convenience.

Synchronous Communication: interaction between two or more parties who are present at the same time, although not necessarily in the same place. These individuals communicate through audio, video, or chat. Using a telephone is a common form of synchronous communication.

Bandwidth: a measure of capacity through a transmission medium such as a phone line or network cable. Bandwidth is measured in bits per second (BPS). The more BPS, the greater the bandwidth and the faster you can send/receive information.

Downloading: the process of receiving information at your computer from another computer via a network. Typically, HRE Online files are downloaded simply by clicking on a hyperlink (defined below). Once you click on the link, your web browser will begin the transfer process. Upon completion of the download, the file can be saved on your machine for use at your convenience.

Firewall: Any of a number of security schemes that prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to a computer network or that monitor transfers of information to and from the network.

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language): the main programming language for writing basic web pages.

Hyperlink (often called a "link"): a connection leading from document (or web page) to another. Hyperlinks may be in the form of a highlighted word, phrase, or image.

Internet: a collection of networks linking millions of computers and hundreds of millions of users all over the world.

Posting: the act of sending a note or an article (via email or file uploading) to a network for users to read and respond to. The most common types of posting in HRE Online occur using Moodle (defined below).

Uploading: to copy a file from one's personal computer to another computer or server on a network. Similar to posting (defined above).

URL (Universal Resource Locator): the address of a web site (i.e., http://education.illinois.edu/hre/).

Web Browser: software that allows you to navigate the world wide web (e.g., Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Netscape). It translates hypertext markup language (HTML) files into organized documents with text, graphical images, videos, etc.

Website: a grouping of web pages, usually from the same organization.

Whiteboard: The electronic equivalent of chalk and blackboard, but between remote users. Whiteboard systems allow network participants to simultaneously view and interact with one or more users writing or drawing in a designated section of the screen.

World Wide Web: a part of the Internet which uses text, graphics, and sometimes sound and movies to present information to web users. (a.k.a., 'the web' or www)

Communication and Collaboration Terms

Elluminate: an online collaboration system that allows students, faculty, and TAs to hold live synchronous class sessions. Members of the class can use a chat space to type text messages and receive responses from others. They can also use a microphone to verbally speak with each other. A whiteboard is available for slides and other types of messages.

Instant Messengers: a type of Internet tool used for personal synchronous communication. AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) is free and does not require an AOL membership. It allows you to conduct private one-to-one and small group chats without going into a public chat room where you can be interrupted by someone else. Instant messengers have a feature that tells you when specified individuals are available online. You will use AIM to communicate with instructors, TAs, students, and HRE Online Technical Support.

QuickTime: a free software tool that plays audio or video files. This is the primary method for playing media files in HRE Online courses.

Moodle: a course management system that HRE Online uses for discussion forums, assignment submissions, grade/feedback tracking, and teams/people pages. Moodle allows students and instructors to post messages and upload and download files (frequently as part of a student's learning cycle activity requirements). These postings can be viewed by others in the class. Moodle can also be used for synchronous chat.

If you encounter any technical problems when trying to complete this activity, please contact HRE Online Technical Support.

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