Immediacy on the Web/page 19
student and the teacher (see Figure 1). Regarding visuals, for example, every page included a
page banner and side navigation bar shaded in blue, except for the project pages which had no
side navigation bar and used a mustard yellow shading for the page banner. The instructor’s
photo
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was included on the homepage and graphics were included on the course homepage and
the instructor’s personal website. Images of required texts were included on the Syllabus page.
Regarding language, each page incorporated first- and second-person pronouns and
informal, conversational language. The instructor used “I” and “me” to refer to himself, “you” to
refer to the students, and “we” to refer to the class. A large-font “Welcome” was at the top of the
course homepage, and the brief introduction was ended with the phrase “I’m glad to have you in
class!” The instructor’s name under his photo was followed by a nickname, “Dr. Pete.”
Instructions, comments, and messages from the instructor were friendly and informal. For
example, on the Course News page, the instructor greeted students with "Hi Folks” or “Hi
Everyone” or “Hi All” on each announcement. Closing statements such as “See Ya!” or “Have a
great weekend” were used as well.
Regarding site functionality and design, each page included an email link to the instructor
(a graphic of a mailbox was included on the homepage). Each page also included a link to the
instructor's Personal Homepage, which included the instructor’s photo, his scholarly interests,
information about other courses that he taught and research that he had accomplished, and a
summary of personal interests. A course summary was provided on a Course Overview page.
The Required Software page described the software needed for the course and provided direct
links to download the free software. The Syllabus page included internal links to ease finding
specific sections of the syllabus and descriptions of the course textbooks were accompanied by
Convention