Molecular Cell Biology - the web site.

The whole site can be viewed from the alias "mcb folder alias" in the folder "Molecular Cell Biology" in the folder "Grundutbildning" on "Plant Cell Nucleus".

The site can be reached on the internet with the URL:

http://www.jfallen.org/~john/webstar/mcb/

Please try out the site, especially the "Lecture programme", and let me have any comments. Also please consider and let me know what the students may think about it.

The database

"MCB alias" is an alias to the FileMaker Pro database named "MCB", in the folder "MCB" of "WebSTAR" of "Server HD".

"MCB" serves up the lecture information, including references and abstracts, to the Molecular Cell Biology site.

I have tried to make the database "MCB" so that it is easy to enter abstracts or reference information in the labelled fields for each lecture or seminar. Doing this requires the program FileMaker Pro (v.3 or v.4). v.4 has "The Canvas problem" - it won't open if the same copy is running elsewhere on the network. v. 3 is quite enough to edit the database. The server is running v. 3.

Currently, Ineke, Annalisa and I have used FileMaker Pro, and can help if it is not clear what to do.

Uploads and downloads

Each student has a unique username and password to upload files on the server into his or her own folder. Files uploaded will appear in the individual's named folder in the folder "mcb_upload". If anyone wishes to collect work for marking by this route, there is an alias to the folder named "mcb_upload". The alias is on "Plant Cell Nucleus", in the folder "Grundutbildning", in the folder "Molecular Cell Biology".  I recommend that teachers who choose this method tell the students the file name that they should use to identify the practical report or other course unit.

Any files for particular students can be placed in the student's folders in "mcb_download", from where each student can gain access to the files his or her folder contains. An alias to "mcb_download" is located in the same folder as the alias to "mcb_upload". "mcb_download" contains one folder to which all students have access. It is named "¥MCB_Resources". Put any file for general distribution in "¥MCB_Resources".  The lab manual is there. In .pdf format it is searchable, and not modifiable. It is not available to the world - only to the students.

I have put in a general password for access to "¥MCB_Resources", so anyone of us can see what's going on the from the students' viewpoint. 

Username:  teacher
Password:  macrovirus

If anyone would like an individual folder (like Ineke and I, to test the system), username, and password, just let me know.


Some observations

I do encourage teachers and those acting as hosts of visiting lecturers to provide, particularly, hypertext links. Anyone who would like more, e.g. a page for a special part of the course, is welcome to put an ".html" file and any graphics in the "lmb" folder.

The internet is a new, valuable and, I would argue, revolutionary, resource for serious students. As I said in the introduction, it may put books and even universities out of business. Good students and good teachers will inevitably use the internet. Poor students, I would predict, will not understand its potential, and will want a contract stating what it is they have to learn, and so on... Poor teachers may, in turn, wish to try to maintain a monopoly on what students learn.

And we are not in those categories!

Enjoy....

John
1998.01.21