Thursday, August 30, 2001

An Online Course Teaches Students to Read Documents Written in Archaic Scripts By BROCK READ Title: "English Language Paleography" Institution: Brigham Young University Instructor: Vona Williams, a researcher and reference consultant at the Family History Library of the Mormon Church. The university's history department has authorized her to teach the course. Course content: The course offers basic training in English handwriting from the late 15th through the late 17th centuries. Students learn how to read old English alphabets and decode terms and abbreviations; they are also taught to use antique documents as historical tools. How delivered: The course is delivered entirely online, in 11 lessons that students take at their own pace. Each lesson begins with a series of online texts featuring images of alphabets and documents, as well as links to relevant Web sites. After completing the lesson's reading, students complete two exercises: an ungraded "mastery check" that allows them to track their own progress against an answer key, and a transcribing assignment that can be submitted for grading by e-mail, fax, or mail. Course requirements: In addition to the lesson assignments, the course has a final exam that includes both questions taken directly from the course lectures and previously unseen material that students must transcribe. When offered: Like other online courses offered by the university, "English Language Paleography" does not operate on a semester schedule. Once a student enrolls in the course, he has one year to complete it and can pay for a time extension if necessary. Enrollment: This year marks the course's distance-education debut. Eighteen students took a bricks-and-mortar version of the class last fall, and 29 more enrolled in a paper-and-pencil correspondence course. Cost: Tuition for the course is $284 for students wishing to receive university credit; students auditing the course pay a reduced fee. Unusual features: The course has a wide target audience, welcoming university students as well as professional and amateur genealogists. Students interested in reading official documents are encouraged to take the university's online Latin course, since many formal records were written in that language until the early 18th century. Instructor comment: Ms. Williams -- who first studied old English handwriting while pursuing a degree in genealogy -- says she gets a thrill from paleographic research. "It is very enjoyable," she says, "to be able to read a document that looks like you shouldn't be able to read it." U.R.L.: http://ce.byu.edu/courses/univ/734141400105/public/start.htm Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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