This is not history just to memorize dates, places, and people's names so you can answer questions on an exam. The history of the Internet and the Web is not nearly as simple as it might seem on the surface. There are heroes who saved the day and villains who tried to keep the heroes from saving the day. There were complex engineering issues that needed to be solved in a hurry. By looking at what really happened and hearing directly from those who built it, we also learn about how humans work together to solve large, complex, and undefined problems.

The course is about 60% recorded lectures and 40% video interviews with Internet pioneers. It will be comprised of a series of 10-30 minute segments with some assessment material at the end of each segment. You should expect to spend 2-5 hours per week viewing the material, doing extra readings, participating in discussions with fellow students, and taking the assessments.

No. The materials are mostly self-contained and extra materials will be available on the Web or available for free from within the course.

No. No programs. Trust me. No programs.

Sort of. Within any week of the course, you can look at the material and take assessments whenever you have time available, regardless of your time zone. But we will move the course along and there will be due dates for each assessment to keep us all moving forward together. So you can't wait until the last week and do all the material in a day or two. We expect that you will be committed and work on the course each week as you would for any other college class.

The professor will be nearby and monitoring the course. If problems come up, there may be a need for online office hours or even the just-in-time development of extra materials if a lot of students get stuck on a particular topic or idea. The discussion forum is an important part of the class and your fellow students will answer many questions. Teaching staff will monitor and interact in the forums as well. You can follow the instructor on Twitter @drchuck to get a sense of where he is during the course.

No. But after you take this course, we hope you get inspired to want to learn HTML.

Yes. Students who successfully complete the class will receive a Statement of Accomplishment signed by the instructor.