Content Module
Search - to search for a feature, enter a search keyword in the 'search page' box above. To repeat the search, click the 'search page' button again.
To view feature details, scroll down
Note: underlined features are linked to online help files
WebCT (Web Course Tools) is a suite of educational tools that allows an instructor/designer to create a web-based interactive learning environment. The learning environment includes:
WebCT can be used to create entire on-line courses, or to enhance learning
in classroom-based courses.
To learn more about WebCT 4 Campus Edition you can view the Self-Guided
Tour or go to the
WebCT Campus Edition 4.0 Orientation Center
Most WebCT courses only use some of the tools described below.
The RPI Syllabus template is an add-on feature included in the RPI WebCT course template (i.e. not officially part of WebCT software).
The RPI syllabus template can help you quickly generate an online version of your course syllabus. It can be easily modified by viewing it in the Netscape browser and then editing it in Netscape Composer. You can enter/edit text directly into this template or copy/paste text from another file or web site. Once you have completed your syllabus you can easily publish it to your WebCT course site using the Netscape Composer publish feature.
The Course Notes page template is an add-on feature included in the RPI WebCT template course (i.e. not officially part of WebCT software).The RPI course notes page template is a good place to include text content or links to content files. It can be used for a single page of course notes or as a table of contents page with links to other course pages. The page can be easily modified by viewing it in the Netscape browser and then editing it in Netscape Composer. You can enter/edit text directly into this template or copy/paste text from another file or web site. Once you have completed your Course Notes page you can easily publish it to your WebCT course site using the Netscape Composer publish feature.
The 'Content' Module tool has 5 primary features:
1) Provides a table of contents structure for easily organizing/accessing course
content documents
2) Provides the ability to link WebCT Tools (glossary, bulletin board, index,
educational goals, audio clips, video clips, quizzes, student self-test questions,
references to books, files, URLs) to individual content pages.
3) allows students to monitor their progress through course content using the
Progress Tool (see below)
4) allows an instructor to track student progress through course content pages
5) allows an instructor to track page access in a content module
The course designer can create a searchable glossary of terms; links from the notes to the glossary entries are added automatically by WebCT (under the control of the course designer). Thus, the glossary can be reached by the student in one of two ways - by clicking on a highlighted word in the notes (this displays the glossary entry for that word or term) or clicking on the glossary button in the button bar (this displays of portions of the glossary, and allows arbitrary searches of the glossary).
Search allows you to conduct a search for text within any course. Searching is limited to course content and tools that you have added to your course. This means, for example, that if you do not add Index, the Index option will not appear in the Search drop-down box.
Note: Students can use Search only if you have added it to your course. Search can then be opened on the page on which you place it. It also appears as a hyperlink on every page of your course. For more information on how to add Search, see Add Page or Tool.
The WebEQ Equation Editor has been integrated into WebCT so that you can easily create, save, and view complex equations within WebCT. The Equation Editor allows WebCT users to type, manipulate, and edit mathematical notations in many WebCT tools and areas - including content pages, quiz questions and answers, discussion topics and messages, mail, and notes.
Although installing a plug-in is not required to use the equation editor, it is strongly recommended, since it will significantly improve performance and response time when working with the equation editor.
The WebCT calendar can be used to communicate important course dates and events. Calendar messages can contain links to course files and URLs. The instructor and students can use this tool as a private calendar and as a course calendar. The instructor and students (if permitted) can make public entries. An instructor/designer can download entries to a text file, modify them and then upload them to the calendar. An instructor can make private message entries ahead of time and then make them public (release them to students) when the time is appropriate.
WebCT also has a global calendar tool which enables students and instructors, TAs to look at all their course calendars at one time from their my WebCT page. Calendar entries can be associated with a course identifier and displayed in a Palm Date book.
The course designer can upload images to be included in the course. WebCT provides a page that allows the association of annotations and free text with each image. Students can search for images based on these. Search results are presented in the form of a page containing thumbnail-sized versions of the matching images (the thumbnail versions are generated automatically by WebCT). Clicking on any of the thumbnails presents the corresponding full image. Image databases can be private to a course, or can be shared by any number of WebCT courses running on the same server.
This tool allows the automatic creation of an index of course content and terms. The course designer can add index entries to point to pages of content. Index entries are ordered alphabetically. Each entry can be annotated by the course designer to indicate some special attribute (for example, an annotation "definition of" might be added to a reference for a term on the page where that term was defined). If the student does not find the term they are looking for in the index, they can enter their own term. The course content can be searched to a selectable depth, with the results shown as a series of links that can be perused.
You can use References to direct students to supplementary information sources, or Resources. A resource can be a textbook, an article, or an Internet address (URL).
References can only be attached to pages of content in a content module. Before you can add a reference to a page of content, you must first create the resource. Once a resource has been added, you can create a reference to it from any page of content.
There are 3 kinds of bookmarks :
Discussion
/ Course Conferencing System / Bulletin Board
The discussion tool allows communication among all course participants (instructor, graders and students). WebCT keeps track of which articles are read by each student and, by default, initially presents only unread articles. Messages can be searched for content, sender, date of sending, and other search criteria. Messages can be in plain text or html. Messages can contain file attachments and links to URLs. At the end of a semester messages can be downloaded to a PC text file for archive purposes.
The Chat Tool allows synchronous (real-time) communication among students and their instructor(s). The student's view shows the chat rooms, their names, and a list of course participants in each room. The list of users in each chat area is available. Most of the chat rooms are exclusive to students in that course, but there is also one general chat room that allows communication among students in any course on the same WebCT server. Four of the chat rooms are logged in case the instructor wishes to peruse the exchanges taking place there.
The WebCT Whiteboard allows for real-time communication among course participants using a graphical paint interface. A user draws on his whiteboard and all other users see what he has drawn. The instructor is given the power to allow the saving and loading of whiteboards. Future enhancements include the ability to create multiple whiteboards per course, restrict whiteboards to certain users and make specific functions on the whiteboard usable only by those permitted by the instructor.
Assignments
Tool (formerly Assignment Drop-Box)
The Assignments tool allows an instructor to create and distribute course assignments to students; students submit their assignments in a controlled online environment. Once an assignment has been submitted the instructor can download, evaluate, and assign a grade to the completed work. The grade will appear in the student grade database.
The assignments page template (different from the Assignments tool) is an add-on feature included in the RPI WebCT template course (i.e. not officially part of WebCT software). The assignments page template is simply a single web page that can be used to display or link to course assignments and solutions. This page can be easily modified by viewing it in the Netscape browser and then editing it in Netscape Composer. An instructor or TA can enter/edit text directly into this template or copy/paste text from another file or web site. Once completed, it can be easily published to the WebCT course site using the Netscape Composer publish feature.
Quizzes and surveys can
be completely or partially graded by WebCT depending upon the type of questions
in the quiz; WebCT is unable to automatically grade paragraph questions.
Survey responses are automatically tabulated, and the results are summarized.
You can:
- create quizzes and surveys
- control how and when students have access to quizzes and surveys
- create a database of quiz or survey questions
- select questions from the question database for inclusion in quizzes or surveys
- grade or regrade student submissions
- display and analyze quiz and survey results
- create quiz questions on your own computer and import them into WebCT
Student Presentations allows you to create groups of students within a class and assign them a project that they assemble in their own area of your WebCT course. The groups create their presentation in HTML as linked web pages. You, and other students in the course can view the completed project. Projects could be collaborative writing assignments, research proposals, or multimedia Web presentations on particular course topics. If you want to assign students to individual student presentations, you can do that as well. Student Presentations allows you to: create groups manually or generate groups at random, using the Group Generator edit groups after you have created them create a group discussion area. Students access this feature through the Discussions feature. send mail to each group of students using Mail. view students' completed work
Your students can use the Presentations tool only after it has been added to the Homepage or an Organizer page.
Each student can view his or her own marks as entered by the course designer/TA/grader. The student also has access to minimum, maximum and average marks for each course component (at the discretion of the instructor). Students have on-line access to the comments and grades for each on-line quiz written and marked.
In WebCT 4 for for both the assignment and assessment areas, students can now see a quick summary of which assignments and assessments are available, which are already late, and which are due within the next 48 hours.
**** Class Announcements (day/month/year)****
The announcements text block is an add-on feature included in the RPI WebCT template course (i.e. not officially part of WebCT software). and instructor or TA can use a text block on the homepage to make announcements to the class in a place where they will be immediately visible to students.
WebCT Campus Edition 4.0 includes new course design wizards, providing step-by-step guides that walk faculty and course designers through the completion of common course tasks, including setting up their course Homepage, Syllabus, Organizer Pages, Content Modules, Discussions, Mail, Calendar and Chat.
View demo: Easy course design with wizards
WebCT Campus Edition 4.0 makes it possible to create content modules offline using applications such as Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft FrontPage, and Microsoft PowerPoint, and to directly import these objects into WebCT, with all of their structure and linking intact. Learning objects, including both content modules and the assessment suite, can also be tagged and exported for storage or re-use.
View demo: Learning object import
WebCT Campus Edition 4.0 includes an HTML Editor with spell-check, providing course designers with "What You See is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) content creation and editing capabilities, making it easier than ever to create and maintain content within the WebCT course environment.
Designers have the ability in Campus Edition 4.0 to preview all
student tools, including MyGrades and
MyProgress.
Print
Study-Guide (Content Compiler)
WebCT's 'compile' tool presents a listing of all course content, and allows the student to select content of interest for presentation as a single web-page. This facilitates easy printing of course content and can be used by students to create customized study guides for review before an exam.
Multiple-choice questions can supplement any page of notes in a content module. If there are any such questions associated with a page, WebCT generates a button on the button bar for that page to make them accessible. Clicking on that button presents the questions. WebCT automatically marks student responses correct or incorrect. An explanation can accompany each answer saying why the chosen answer was correct or incorrect, and perhaps supplying hints or extra information.
The My Progress tool allows a student to see the parts of the course he/she have accessed, and the number of content module pages visited. He/She can also view a history of the content module pages visited, including the time the page was accessed. To use the My Progress tool, you must log on to your course as a student. The instructor can see how a student is progressing through the course material by using Student Tracking. To view how an individual student is progressing, see Viewing an Individual Student's Activity.
On entering a WebCT course, a student has the option of clicking on the resume-session tool; this places them in the same location in the course where they left off last time they were using that course. This restores context for the student and allows learning to resume as quickly as possible. Note: this tool only works for content accessed through a content module.
The course designer can add a button to any page of notes which, when clicked by a student, allows that student to make personal annotations for that page of notes. The annotations created are private to that student and persist as long as the student has an account for that course. A student could use an annotation as a reminder of some insight or clarification gained after reading this document.
Student Tips allows you to write tips for students on topics such as using WebCT. These tips display randomly each time a student logs onto your course. Students can control whether or not they see the Student Tip of the Day by enabling/disabling Student Tips. Students can use Student Tips only if you have added it to your course. For instructions on adding Student Tips, see Adding a Page or Tool. With Student Tips, you can: add tips one at a time; import tips from a file; edit tips in WebCT; download tips for editing; delete all or selected tips.
Each student can create a homepage for view by others in the same course. The student is provided with an authoring interface much like that of the course designer's. Students can add images, text and links to their homepage without knowing any html at all. The homepage can be called up from a number of locations, including the homepage listing, e-mail, the conferencing system, student management and student progress tracking.
Students can access their own version of the online help system which is >topic and tool specific. It will usually answer most questions. For additional help students can complete a problem report form.
A WebCT course is only accessible to students who have a WebCT global id and password and have registered for the course. For student accounts, the WebCT system uses the student's RCS id and password for authentication. Thus, students cannot change their WebCT/RCS password within WebCT. For instructors and designers who have a separate WebCT designer account (e.g. belld2_des), the WebCT system uses a WebCT id and password. Thus, the passwords for designer accounts can be changed within WebCT from the user's 'my WebCT' page. Anyone having difficulty logging in to a course should email webct-support @rpi.edu.
Your my WebCT page lists all courses to which you have access. You can access any course on your my WebCT page without re-entering your user ID and password.
Your my WebCT page also contains:
- a capsule summary of what's new for you on the course site (new postings
for discussion, calendar, grades, etc.)
- announcements from the WebCT administrator
- bookmarks to institutional resources
- personal bookmarks you set up
- links in the upper right-hand corner to change logon hint, change password,
WebCT entry page, and online help files
You can choose to release course content, assignments, quizzes, etc. selectively, i.e. to a select group of students or for a limited time period:
Student progress tracking pages allows the designer to monitor student progress in the course. Indicators such as date of first and last access, time spent on system, percentage of pages visited, and more is available. An indication of course participation by way of the bulletin board is also available in terms of number of original and follow-up postings, and percentage of articles read. The students can be sorted on any tracking field in order to easily identify students who, for example, have stopped making access to the course, or who are prolific posters to the conferences.
Page tracking indicates the total number of accesses to, and on average the duration of access to each course page. This can be used to make inferences about the level of interest or difficulty of a page.
The WebCT backup utility allows the course instructor/TA to:
(1) backup a course on the WebCT server;
(2) download the backup to a PC for safe keeping
(3) restore the backup to the WebCT server;
(4) move the course from one server to another
The CD-ROM tool allows students to quickly access large multimedia content files from a local CDROM. In many instances it would not be feasable to deliver these files over the web.
If a course requires access to large multimedia files, it is a good idea to distribute the files on a CDROM rather than putting them on the WebCT server or streaming them. This enables much faster access to content and significantly reduces the disk space demand on the WebCT server.
This tool can help you create an exciting interactive course. Instructors can distribute a CD at the begriming of the course that includes all the images, charts, PowerPoint presentations, audio and movie files that will be used during a course.
This tool is only viewable from the student perspective (you must log on as a student to view and test the CDROM).
This feature allows an instructor to easily reset student information in the course, such as student records, bulletin board, mail, calendar and others.
Teaching Assistants (formerly graders)
In WebCT 3, the term 'teacher assistant' refers to a grader level account, i.e. a user who has been given the ability to enter and edit student grades. The TA or grader cannot also be a student in the same course.
If you want your teaching assistants to have designer level access to your course, then you can give them shared designer accounts. Shared designer accounts have the same privileges as the instructor/designer.
You can request as many shared designer or grader accounts as you like for your course.
WebDav Drag/Drop File Management
WebDAV is a protocol that allows convenient connectivity between a remote server and a local workstation. WebDAV can now be used with WebCT to provide true "Drag and Drop" file transfer capabilities between your PC and the WebCT server.
The Content Assistant allows you to search for content on the web and then add the URL to your course site.
You can search for any of the following resources on WebCT.com:
· the
e-Learning Hub — for relevant course material:
· Resource
Library: lets you create a WebCT course or share something
you've designed
· Discipline-specific
Web site directories: lets you pinpoint online information
for class assignments
· Discussion
Forums: lets you ask questions of our experts or discuss issues
with your peers
WebCT Campus Edition 4.0 includes a browser checker that automatically detects whether or not the user's browser is supported by WebCT. If the browser is not supported, users are given the option of downloading a supported browser. The browser checker provides automatic troubleshooting, which enhances the user experience and helps to reduce support call volume on campus.
WebCT Campus Edition 4.0 has a new look! The style of the application has been updated throughout and controls have been grouped and positioned to facilitate easier access and more efficient course design. Additionally, the designer interface has been divided into tabs that clearly separate the student and the designer views, making it easier for designers to manage their movement through the online environment as they are designing and previewing their courses.
The look and feel of a WebCT course site can be customized. Course Settings allows you to set the global default settings for the appearance of all visual aspects of your course pages, such as the color scheme, the background image, the icon style and image you use as a hyperlink, and a hit counter. Course Settings also allows you to set the Instructor name, choose the language, show or hide the Navigation Bar, create or edit your Welcome Page, and configure the Action Menu that appears in the student view on each page of course content.
Many of the WebCT administrative tools are integrated. For example, in student management you can perform a query to list only those students who achieved more than, say, 80 on their midterm. Then you can choose to copy those student names to the WebCT clipboard. Now you could move to the e-mail tool, and click on paste from clipboard to fill in the to field of the message in order to send all those students a congratulatory message. Likewise you could go to the progress-tracking tool and list only those students to see what kind of accesses they have been making to the on-line environment.
The welcome page is accessible from the course-listing page; it lies outside the access-controlled course. Thus anyone, even those without a WebCT course account, can view the welcome page. This page is useful for promoting the course to prospective students by providing a course description and contact person. Only students who already have a WebCT global id and are registered in the course can login to the course from here. Logging in from a course welcome page will take you directly to the course home.
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The Course Map allows you to view and navigate through your entire course on one page. The Course Map link appears on the top Menu Bar throughout WebCT. Course Map automatically updates whenever you make a change to the course. This feature is useful for complex courses, and can greatly simplify your navigation through a course.
WebCT email allows the instructor and students to send private messages to each other within the WebCT environment or to external email accounts. Messages can be searched by sender, content and date of sending. At the end of a semester messages can be compiled into a single file and downloaded to a PC.
WebCT.com (site index)
A site to share information, ideas, goals, and WebCT resources. WebCT.com has discipline-specific communities, as well as areas that focus on general topics, all of which support teaching and learning for designers and students alike.
Here are some examples of what WebCT.com offers:
· Discussion
Forums - ask questions of our experts or discuss vital issues with your peers
· Discipline-specific
Web site directories pinpoint online information relevant to class
assignments.
· Discipline-specific
Web searches that minimize irrelevant search results.
· Resource
Library to help you create a WebCT course or share something
you've designed.
· Areas
where designers and students learn about WebCT
· View
the WebCT Content Showcase (demos)
· Find
WebCT Technical Support Resources.
Questions about this page
may be directed to webct-support@rpi.edu
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