WebCT news at SFU

I’ve updated the blog, and moved the postings and the feed to:

http://blogs.sfu.ca/services/webct/

The most common question we get at this time of the semester is how to add Teaching Assistants to WebCT course containers. You must have access to the Teach Tab (and the instructor role) to do so. There are two ways:

1. You can use the Enroll Members button in the Gradebook to quickly add co-designers and TAs. There are more detailed instructions here.
2. Or, you can add the Course Tools function to your course, which will also allow you to add co-instructors, and to change the dates when your students can access the course container. Students are automatically given access to WebCT course containers on the first day of the new semester at 12:01am, and have access until the beginning of the next semester.

It’s a new semester, and you might wish to remove old courses from your WebCT class list. These instructions are the same for instructors, TAs and students:

When you login to WebCT, click on the small pencil icon next to the “Course List” header. You will be taken to a screen titled “Edit Course List.” From there you can hide links to inactive courses if you like, or reorder your Course List. When you are done, simply click on the MyWebCT tab in the upper left corner again. This will not impact anyones access to the course. It simply hides it from your view.

To reorder the course list, select the courses you’d like to move by clicking in the small box next to the course name (checking the selection box), and then clicking on the box with yellow bars (under the header Move) to where you’d like your course to appear in the list.

The University of Carleton has a teaching and learning blog, with some postings on WebCT use.

This postings discusses the use of educational technology as a means of acheiving (or at least approaching) a paperless classroom.  Instructors at the University of Carleton and at SFU post classroom materials online: syllabus, lecture outlines, links to readings and weblinks and assignment descriptions and guidelines online. This gives the student just one place to look for these materials (instead of coming through past emails, or stacks of paper). Online quizzes can also be a means of implementing regular assessment (graded or self-testing) and feedback into the course without contending with mountains of paperwork.

Another posting is more general, talking about creating learning opportunites using technology.  This is an opportunity to look at three different courses who use the WebCT online environment to:

• create long term resources
• reducing trivial emailed students from students
• fostering an online learning community
• create a common look and feel for the course
• using images on the course content home to reinforce key ideas and concepts from the course
• importing other tools (Google Calendar or Picasa photo management) into WebCT, to combine those tools ease of use with a central online location for the course materials and community.

We are planning on having some SFU faculty demonstrate their use of WebCT in the new year. Keep an eye on the LIDC calendar of events for dates and times.

I’ve suggested in the past, and someone just reminded me, that it would be useful to be able to disable file upload for the assignments tool. Many of our faculty at SFU use the assignment tool to deliver and describe classroom assignments, but don’t necessarily want to collect the assignments online.

You can also make this suggestion (or any of your own!) at: http://www.blackboard.com/products/suggest.bb 

As the end of classes approaches, enclosed are some quick links to information on moving grades to SIMS, adding co-instructors and advance preparation for the next semester.

Move Final Grades to SIMS

Save time in calculating final grades: if you have access to the TEACH tab in WebCT, you can use the Grade Book to create a file that is ready for uploading final grades to SIMS. Step by step instructions are available here: http://wiki.sfu.ca/webct/index.php/Student_grades#WebCT_grades_and_SIMS

Course Tools: modify access dates and add co-instructors

The WebCT administrators at Simon Fraser University have recently added a new tool called “Course Tools”. Once you add the tool to your WebCT course container, you are able to add and remove members (Primary Instructors, Instructors, Designers, Teaching Assistants and Auditors), and be able to modify the start and end date access of your course container. To add the “Course Tools”, please consult the following instructions.

Request new course container

Get ready for the new semester planning: beat the early semester rush and request your Spring 2009 WebCT course container now. Use the course request form found at: http://webct.sfu.ca

How did the fall semester go?

Take a moment to consider how the fall semester went. Is there anything you’d like to streamline? Use more frequently? Are there any in-class activities or learning or administrative materials that can be transferred to the online environment? Did you link to or upload sufficient content for the students?

Course planning: decide on your objectives

You may wish to try something new this semester. There are some instructional scenarios compiled online, or consider the following options:

Reflective practice: a “journal” topic (found in the discussion tool) may enable you to encourage weekly reflection.

Group Work: The “group manager” tool can create custom or automatic groups, and provide a private group forum in the discussion or chat area for group members.

Self-tests: The “assessments” tool can be used to create either quizzes or self-tests (ungraded, and for immediate feedback).

Surveys: Why wait until the end of the semester? The “assessments” tool can also be used to survey your students at the beginning of the semester to assess prior knowledge or expectations, or mid-semester to find out what they are thinking and how their learning is progressing.

WebCT resources

We continue to edit and update the WebCT wiki: http://wiki.sfu.ca/webct , where you can find extensive downloadable documentation on specific tools.  We have made some organizational changes to the wiki to highlight available materials, and the most popular wiki pages. The site also contains links on instructional scenarios  a page listing all the tutorials and documentation available, and a list of custom changes that the administrators at SFU have implemented.

Today someone asked about having two sections (for example, D100 and D200) in one WebCT course container. This happens regularly, as it means as an instructor, you only have to load up content once, and design and coordinate one course container.

When you (the instructor) use the course request form, you can use the Crosslisting option on the course request form to do this.  Start by requesting a course shell for one your course sections, and when you get to part two of the course request form (where it confirms your course number and title), you will have an option to choose to crosslist.
In a course container with two class lists, all of the students would be merged in the gradebook. Students are identified in the Grade Book by their section number, however, so you could search for all D100 or D200 students (for example) in order to see only specific students. To search for students, open the Grade Book, click on the “Grade Book Options” icon, and choose Find Students from the drop down menu. You can then choose the column, and the condition (”begins with”) and search for D100 (for example). Unfortunately, the system will not save your saved searches, but it will separate the students lists for you.

All of the content and tools in the course container4 would be visible to all, but if you did want to have some section-specific content, you can use the selective release to only show content (or discussion groups) to students from specific sections.

The WebCT administrators at Simon Fraser University just added a new proxy tool called “Course Tools”.  Once added to your WebCT course container, you are able to add and remove members (Primary Instructors, Instructors, Designers, Teaching Assistants and Auditors), and be able to modify the start and end date restriction.  To add the “Course Tools”, please do the following :

1. Log in to WebCT
2. Go to the Course and go to the Build tab
3. Within the ‘Home page’, click on the drop-down arrow for ‘Add Content Link’
4. Click on ‘Course Tools’
5. Select ‘Create Course Tools’
6. Enter the tile of ‘Course Tools’ and hit ‘Save’
7. Click on the drop-down arror for ‘Course Tools’ and click ‘Hide Item’.  Currently, the Course Tools only has options for Section Instructors and Designers.  Therefore, it’s best to hide the item from student to eliminate confusion.
8. Go to the Teach tab
9. Go to the ‘Coures Tools’
10. Select ‘Course members’ or ‘Course dates’ option and follow the instructions

This new addition will give faculty and instructors greater control over when students can access the course. Instructors will still be able to add co-instructors, TAs and co-designers and change the start and end date that students can access the course in the Course Request Form, but this is a new chance to modify these restrictions after the course has been created. The default access dates for students will continue to be the first day of the new semester until the first day of the next semester.

Request new WebCT course container
Use the course request form found at: http://webct.sfu.ca The course request form has options to add your Teaching Assistants, copy the course content from a previous WebCT course, and modify the dates that students will be able to access WebCT (by default, students have access from the first day of the semester to the last). It will take one to two
working days for your course container to appear in WebCT.

Student access to WebCT
By default, your students will be able to access your requested WebCT course container on September 2nd, 12:01 AM. For more information on adds and drops, visit here:  http://wiki.sfu.ca/webct/index.php/Start_here#Student_access_and_enrollment

Add your Teaching Assistants to WebCT

Your Teaching Assistant can use WebCT to administer and deliver grades, review completed quizzes or surveys, or host an online questions and answers in the discussions tool. You will need your Teaching Assistants’ computing IDs (the login name they use to login to WebCT, for example) to add your teaching assistants or colleagues to the WebCT course container. For step by step instructions, and more information on the TA role in WebCT: https://wiki.sfu.ca/webct/index.php/Who%27s_who#Teaching_Assistant

Add lecture recordings

Create a seamless link between large class lectures and your WebCT course container to provide learning opportunities for students outside the classroom. If your lecture hall lectures are recorded, you can now place a quick link to them in your WebCT course. Check here for instructions on adding a weblink: http://wiki.sfu.ca/webct/index.php/External

Add an external RSS feed to your course

RSS feeds can add immediacy to your course, and are a platform for ongoing news items or blog updates.
If you are familiar with RSS feeds, and would like to add them to your WebCT course section, there are instructions on finding and adding feeds: http://wiki.sfu.ca/webct/index.php/External#adding_RSS_feeds

Add a Wiki

Wikis are simple and editable online pages that you and your students can use to collaborate on group projects or the development of course notes. If you would like to add a wiki to your course container, please email  instructional_support@sfu.ca  and we will be happy to set it up and discuss its implementation and management.

Hide older courses from your course list

You can hide any inactive courses on your MyWebCT page. For details, click here: http://wiki.sfu.ca/webct/index.php/Navigate_and_customize and select the header titled “Hide inactive courses on your My WebCT page.

Review new course container

Look at your course container with fresh eyes, or ask a colleague to look at it. Are the posted dates correct? Is the course homepage clearly organized – will students know where to access course notes and other resources?

Course planning: decide on tools
You may wish to try something new this semester:

•  Reflective practice: a “journal” topic (found in the discussion tool) may enable you to encourage weekly reflection.
•  Group Work: The “group manager” tool can create custom or automatic groups, and provide a private group forum in the discussion or chat area for group members.
•  Self-tests: The “assessments” tool can be used to create either quizzes or self-tests (ungraded, and for immediate feedback).
• Surveys: Why wait until the end of the semester? The “assessments” tool can also be used to survey your students at the beginning of the semester to assess their prior knowledge, or mid-semester to find out what they are thinking.

Online and individual Resources for Instructors and Students

•  Troubleshooting hints for instructors and students:  http://toolkit.sfu.ca/webct/browser/
•  Student help: http://wiki.sfu.ca/webct/index.php/Student_FAQ
•  Online tutorials, pdf downloads and quick answers for faculty, instructors and teaching assistants: http://wiki.sfu.ca/webct/
•  Workshops, drop-ins and information sessions for instructors and teaching assistants: https://webserver.lidc.sfu.ca/tep/fall-08/calendar.php
• If you have any questions about any of the WebCT tools, or would like to schedule some one on one help, please email instructional_support@sfu.ca

I was talking to someone about the assignment tool the other day who didn’t understand why assignments were downloaded the way they were.

All I could do was explain the steps required according to how the tool was designed. We lease this software from a company called Blackboard.  If you have ideas that you’d like implemented (like drag and drop file management?) or design changes that would make your users experience better, then you should tell them! They have a suggestion drop-box that anyone can contribute to. It’s a big bit of software, so changes won’t occur overnight, but the more suggestions they get, the more likely the software will meet your needs.

If you are a student, you can use the link to Ask Dr.C on the right side of the student support page.  If you are faculty, teaching staff or a TA, you also have a link to Ask Cr. C on the instructors and designers support page.