WebCT news at SFU

This is fixed as of May 2008.

If you use the built in Syllabus tool, you can add a “Resources” item for your recommended and required readings.

Currently, any reading that you add to the Resources item will appear as “recommended” texts. This has been reported to WebCT, and this will be fixed in the next appplicatioin pack. Simon Fraser University does not expect to be able to install this application pack until the fall 2007 semester.

If you use the Syllabus tool, please consider adding a “custom HTML” item to the built-in syllabus tool to list your readings, instead of the “resources” item

Suggestion sent to the developers at WebCT/Blackboard

I’d like to be able to “preview” an anncouncement before I send it. Oftentimes, the message looks completely different once I’ve sent it due to HTML coding.

Remember that you can make your own suggestions to them here. The more suggestions they get, the more likely they are to implement them.

You can now download final grades from your WebCT gradebook into SIMS. If you are using the Gradebook in WebCT, the process described below will create a file that can be imported to SIMS without any formatting changes necessary.

1. in the gradebook, create a letter column and title it SIMS Grade (without this column you will not be able upload final grades into SIMS. The column name must exactly match SIMS Grade or it will not be recognized.)
2. go to http://www.sfu.ca/webctgradesdownload
3. login with your SFU ID.
4. choose to export the grades from your course
5. save to desktop, and it is ready to send to SIMS.

Consult the WebCT wiki for more instructions.
For information on loading grades into SIMS, please consult the SIMS site.

NEWS:
SFU will be upgrading WebCT CE6 to WebCT Vista4 for the 2007 Summer Semester. The purpose of the upgrade is to improve our ability to handle the continued rapid growth in the use of WebCT at SFU, and is primarily administrative.

WebCT Vista will appear identical to current CE6 users. The tools (grade book, file manager, quizzes, etc) will function exactly the same. Neither Spring 2006 courses nor Summer 2007 courses will be impacted by this administrative upgrade.

This administrative upgrade will include the ablility to have proper templates and shared repositories of files. As we figure out how these new tools work, we’ll share our findings.

DOCUMENTATION:
Review the documentation and description on the vendor’s site.

When creating a quiz or survey in WebCT, one of the options is to send the results of each submission to an external email address.

If you have a large class, your inbox would quickly fill with the individual responses, but if you have a small class, or use the platform for self-directed quizzes or assessment, this is a very useful summary of a student’s responses.

In the BUILD tab, open the assessment in question. Using the ActionLink, choose “edit properties.” Scroll down to the bottom, and click on the header “submission options.” You can choose then to have each of the individual student submissions sent to an external email address.

Today’s suggestion sent to WebCT/Blackboard:

When creating a new announcement in a class, currently I can either sent a pre-determined end-date or it can be an ongoing announcement. Once I’ve created an announcement without and end date, however, I cannot remove it from the announcements without deleting it. I’d like to be able to “expire” an existing announcement - that way the students don’t see it any more, but I can still see it as an expired announcement.

Remember that you can make your own suggestions to them here. The more suggestions they get, the more likely they are to implement them.