WebCT news at SFU

Request new course container
Get ready for the new semester planning: beat the early semester rush and request your Summer 2008 WebCT course container now. Use the course request form found at: http://webct.sfu.ca - please check that you have the correct section number (for example, D100, D200…) as this will ensure that your students are automatically enrolled in your WebCT course container.

A few basics
Start by uploading your syllabus into the course container so that your students have something to to refer to if they lose their paper copy. If you are going to use the Grade Book, then create the appropriate columns. As the semester unfolds, you can either enter the grades in WebCT or export the Grade Book to a spreadsheet format, and import grades as needed. You can add lecture recordings, RSS feeds and You Tube videos as well. There are instructions in SFUs wiki.

Help with WebCT tools and development
The LIDC will be hosting some WebCT workshops in early May. These are suitable for faculty, sessional instructors and TAs. Keep an eye on the LIDC calendar (http://www.lidc.sfu.ca/) and your email in box for the schedule. There are also self-help materials at http://wiki.sfu.ca/webct or you can email instructional_support@sfu.ca with specific questions or for a quick introduction to the WebCT software.

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

Use the Date rollover
Do you use the calendar tool, the assessment or assignment tools? All WebCT tools that have dates can be easily updated all at once using the date rollover function. In your new course container, go to the TEACH tab. Click on the Instructor Tool “Manage Course” and choose the option “Date Rollover.” Follow the instructions there to adjust either all dates or individual dates. Note that if you have old calendar items (from previous semesters) it can impact the calculations.

Course planning
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 and for some formative feedback.

Enclosed is some information for setting up your Spring 2008 WebCT container.

Adding lecture recordings to WebCT
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 the recording in your WebCT course. Check here for instructions: http://wiki.sfu.ca/webct/index.php/External#adding_SFU_lecture_recordings

Add your Teaching Assistants to WebCT
Your Teaching Assistant can use WebCT to administer and deliver grades, review completed quizzes or surveys, or moderate 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 TAs or colleagues to the WebCT course container.

Open the Teach Tab in your WebCT course, click on “Grade Book” under the header “Instructor Tools”. Once in the Grade Book, click on the button “Enroll Members” (found above the Grade Book spreadsheet). Enter in the computing ID for your TA, and check next to Teaching Assistant (this will give them access to the Teach Tab. To give them access to the Build Tab, select Section Designer as well). Click on the “Enroll” button, and remember to click “Save” before exiting this page.

Request your Spring 2008 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 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.

Weekly WebCT Office Hours
We are holding weekly WebCT Office hours on Thursdays, between 12:30 and 1:30pm at the LIDC (EDB 7560). Please drop in with questions, to get resources or to discuss your plans.

Online Resources for Instructors and Students

• Troubleshooting hints for instructors and students: http://toolkit.sfu.ca/webct/browser/
• Student resources: 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/ If you have any questions, please email instructional_support@sfu.ca

It’s often helpful to see how others have used new technologies. If you don’t have a sense of what a software can do, then it’s hard to make choices and prioritize your resources. Here’s a few locations that demonstrate good practices in WebCT:

Coventry University has some very specific examples of how WebCT is used in innovative ways in the classroom, and has written up two in more detail.

The University of Manchester has some detailed and specific descriptions of WebCT use in different courses.

University did a survey of what students wanted to see in their WebCT courses. The results are very similar to the survey that SFU did of students in 2005.

I find it useful to see how other approach similar objectives or challenges. Even if it’s nothing radically different from what you are already doing, it’s comforting to know that others have taken the same approach. I’m using these examples, the questions that we receive from SFU staff and more to develop a set of instructional scenarios, to help connect the various tools in WebCT with divergent objectives and available resources. Knowing how it interconnects I hope will help people make that leap to incorporating more sophisticated - or streamlined methods in their own web-supported teaching environments.

This is going to be part one of a three part series: the planning, delivering and wrapping up a web-supported course.

With some simple planning, you can reduce the basic administration associated with the classroom and connect with students. Alternative texts, video or audio can provide depth or context to student learning. Extending the classroom discussion to an online environment or reinforce concepts with regular assessments and feedback. How might this save you time in basic tasks, help you connect with students, recognize diverse ways of teaching and learning, and increase student learning?

part one: planning and setup 

To start, get some inspiration by looking at other web-based courses (http://www.webct.com/exemplary), attending a workshop or asking colleagues.

Advance planning will help you set your objectives, manage expectations and prioritize your time. What do you want your students take away from this course? What materials, approach and assessments can help you reach these objectives? Incorporate ideas that you’ve seen in other web-supported courses or that your colleagues have told you about. Which administrative tasks take up time in the classroom? How can a web-supported course help?

Write a list of the content, links, resources, and media that you currently use or would like to use for a course. Use this content to reinforce concepts, use different learning and teaching styles or to provide alternative resources and viewpoints. Review the tools available - is there anything new you’d like to try? Take the content, the communications and the assessment and put it in a logical order.

Write a welcome message using the announcements tool or the discussion forum to state your expectations, and what students can expect from you in this environment. Describe to your students the learning path this course will take and how the combination of the web-supported and face to face classrooms will support their learning.

When you are ready, request an online course section using the form at http://webct.sfu.ca∞

Your course container is yours to customize. Start by adding the tools you want to use. Add your syllabus and any course material - you can hide it or set release date to manage student access. Using the assessments described in the syllabus, setup the gradebook, and give your “demo student” some grades. Use the student view tab to see how the content appears, which grade columns are visible and which tools are available. Reinforce the prerequisites needed for your course by creating a low-stakes quiz to bring students up to speed, and help connect your course with the prerequisites.

Students are added to your web-supported course section automatically at SFU, as they register in SIMS. By default, students will be able to access the online materials in WebCT on the first day of classes.