About WebCT

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What is WebCT?

Web Course Tools (WebCT) is a program that can help you create sophisticated web-based educational courses. It was developed in the Department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia by Murray W. Goldberg and can be used to create entire online courses, or to simply publish materials that supplement existing courses. Little technical expertise is needed to use WebCT.

WebCT provides a shell where teachers can place content information, both as text and images. It also provides navigation and useful functions including communication, testing, student tracking and grading tools, a calendar and student presentation area.

Once a WebCT unit is set up, a staff member with basic information technology skills should be able to maintain it. The most technically difficult aspect of setting up a WebCT online unit is the production of the HTML documents, and this is done outside WebCT. The TLC provides assistance with the production of WebCT units.

User roles in WebCT

There are four classes of user in WebCT:

  • Administrator
  • Designer (usually the Unit Coordinator)
  • Teaching Assistants (Marker/Grader)
  • Students

Administrator

There is only one administrator account. The administrator (a TLC staff member) can initialise and delete courses and provide access for course designers. The administrator does not configure or add any content to a course, but simply initialises a course shell and makes the Murdoch WebCT Template available to a designer.

Designer

Each course has a designer, who is normally the unit coordinator. The content and student activities for a course are provided by the designer who can use the navigation and functionality provided by WebCT to manipulate the course, create quizzes, alter grades, check student progress and define student presentation groups. WebCT also allows the designer a degree of freedom to alter the online appearance of the course.

WebCT provides a designer interface (designer view) in which the designer creates and modifies the course. The designer also has access to the student view to see how the course appears to the student.

Designer View
Designer view of the unit homepage

Student View
Student view of the unit homepage

Teaching Assistant (Marker)

Each course can have any number of Teaching Assistants. A teaching assistant has access to the student view, and can also grade quizzes and manipulate student grades. Teaching assistants cannot alter the course itself.

Students

Each course can have any number of Students. Students cannot manipulate the course content (other than in student presentation areas as defined by the designer).

How do I get a WebCT Unit?

Step 1
Unit Coordinator
  • Enter an online request for a WebCT unit
    •  -  
    		 select the link to WebCT Unit Request from WebCT Login page
  • Enter your Murdoch number and password
    You will be asked to enter the following data:
     -  
    		 unit code
     -  
    		 whether you want a new WebCT unit or a unit based on an existing unit and the WebCT code for that unit
     -  
    		 the group(s) of students who will access the unit
     -  
    		 coordinator name - if it is different from the previous teaching period or you are requesting the unit on behalf of the coordinator
     -  
    		 the date the unit is to be activated if it is different from the start of the teaching period
    Enter the name(s) of additional designer(s) and tutor(s) in the Comment box.

TLC
  • provides a WebCT unit template
  • assigns the coordinator(s) designer access
  • advises coordinators how to access the online unit.

You will be subscribed to the webct-murdoch@central.murdoch.edu.au email list and sent information about how to proceed.

The homepage, an organizer page can link to subsidiary organizer pages, so that the homepage and organizer pages form a hierarchy of pages with the main homepage at the top.

There can also be links to one or more of the following course content elements:

  • A URL linking to a page outside the WebCT unit (eg. ABC homepage)
  • A single page of content, appropriate to present a course timetable or outline
  • A content module.
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