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What is WebCT? 

Web Course Tools (WebCT) is a piece of software for the management of web-based educational courses and was developed at the University of British Columbia.

WebCT 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.  

The WebCT Environment  

A course developed using WebCT is organised around one main homepage. This homepage is the entry point for the course. It is the first page that designers and students see after logging into the course. It can contain, among other things, a banner image, a text message, links to course content elements such as notes and assignments and links to course tools.  

A unit developed with the Murdoch WebCT template will appear as for Practice Course 1 below. Your unit may use a different format and not have the standard icons. It also may not include tools such as quizzes and assignments.

The course content elements can be:

• A URL that links to a page outside the WebCT course.
• A single page of content (appropriate, for example, to present a course timetable or outline).
• A content module

WebCT Tools

WebCT provides a range of tools to support the educational process. The chart below outlines commonly used tools. Where available, follow the "more" link for further information about the tool.

	Discussions The Discussions tool allows communication among students, unit coordinators and tutors. Discussion messages can be arranged under Topics related to the unit's contents. Initially, only unread articles are displayed. Discussion messages can be searched for content, sender, date of sending and more. Messages can contain links to webpages outside of WebCT. Equations can be embedded into a message using the Equation Editor.
	Mail WebCT Mail allows electronic messages to be transferred among course participants. The Mail tool does not integrate with other internet mail. While WebCT Mail messages can be redirected to an internet email address, internet email cannot be redirected to WebCTs Mail. Equations can be embedded into a message using the Equation Editor.
	Student Presentations Student Presentations are often used for group projects or assignments. Students upload assignment files into the presentations area where group members can access them. When complete, the final project can be viewed by all class members.
	Assignments The WebCT Assignments tool displays information about assignments and can have additional resources attached. The tool allows students to submit assignments electronically for marking by the unit coordinator or tutor.
	Calendar / Global Calendar The Calendar tool can contain public entries from the unit coordinator and private entries which are only viewable to the person who made the entry.
	The Global Calendar is available in myWebCT and allows multiple course calendars to be displayed within one calendar view. Entries can be compiled into a single view based on date, course, and private or public entry types.
	Quiz / Survey A Quiz is a test for which grades are assigned and which is created and administered online. A Quiz can be fully or partly graded by WebCT. Once a quiz is started, a clock counts down the time left to complete the quiz. Once completed and marked, grades and comments are made available. Surveys are anonymous and are not graded. Surveys are often used for unit evaluation or to gather opinions raised in the unit.
	Self Test Self Tests are added to a page of content and are used to test the student's knowlege of the subject. Responses are automatically marked as correct or incorrect. Extra information may be provided for each answer, which can be viewed when an answer is marked.
	Chat WebCT provides a Chat tool for real time communication among course participants. Conversations in rooms 1 to 4 are logged and transcriptions can be accessed by the unit coordinator. General Chat is not logged and can be used only by course participants. The "General Chat for All Courses" chatroom can be used by people enrolled in any WebCT course.
	My Grades My Grades allows students to view their individual grades. Unit Coordinators can choose to display a chart of average, minimum and maximum grades. Comments and grades for each completed and marked quiz can also be viewed.
	Equation Editor The Equation Editor is available in a range of WebCT Tools and can be used to create and save complex equations for use in those tools.

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