Course Maintenance Tips

Maintaining your WebCT Course

Each semester a new shell for each class will be created. Full online class shells will be created automatically while web-enhanced class shells will be created on request. (See Request Form). Shells will be based on the default template.

Back up the the course

*This enables you to maintain a copy of assignments, grades, etc.

If you wish to reuse the current course materials in a new shell, migrate the backup file to the new course shell (see Migration Instructions).

• You can back up the entire course to a CD and file it. It can be restored to an empty shell in the future if you need to review the contents.
• You can also download a copy of your gradebook to a folder on your H: drive or to a disk by exporting as an Excel format file.

Review the newly created WebCT course website for the next semester.

After the materials are migrated to the new shell, the instructor needs to review the newly created WebCT course website and get it ready for the next semester. Generally, this involves the following tasks.

1. Clear (delete) discussion postings. You may want to maintain your initial question posted for each discussion topic. (Select all to be deleted and then unselect your initial message)

2. Update dates in the calendar, assignment/course schedule, syllabus.

3. Review any conditional or timed releases - quizzes, assignments

4. Revisit links (both external and internal) to make sure they are current.

TIP:  IT keeps the last three semesters worth of shells available to instructors on the WebCT server. You may find it less work in some cases, for instance, to migrate an old spring shell to a current spring shell rather than using the most recent fall shell.

CAUTION: WebCT does have the option to Reset the Course. However, resetting a tool clears ALL of the information associated with that tool. Often you don't want to clear everything, and unless you have a backup of your course, you cannot retrieve the information.

Add students enrolled in your course for the upcoming semester.

Banner will populate your shell with students and keep it up to date. However, the instructor must "allow access" to the students. This can be done whenever the instructor feels appropriate.

Note: Since Banner updates students' access, it will continue to add students as they register and will deactivate students who drop or move to an Honors section. It's advisable to set your gradebook to keep all students visible in the early weeks of class so you can watch for changes.