The following is a collection of Hanna (Hyewon) Kim's WebCT Tips and Tricks for designers. Most of these have been distributed to faculty via the listserv.

Add (Import) a student into a class
Download student records
File Attachments Naming in WebCT 2.0
Hidden tools still show up on a student's myWebCT page
Can you change a student's Global ID?
Can administrators or instructors set up Global IDs for students?
Can the option allowing students to change their password be disabled?
How to change a student password
Is there any way for a student to not to set up the Global ID?
What if a student enrolled in multiple courses sets up multiple Global ID's?
Denying a student access to a course after they are enrolled.

File Attachments Naming in WebCT 2.0

File attachments with a space (file name.txt) and attachments that are all uppercase (FILENAME.txt) are not allowed in the assignments dropbox menu. The file manager also rejects file names with spacing, but does allow upper case files to be uploaded. The Bulletin board allows both upper case and file spacing for attachment names. This is possible because the format is preserved and downloaded to your computer when it is left as an attachment. Private Mail also allows both upper case and file spacing for attachment names. To avoid problems, I suggest leaving attachments in all smaller case and with no spacing.

Hidden tools still show up on a student's myWebCT page

Description: Hiding a tool from a student does not hide the information created by that tool. For instance, a hidden Bulletin Board will still tell a student that a new posting exists on it. A hidden Mail tool will tell a student that there is new mail for them. This seems to be the case for the following tools:
Quizzes and Surveys tool
Mail and Bulletin Board tool
Calendar tool
My Grades tool

Workaround: Quizzes can be prevented from appearing on a user's myWebCT page by preventing access to the quiz using the "Available Until:" quiz setting. Setting Calendar entries from public to private hides them in the myWebCT listing. There is no workaround for Mail or Bulletin Board messages although the link notifying the user of new Mail messages and Bulletin Board postings will disappear once the messages have been read. Fix Schedule: Scheduled to be fixed in the 2.02 patch.

Can you change a student's Global ID?

WebCT does not allow you to edit a Global ID once it has been created. It can only be deleted and re-created (which will also delete any submitted work).

Can administrators or instructors set up Global IDs and Passwords for students?

Yes but you must follow the same procedure that the student would use to create their Global ID. You would create the ID for them and just provide them with the login and password information. Unfortunately, there is no way to automate this procedure. You will have to configure the Global IDs one at a time. WebCT is looking at adding an automation feature for Global IDs in a future version.

Can the option allowing students to change their password be disabled?

Yes. The Administrator must go into the WebCT Admin screen, click on User Management, then click on settings. There will be a selection called "Allow a user to change their global password.". If the WebCT Administrator disables this selection, the students will not be allowed to change their Global Password.

How to change a student password

To change a student's password for his/her global ID, one has to log in as the admin and do the following:
1) Click on User Management
2) Click on Users
3) Click on Query
4) On the Query page, you may do a query for the student then click on Search. For example, choose 'First Name' from the pull down menu, and enter the actual name on the blank box provided then hit Search.
5) Once the student's record has been located, click on the radio button beside the name or hit the Mark All button.
6) Click on Password.
7) You will now be able to change the password of the student.

Is there any way for a student to not to set up the Global ID (my webCT) and just access the class with the initial course ID and Password?

In WebCT version 2.0 Global ID is a must, therefore one cannot log into any course without setting up his/her my WebCT. The objective of Global IDs is to entitle users access to all their courses in myWebCT by using just one global ID.

What if a student enrolled in multiple courses sets up multiple Global ID's?

In the case when a student accidentally set up multiple global IDs, he/she can access the course(s) by using the coordinating global ID he/she has setup for each course. There is a slight chance of this happening because whenever a user (student,designer,grader) logs in to a course for the first time, WebCT always asks the user if he/she has setup my WebCT before authenticating him/her in the course.

Denying a student access to a course after they are enrolled.

To deny access to a course, one should do the following:
1) Log in as the designer
2) Click on Course Management
3) Click on Student Management
4) Click on a student's name
5) On the Edit Record page, click on Deny Access. This will withold the student's access to the course until the designer/instructor allows access again.