A. Content Tools (Calendar, Compile, Glossary, Index, Course Map, Resume Course)

B. Communication Tools (Mail, Discussions, Chat, Whiteboard)

C. Evaluation Tools (Quiz, My Grades, Assignments)

D. Study Tools (Bookmarks, My Progress, Search, Take notes, Student Homepages )

1) Login to myWebCT

1. Connect to the Internet, open your browser, and type in the URL sent to you by your instructor.

URL: http://online.oakton.edu:8900/

(Figure 1: Welcome to WebCT)

3. When you click on "Log on to my WebCT", you will see a box like the following depending on your browser and be prompted for a user name (your 'WebCT ID') and password. Shown below is the Netscape version. Internet Explorer users will see a different prompt box.

(Figure 2: Prompt for a user name and password)

Type your WebCT ID in the field next to "Username"

Student WebCT ID's consist of the first four letters of the last name in lower case followed by the last four digits of the social security number.

Type your password in the Password field.

Student passwords consist of their entire nine-digit social security number (no dashes or spaces).

Click on the OK button.

If you are unable to log on to myWebCT

Note that when you enter your WebCT ID and password correctly, WebCT will present you with your myWebCT page (Figure 3). If you get a message like "Authorization failed" instead of myWebCT page, either you typed incorrectly or your WebCT ID has not been set up yet.

• Recheck your WebCT ID and Password. Make sure you are entering the lower case with no spaces.
• Contact your instructor for assistance if the problem persists or call Alternative Education, 847-635-1971.
  

4. You will now be at your personal myWebCT page. MyWebCT is the first page you see after you enter your WebCT ID and password. MyWebCT contains links to all of the courses that you are taking along with announcements, bookmarks, and other information.

(Figure 3: Sample my WebCT-http://online.oakton.edu:8900/webct/homearea/homearea)

If you do not see any courses on your myWebCT, contact your instructor for each class and ask them to add you to the class. If you see a course on your myWebCT for which you aren't registered, contact the instructor of that course to remove your name from their student roster.

To enter a class, such as "IT 101" course, click on the link to that course. You can also click on the links under the name of the course to see a new quiz, a new assignment, new discussion postings , or new grades- new materials since you last looked at the course.

2) myWebCT and Course Homepage

My WebCT is a central location where students can see a list of courses in which they are registered (Figure 3). The "my WebCT" area allows you to access all of your courses from one page. In this example, clicking on "IT 101" would allow you to access that course without re-entering your username and password (Figure 4).

(Figure 4: Sample Course Homepage)

Note that this is just an example of a home page; you may have more or fewer links.

3) Navigation in WebCT

Homepage Icons

A homepage (Figure 4) is the center of all WebCT course modules and contains the learning materials and support tools. The homepage is accessible from every other page in the course.

The page displayed above has icons showing some of the most popular features of WebCT. The icons on the homepage can link to :

• learning pathway or contents page (learning materials, module guide)
• WebCT tools (Mail, Discussion, chat)
• toolpage (student support tools - similar design to a homepage)
• a URL (links to a page outside the WebCT module)
• a single page (assessment)

Each of these options presents a slightly different way of navigating.

Course Menu

On the left hand side of the Home Page you may see a menu of available items. You can click on these links to go to different parts of your course.

(Figure 5: Sample Course Menu)

You will note that these links may be the same as the icons on the home page (Figure 5). The difference is that the Course menu can be visible throughout the course.

If you want to see more of your course content, you can temporarily hide the Course Menu by clicking on Hide Nervation, Expand Content.

Trail of Links (breadcrumbs)

Underneath the course title you will see a trail of links showing where you have come from. These are called 'breadcrumbs'. Here is an example -

(Figure 6: Table of Contents)

This 'trail of breadcrumbs' below shows that you are currently looking at the "What is WebCT?" page (Figure 7). You got to this page from the Learner Guide (Figure 6) which you got to from the Home page (Figure 5). You can click on any of the links to go back.

(Figure 7: Trail of Links)

Action Menu

(Figure 8: Action Menu in the Learning Material)

The Action Menu appears above each page in a Course Content Module (learning pathway). The Action Menu lets you navigate forwards and backwards through the pages (the Previous and Next buttons). Contents is a listing of all pages. The Retrace button 'takes you back the way you came' if you looked at the pages out of order. The Refresh button reloads the last page you were looking at if you are temporarily taken away from the page.

When you click on the Contents link in the Action Menu you will see a listing of all the files. A sample learning pathway is displayed below :

(Figure 9: Table of Contents)

The files are organized in different levels. Note the small triangle next to item 9. This means that the item can be expanded. For example, clicking on the triangle next to item 9 will expand the section to show sub -sections, 9.1 and 9.2. Clicking on any of the links will take you directly to the page.

More about the Action Menu

(Figure 10: Action Menu with Extra Links)

The Action Menu shown above contains extra links to the right of the navigation links. There are links to Glossary | Search | Discussions. These items can vary depending on the support tools provided by your instructor for each page.

Useful tips

Use WebCT's course menu to navigate where possible.
Use the 'breadcrumbs' to return to a previous section.
Use the Action Menu when you are working in a learning pathway.
If the above fails and you get lost, use the back button on your browser.
If you are still lost after trying the above, go back to home page or contents and reselect the page.

4) Frequently used WebCT Tools

A. Content tools(Calendar, Compile, Glossary, Index, Course Map, Resume Course)

a. Calendar:

With the Calendar tool you can view any scheduled events. You can add private entries to the calendar (visible only to yourself) and, if the instructor has allowed it, public ones (visible to everyone in the course) . A list of new events pops up when you access the calendar.

b. Compile:

The Compile tool enables you to compile a collection of course content pages that can be printed or viewed online. You may select "Mark All" to compile all of the pages listed, or select any number of pages by clicking each check box (Figure 11). Click "Mark None" if you want to clear all the selected boxes. Click "Compile" to compile. Use the print function of your Web browser to print the compiled notes.

(Figure 11: Compiling Course Notes)

c. Glossary:

This tool presents a glossary of terms and definitions. There may be an icon on the homepage or a link from within the learning material.

 

(Figure 12: Glossary Tool)

 

By Starting Letter
Click on one of the letters from A - Z to view only those glossary keywords beginning with that letter.

View All
Click on the words "View All" to show the complete glossary in alphabetical order.

Search
Click on "Search" to bring up a text-entry field into which a search-word can be typed. Both the glossary keywords and definitions are searched to find a match for the word.

d. Index:

The Index tool lists the index entries. This is similar to an index in a book where keywords are listed along with the page references.

e. Course Map:

When you click the Course Map icon or a link from within the learning material, WebCT displays a new window that enables you to view the structure of the entire course on one page. The course elements are hyperlinked, enabling you to go to any place in the course from a single page.

f. Resume Course

Resume Course provides a quick method for you to resume studying content pages where you left off. When you leave your course after studying your content pages, you can return to the last content page read by choosing Resume Course from the Menu Bar.

 

B. Communication Tools( Mail, Discussions, Chat, Whiteboard)

a. Mail:

The Mail tool allows you to send a private message to one or more course participants. Unlike Discussions messages, which are readable by everyone, mail is only visible to the originator and recipient(s) of the message. The layout and functionality is very similar to the Discussions.

Viewing Folders

When you have new mail, click on the mail icon (or the Mail in the course menu item). You will see a page showing your mail folders. Select the folder you wish to view by clicking on the folder link.

(Figure 13: WebCT Mail: Viewing Folders)

The menu icons on this page perform the following actions

	To compose a new message
	Search for text in a message
	Create, delete and rename mail folders
	Move messages to folders or delete

(Table 1: WebCT Mail Icons)

 

Read /Reply Message

When you choose a mailbox (Inbox) to view, you will see the e-mail page which contains

• some buttons for working with messages (A),
• a message organizer section and (B)
• a listing of the emails in the selected folder (C).

(Figure 14: WebCT Mail Message: Inbox)

The first line of the message is the Subject of the message/s. The second line contains -

• a check box where you can select a file/files when you want to do something with it (i),
• the name of the sender (ii),
• the time and date the message was sent (iii),
• a new indicator if the message has not been read (iv).

The command options you have in the mail tool are -

Return to Mail	Returns to the Listing of the Folders
Inbox/Select Folder	Let's you choose the message folder
Show All/Show Unread	Show all messages or only those that haven't been read yet
Threaded/Unthreaded	Sort messages by topic or list them individually
Compile	Create a file for downloading containing selected messages
Select All/None	Select all messages or deselect the messages. To manually select messages, click on the option box next to the message title
Mark Read/Unread	Mark the selected messages as having been read, or make them appear as unread

(Table 2: WebCT Mail Commands)

To read a message, click on the blue underlined text (Figure 14) "Instructor (IT101)", the text of the message will appear, just as below.

The buttons on the top of the message window give you several options. You can

Forward the message to another WebCT mail user,
Reply to the sender of the message
Quote the message in a reply to the sender
Save the message to your own machine in a text file.

If you click on the Reply button, you will see a screen similar to the one below. Click on the box under Subject and type in your reply. When you click on the Send button, your reply will be automatically sent.

(Figure 15: WebCT Mail: Read a Message Window)

(Figure 16: WebCT Mail: Replying a Message Window)

The next time you come into WebCT mail the messages you have already read will not appear on your screen. Only new, unread messages appear by default. Click on the Show All button to see both old and new messages.

Sending a New Message

Open up WebCT Mail and click on the Compose button . WebCT will open up a new window like the one below.

(Figure 17: Composing a New Message)

You type the subject of your message in the box to the right of "Subject" and your message in the text box below (Figure 17). To select the recipient or recipients of your message, click on "Browse" and you will see a listing of all students in the class (Figure 18).

(Figure 18: WebCT Mail: Selecting Recipients)

Select a recipient's name by clicking on it. To select multiple recipients, on a PC hold down the Ctrl key while clicking the Option key on a Mac. When you have selected all your recipients, click "Done." The browse window will close and the names you chose will appear in the Send To field. When your message is complete, click the Send button.

Attaching Files

You can only enter text in the blank Message box in the WebCT Mail. You cannot enter any images or some formatted word or HTML documents in the body of the message. The Attachment option allows you to include any files on your hard drive in mail messages.

(Figure 19: WebCT Mail: Attachment Option Window)

If you already know the name of the local file you would like to attach, type its name in the text-entry box. If you do not know the name of the file you want, click "Browse" (Figure 19) to select a local file from your computer's file listing.

For example, you know the assignment you want to send your instructor is in a file called "guide.htm" on drive c:, type in 'C:\guide.htm'. If you are not sure of the exact location of the file, click on "Browse."

(Figure 20: WebCT Mail: Browsing a File from Your Computer)

Click on the file you want and then click on the Open button (Figure 20). The next screen you see will be similar to the following.

(Figure 21: WebCT Mail: Selecting a File)

Once you have chosen the file you want to attach to your mail message, click on the Attach File button and you will see a screen like the one below.

(Figure 22: WebCT Mail: Attached File)

The attachment can now be sent with your message. You can attach further files or delete the attachments if you change your mind.

If you ever receive a message with an attachment, you will see the paperclip icon next to your message (Figure 23). Click on it to see a list of the attachments and then click on the file you want to view.

(Figure 23: WebCT Mail: View Attached Files)

b. Discussions:

"Discussions" is a place where public messages are posted. Unlike Mail messages, which are only visible to the originator and recipient(s) of the message, Discussion messages are readable by everyone in your course. On the Internet, and in some of the online modules, a Discussion may also be called a bulletin board or a forum.

In WebCT, Discussions is the main tool and topics are the items to be discussed.

A Discussion can be used :

• as a place where students can discuss general issues
• to discuss case studies or learning material with lecturer
• by a group of students to discuss or present an assignment
• to post general messages from the lecturer
• to organize related discussions

The Discussions layout is very similar to that of the Mail window. The main difference between the Discussions tool and Mail is that when you post a message in a topic, everyone sees the posted messages.
Bulletin boards are used to ask questions about the course. The questions can be general or specific. They are open to all readers and can be answered by students or instructors. You are also encouraged to answer questions that other students have posted.

When you select the Discussions tool, by clicking on the menu link or on a Discussions icon, you will be taken to a topic listing window.

(Figure 24: Discussions: Topic Listing Window)

Click on the Topic (example here: Main) to see the postings. If you click on All you will see all postings for all available topics.

(Figure 25: Discussions: Discussions Interface)

Topics may be set up for particular subjects. Click on the Topic dropdown box to see the different topics that are available (Figure 25). As in the e-mail, messages can be sorted, and you can display All, Read or Unread messages by using the Show option.

To read a message, click the hyperlink to the message that you want like to read.
Notes: only unread messages are listed; to view all messages, click Show All. Messages are presented by threads; to view in chronological order, click Unthreaded.

(Figure 26: Discussions: Read a Message)

To reply to this message, click on the Reply button and type your message in the text box. When you click on the Post button, your reply will be automatically posted. Click on Reply Privately if do not want to post your message in public. In this case, the recipient can find your reply message in the WebCT Mail.

To post a new message, click on Compose Message (Figure 25), enter the text, and then click the Send button.

Messages which have not been read will have a "New" icon next to the message. If the message includes a file attachment you'll see a paper clip icon. To download the file attachment, click the paper clip icon, and then follow the instructions for downloading from your browser. When the download is complete, click Done.

Be sure to press "Update the Listing" (Figure 25) after reading/composing messages so that the latest information is displayed. Check also that the Topic list is showing the correct topic for your message(s).

c. Chat:

The Chat tool allows you to have real-time conversations with users of this or all other courses. Click on the Chat tool and you will see the following screen with 4 special-purpose rooms, one general forum for the course and one room for all Oakton WebCT courses. To enter a room, simply click on it.
The chat program displays who is in a room at the present time. It also allows you to send private messages to selected users by clicking on their names.

(Figure 27: WebCT Chat)

d. Whiteboard:

Whiteboard allows groups of users to dynamically share a common graphical palette in real time.

C. Evaluation Tools(Quiz, My Grades, Assignments)

a. Quiz:

Clicking on the Quiz icon will take you to the quiz homepage. All the quizzes are listed. For each quiz, the following information is given:

(Figure 28: Quiz Module)

Title Click on the title to access the quiz. If the quiz is not available or has already been attempted the maximum number of times, the title will not be hyperlinked.

Available from ... until This shows the time period in which the quiz may be accessed.
If the designer has not specified an expiration date for the quiz, this column shows as "(Unlimited)".

Duration If the screen displays a time in the duration column, then you have that amount of time to compete the quiz. If there is no information displayed in this column, then you have unlimited time.

Grade: The grade you received for the quiz. For example, 67.0/100 indicates that you received 67.0 out of 100 points.

Attempts: This column displays the number of times a quiz has been attempted and the number of attempts remaining. Once an attempt has been marked and its grade released, the corresponding number and the linked word "Completed" (Completed: 3 or Completed: 2) will be hyperlinked. Click this number or the linked word "Completed" to view your graded quiz.

You click on the name of the quiz to take it (Figure 28). Read the instructions carefully below before taking a quiz . When you are ready to begin the quiz, press the "Begin Quiz" button. The Quiz1 Screen appears (Figure 29).

(Figure 29: Quiz Instructions)

When taking a quiz, remember to save each answer before continuing to the next question. If you want to change an answer, you can change it and save it again. Click the "Finish" button to submit your answers . If you click on "Finish", a confirmation box appears asking the student to confirm the procedure. If you click "OK", the submission page appears (Figure 31). Once you submit your quiz for grading, you cannot make any more changes.

(Figure 30: Quiz Screen)

(Figure 31: Submission Confirmation Screen)

Please click the View Results button (Figure 31) to see your quiz results (Figure 32) and submit your quiz for grading.

(Figure 32: View Your Scores)

Click "Home" on this screen to return to your homepage and click "Quiz" to return to the quiz module.

b. My Grades:

The My Grades tool allows you to view your grades that the instructor has released. You can also view the statistics for the class by clicking on a hyperlinked column label, which is the name of your quiz.

(Figure 33: Student Record for Scott Foster)

c. Assignments:

The Assignments tool allows the instructor to distribute course assignments to students. Features include assignment description, maximum grade value, a utility for attaching files that are related to the assignment and student submission of completed assignments.

D. Study Tools(Bookmarks, My Progress, Search, Take Notes, Student Homepages)

a. Bookmarks:

Enables the course designer and students to make bookmarks to pages of content within a course.

b. My Progress:

Allows students to view a history of which pages they have visited and the number of times visited.

c. Search:

Allows student and designer to explore a course for specific information within the index, titles, headings, or all text.

(Figure 34: Search Window)

d. Take Notes:

Take Notes allows a student to write individual notes or make a journal entry on a specific page. The student is the only one who can view the annotations. From the Action Menu, click Take Notes. The Notes screen appears which contains five options (Figure 35).

(Figure 35: Take Notes Feature of WebCT)

To annotate the page of content currently on display, you click "Add". A text entry box appears in which you can type your notes. When you finish entering your notes, you click "Update" (Figure 36).

(Figure 36: Adding Notes)

(Figure 37: Editing Notes)

By clicking "Edit" (Figure 37), you can edit your notes. By clicking "View All", you can see all the notes which you have entered (Figure 38).

(Figure 38: Complete List of Notes )

e. Student Homepages:

Student Homepages allows you to create a personalized Homepage that contains information about yourself, the projects you are working on and links to your favorite websites. You can click the hyperlinked names of other students in your course to view their Homepage. If the name of a student in the class listing is followed by the word "blank", that student has not created a Homepage.

Some of the options you can add to your Student Homepages are:

• links to your favorite websites
• your choice of display colors and layout
• background image
• banner, header, and footer
• hit counter

Return to top of the page

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Visit the site: http://www.oakton.edu/online/facres.htm and click on WebCT v. 3.x Student Guide

Copyright © 2001 Information Technology at Oakton Community College
- This information is modified from WebCT 3.0 Learner Guide -