WebCT at UNT

By Sharon Marek, Central Web Support

WebCT® is the Web-based course delivery software that is supported at UNT by the Center for Distributed Learning and Central Web Support. What started with one class in July has exploded into 95 classes in development or production in November. With approximately 2,000 students in the system, and projections of up to 10,000 students in the system by fall of 1999, WebCT at UNT is getting a lot of attention.

We have a lot of documentation on WebCT at UNT, produced in Central Web Support. Our documentation is divided into three areas: the Student Guide and Instructor Guide, created and maintained by me (marek@unt.edu ) and the Administrator Guide, written by Mark Wilcox ( mewilcox@unt.edu ) -- all located at http://courses.unt.edu/webct/

The Student Guide has sections for those new to WebCT, like the Introduction to WebCT, which details what students need to have in terms of computer and browser. But there is more than that to the Student Guide - it also provides basic information on most of what students will encounter in a WebCT class and FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions -- with Answers!) on topics like mail, chat, and the bulletin board. In addition to being featured on WebCT at UNT's support site, our Student Guide is also featured by WebCT. Instructors from the University of Hawaii and the University of Leeds in the UK have received permission to incorporate UNT's Student Guide into their own WebCT courses.

The Instructor Guide contains detailed information on a variety of WebCT components -- from customizing the Welcome Page to creating a quiz. The Instructor Guide gains a new section every few weeks, so keep checking on it!  While emphasized in the courses taught by the Center for Distributed Learning at UNT, the Instructor Guide is also used (with permission) in an Educational Technologies course by the University of Wollongong, Au; featured in faculty workshops at the University of Valdosta; and provided as an example of what can be done by the University of Missouri-Columbia.

One of the best things about WebCT at UNT is that we've integrated Microsoft FrontPage -- making the course delivery software much easier to use. The Administrator Guide focuses on that integration at the server level, and is provided as a courtesy for other institutions.

The documentation we provide only improves with feedback -- if you have any comments, questions or suggestions about any of the WebCT at UNT documentation, please contact me (Sharon Marek) at 369-7296 or email marek@unt.edu   For information on using WebCT at UNT with your course, contact the Center for Distributed Learning at 565-2708. n