Why
?
How can a course management
system (CMS) enhance my online
(or face-to-face) course?
Thursday, February 20, 2003
Larry MacPhee, CTEL Director
Erin Shelley, WebCT Trainer
Gary Karcz, WebCT Administrator
Center for Technology Enhanced Learning
How is a web course different
from a face-to-face course?
Face-to-face
Web Enhanced
Web Based
Traditional
Hybrid
Online
No Web
Some Web
All Web
Classroom
Local
Distance
Many at NAU
Currently Few
at NAU
Growing
Rapidly at
NAU
Mountain Campus
Enrollment
16,000
Undergraduates
15,000
14,000
Total
Headcount
13,000
FTE
12,000
11,000
10,000
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: John Campbell, ITS
Web Course Growth
Growth in Online Enrollment
5000
Enrollment
4000
Mountain Campus Enrollment
3000
Statewide Enrollment
2000
Yuma Enrollment
1000
0
Fall 2001
Fall 2002
Fall 2003
Source: Terri Hayes, DLS
Properties of a Web Course
Characteristic
Disadvantages
Advantages
 Guilt Inducing
 Convenient
 Inclusive
Anywhere
 Isolating
 Convenient
 Inclusive
Technical
 Intimidating
 Requires Support
 Builds skills
 Innovative
 Requires Discipline
 Comfortable
 Bandwidth
 Copyright
 Dynamic
 Paperless
 Building is Harder
 Teaching is Easier
Anytime
Self-paced
Digital
Teaching
Details
Why use a WCMS?
Why not just use DreamWeaver
or FrontPage or some other
“WYSIWYG” HTML editor to
build my web course?
Definition
What is a Web Course
Management System?
A Web Course Management
System is server-based software
that helps faculty construct,
administer, and deliver an online
course using a web interface and
a familiar classroom metaphor.
Trade-off between WCMS & HTML
WCMS
HTML
Advantages
Disadvantages
Better for
Adapted from Eck Doerry
Trade-off between WCMS & HTML
Advantages
WCMS
HTML
Easy
Powerful
Disadvantages
Better for
Adapted from Eck Doerry
Trade-off between WCMS & HTML
WCMS
HTML
Advantages
Easy
Powerful
Disadvantages
Clunky
Hard
Better for
Adapted from Eck Doerry
Trade-off between WCMS & HTML
WCMS
HTML
Advantages
Easy
Powerful
Disadvantages
Clunky
Hard
Better for
Most People
Experts
Adapted from Eck Doerry
With a CMS, you get…
Security & Privacy
The instructor holds the key!


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




Student access controlled
Guest access controlled
Instructor’s Intellectual Property protected
Copyrighted materials secured
Student privacy protected
Course content selectively released*
Assignment submissions logged
Tests and assignments more secure*
With a CMS, you get…
Reminders & Reassurances
Help keep your students on track…
 Reminders
 General Announcements
 Calendar with Deadlines
 New Assignments
 Unread Discussion Postings
 You’ve got mail!
 Reassurances
 Successfully completed a quiz/test
 Successfully uploaded an assignment
 Feedback
 Scores posted automatically*
With a CMS, you get…
Monitoring Capabilities
The instructor can monitor student progress on tasks…






Time spent on page
Number of visits
Path to page
Assignments completed
Date and time submitted
Detailed reports
… and students can check their own progress
With a CMS, you get…
Rich Interaction
and Feedback
More than just e-mail…
 Synchronous (real-time or “live”)
 Chat rooms
 Sketch pad
 Video-conferencing*
 Asynchronous (delayed response)




Course Announcements
Discussion boards
Internal e-mail
Off-line work*
With a CMS, you get…
Testing Tools
Powerful test creation and administration tools…
Students can be evaluated with:
 Multiple choice
 Fill in the blank
 Matching
 Essays
 Participation
Administration of testing:
 Testing Time Windows
 IP Access Restrictions
 Password Authentication
With a CMS, you get…
Grades & Record Keeping
Automation and integration with campus systems…
 Automatic Roster Import
 Answers automatically graded*
 Scores automatically recorded
 Grades automatically posted*
 WebCT GradeBook
Microsoft Excel
 Automatic Roster Export*
With a CMS, you get…
A Document Delivery System
Even face-to-face classes can benefit…



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
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Cost Saving on Photocopies
Course Handouts Online
Lecture Notes Online
Assigned Readings Online
Benefits Students Who Miss Class
Students Can Focus on Lecture
Serves as a Review of Material Covered
A Campus Standard
CMS brings:
 Integration with Other Campus Systems
 ITS Server-Side Support (Backup, Troubleshooting)
 CMS Product Support (in the contract)
 Help Desk Support for Students
 CTEL Course Development Support for Faculty
 Student Comfort from Familiarity
 An Online Faculty Community
Why work with CTEL?
Value added…






Custom WebCT Training Sessions
Instructional Design Support
Graphics Support
Web Design Support
Project Manager Support
$tipends for Web Course Development
CTEL Assisted WebCT Courses
Percentage of Courses by College
Arts & Sciences
Business Administration
Engineering
Health Professions
Education
Communication
Ecosystem Science & Management
Hotel & Restaurant Management
Social & Behavioral Sciences
Why work with CTEL?
Experience: More than 200 courses developed since Fall, 2001
Talent: Faculty like our work and appreciate our help.
Why
?
Why not some other CMS?
How was WebCT selected?
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
a
bo
r
e
th
O
k
ac
Bl
T
C
eb
W
rd





Late April, 2001
A technology panel made recommendations
WebCT and Blackboard gave product demos
Provost Haeger solicited all faculty vote by e-mail
48 faculty members cast a vote
Comparing CMSes
http://www.edutools.info/course/compare/all.jsp
In a feature-for-feature comparison,
WebCT rates among the best!
EduTools, is a non-profit that partners with the Western Cooperative for
Educational Telecommunications (WCET), the Center for Curriculum Transfer and
Technology (C2T2) and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Gartner Group's 2002 “Distributed
Learning in Higher Education” Survey
38% WebCT
26% Blackboard
25% no campus standard
9% other
2% unknown
“By 2005, 90% of institutions that do not
have a single campus-standard CMS will not
have the capacity to handle their e-learning
demands”
Casey Green’s Campus Computing Study
of American Public Institutions
44.6% WebCT
27.7% Blackboard
23.1% No Standard
4.6% Other
Why stay with WebCT?
“An object in motion…”
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NAU needs a single standard supported CMS
WebCT in use since Summer, 2001
Over 700 “course projects” currently in WebCT
WebCT is very well established at NAU
Access my webclass (List of Online Courses)
Change is hard on students, faculty, staff, budgets
What’s the alternative? How would we get there?
WebCT isn’t perfect, but it serves us well.
And now for the WebCT
Demonstration…
with
Gary Karcz & Erin Shelley