Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates

Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................2 Objectives .............................................................................................................................................2 Request a WebCT Course Site for the Upcoming Semester ................................................................3 The RPI Course Templates...................................................................................................................4 Course Map for ‘Basic’ RPI Course Template ................................................................................... 5 Course Map for ‘Full’ RPI Course Template ...................................................................................... 6 Edit/Delete Text Blocks ..................................................................................................................... 9 Edit/Delete Class Announcements Text block................................................................................. 10 Add/Delete Instructor Information Text block - Homepage.............................................................. 11 Add/Delete Instructor Information Text block - Welcome page ....................................................... 12 Add a Course Description Text block to the Welcome Page ........................................................... 13 Delete a Page or Tool from the Homepage or an Organizer Page .....................................................14 Delete a Page or Tool from the Course Menu.....................................................................................15 Hiding/Revealing Links on Homepage, Organizer Page or Course Menu ..........................................16 Selectively Releasing Icon Tools, Links, Organizer Pages .................................................................17 Reorganizing Tools, Links, Organizer Pages and Course Menu.........................................................18 Reorganizing Course Menu Links .......................................................................................................19 Add a Page/File or Tool to Your Course .............................................................................................20 Add a Syllabus to Your Course ...........................................................................................................21 Point to an Existing Syllabus on a Web Site.................................................................................... 21 Customize the RPI Syllabus Template ............................................................................................ 24 Use an Existing Syllabus File .......................................................................................................... 26 Use the WebCT Syllabus Tool and Syllabus Wizard....................................................................... 28 Update Student View....................................................................................................................... 29 View Your Course as a Student ..........................................................................................................29 The Course Design Center .................................................................................................................30 Additional WebCT Resources .............................................................................................................31 Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 1 Don Bell 9/1/04 Introduction If your WebCT course site was created using an RPI course template, this workshop will show you how to customize the template to suit your particular instructional needs If you have a WebCT course site that is not based on an RPI template, this workshop will still be useful to you in designing your WebCT course site. Note: for WebCT to work well with your internet browser you need to make sure your browser, browser version and browser settings are supported by WebCT. WebCT 4 has a browser checker to help you identify your browser, browser version and settings. (http://www.webct.com/exchange/viewpage?name=exchange_browser_tuneup) Objectives Upon completion of this workshop, the student will be able to: • • • • • • • • • • • • • request a WebCT course site based on an RPI course template view a WebCT course map identify/change the course instructor name edit/delete text blocks add a course description to the welcome page add/delete a page or tool from the homepage, an organizer page and the course menu hide/reveal links on a homepage, organizer page or course menu selectively release icons/tools, files, URL links on homepage, organizer page or course menu reorganize icons/tools, files, URL links on homepage or organizer page or course menu add a syllabus to the WebCT course site update the student view view the course as a student use course design wizards Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 2 Don Bell 9/1/04 Request a WebCT Course Site for the Upcoming Semester To get started with WebCT, you need a WebCT course site for the upcoming (or current) semester. RPI WebCT course sites are only active for one semester, then they are archived. Thus, you need to go through the process of completing a ‘WebCT Course Request Form’. for any new semester in which you want a WebCT course site. • • • Go to the WebCT Info page at: http://www.rpi.edu/web/webct/ Select: Instructor/Designer Resources > WebCT Course Request Form Or go directly to http://www.rpi.edu/dept/arc/webct/coursereq.html When using the 'Course Request Form', be sure to include: • • • • • • • Course Title (e.g. Management for Dummies) Course Number ( MGMT-9999) Section number(s) Semester next offered whether this course uses an earlier version of the course for a template All related CRN numbers If you are teaching more than one section of a course, specify whether you want one WebCT course site for all sections, or a separate WebCT site for each section. If you had a WebCT course in a previous semester, you can re-use that site as a template for the current semester. (Copies of old course sites are archived.) If you do not want your course site based on a previous version of your course site, then your new course site will be based on an RPI course template. On the current course request form you will be asked: What would you like to use for a course template: basic RPI course template (syllabus, course notes, content module. discussions, assignments, quiz/survey, my grades) full RPI course template (includes almost all WebCT tools) a copy of an existing/previous WebCT course site Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 3 Don Bell 9/1/04 The RPI Course Templates Currently, you have a choice of 2 RPI course templates – a ‘basic’ tools template and a ‘full’ template that contains most of the WebCT course tools in WebCT 4. As you will probably only be using a few of the tools, you should delete (or at least hide from the student view) the tools that are not being used in your course. To find out more about the function of each WebCT tool, you can go to http://www.rpi.edu/web/webct/features/index.html You can access WebCT tools from the ‘course menu’ column on the left of the screen or by navigating through the homepage and subsequent organizer pages on the right of the screen. If you want to remove a tool completely from the course, you need to delete it from both areas. You can view a list of all the WebCT tools in the RPI course template by clicking on ‘Course Map’ Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 4 Don Bell 9/1/04 Course Map for ‘Basic’ RPI Course Template Links on the Course Menu • • • • • • • • Links on Homepage • • • • • • • • Homepage Help Course Description Syllabus Course Calendar RPInfo Library/Class Reserves RPI Calendar Syllabus Course Notes Content Module Discussions Assignments Quiz/Survey My Grades WebCT @ Rensselaer * * ‘WebCT @ Rensselaer’ is the new support web site for WebCT courses at RPI. It is the starting point for accessing your WebCT courses and other WebCT-related resources .You can access this site from RPInfo under ‘Student Resources’ or ‘Fac/Staff Resources’ or directly using http://www.rpi.edu/web/webct/ Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 5 Don Bell 9/1/04 Course Map for ‘Full’ RPI Course Template Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 6 Don Bell 9/1/04 Course Map for ‘Full’ RPI Course Template Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 7 Don Bell 9/1/04 Identify/Change the Instructor's First & Last Name It is important to identify the instructor’s name for the course as this is the name that is associated with the course on all user’s ‘my WebCT’ pages. It is also the name that is associated with all designers when they login and use the Discussion and Chat tools. To identify or change the course site instructor name, click on • Control Panel • Course Settings. The Course Settings screen appears. • Under Instructor's name, in the text boxes, enter the name as you want it to appear. You can use titles (e.g. Dr. Jones) or first and last name (e.g. Casey Jones). . • Scroll to the bottom of the screen, and click Update. The Course Settings screen refreshes and the instructor's name is updated. Note: The default setting for the instructor's name is Instructor. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 8 Don Bell 9/1/04 Edit/Delete Text Blocks Text blocks can be added above or below the icon tools on a WebCT page. Existing textblocks can be moved up or down on the page, edited or deleted. There are 2 text blocks on the Homepage. The top text block is for class announcements. If you don’t intend to use this space for announcements, you can delete this text block. The bottom text block is used to identify contact information about the instructor or TA for the course. If you don’t want to use this text block you can delete it. textblocks The instructor/TA contact information is also repeated at the bottom of the Welcome page. It can also be deleted. Welcome page On the welcome page there is also a space for the course description. This information may be helpful in attracting new students to the course as it is on a publicly viewable page not requiring a login. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 9 Don Bell 9/1/04 Edit/Delete Class Announcements Text block Make sure you are in ‘Designer Options’ • Click on the radio button next to ‘Class Announcements’ • Under Options: Textblocks, select ‘Edit’ if you want to edit the Announcements or ‘Delete’ if you wish to delete this textblock. • You can edit the textblock in the raw html text editor or use the WYSIWIG visual HTML editor. If you want to use the HTML WYSIWYG editor, click on the HTML Editor button, then edit the text. Note: textblocks are not limited to just text. They can contain any HTML code and can thus include graphics and links as well. • • • When you are finished editing the text block, scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Update’. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 10 Don Bell 9/1/04 Add/Delete Instructor Information Text block - Homepage • • Click on the radio button next to ‘Site Contact’ Under Options: Textblocks, select ‘Edit’ if you want to edit the Announcements or ‘Delete’ if you wish to delete this textblock. • You can edit the textblock in the raw html text editor or use the WYSIWIG visual HTML editor. If you want to use the HTML WYSIWYG editor, click on the HTML Editor button, edit the text, • • Note: textblocks are not limited to just text. They can contain any HTML code and can thus include graphics and links as well. • When you are finished editing the text block, scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Update’. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 11 Don Bell 9/1/04 Add/Delete Instructor Information Text block - Welcome page • Select ‘Course Settings’ • Select ‘Edit Welcome Page’ • • Click on the radio button next to ‘Site Contact’ Under Options: Textblocks, select ‘Edit’ if you want to edit the Announcements or ‘Delete’ if you wish to delete this textblock. • You can edit the textblock in the raw html text editor or use the WYSIWIG HTML editor. If you want to use the HTML WYSIWYG editor, click on the HTML Editor button, then edit the text. Note: textblocks are not limited to just text. They can contain any HTML code and can thus include graphics and links as well. When you are finished editing the text block, scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Update’. • • • Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 12 Don Bell 9/1/04 Add a Course Description Text block to the Welcome Page • Select ‘Course Settings’ • • • Select ‘Edit Welcome Page’ Click on ‘Course Description Goes Here’ Locate your course description in the course catalog. Drag your cursor over the description to select it, copy it to the clipboard (press Ctrl/c). Click the browser ‘Back’ button (a few times) until you return to the ‘Welcome’ page. Select the ‘Course Description’ text block. • • • Select ‘Edit’ textblock Edit the text in HTML or use the HTML WYSIWYG Editor (see earlier instructions on using editor) • Paste your course description into the text box (Ctrl/v) Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click ‘Update’. • Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 13 Don Bell 9/1/04 Delete a Page or Tool from the Homepage or an Organizer Page • From the Course Menu, click either Homepage, or the Organizer Page of the tool you want to delete. Select the tool that you want to delete by clicking on the radio button to its left Under Options:Links, click Delete. A warning message appears confirming the deletion. Click OK. The Homepage or Organizer Page appears and each link is deleted. • • • This deletes the tool or page from the content area only. If the tool or page is also on the Course Menu, and you want to delete it entirely from your course, see Deleting a page or tool from the Course Menu. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 14 Don Bell 9/1/04 Delete a Page or Tool from the Course Menu • Click Course Settings. The Course Settings screen appears. • Click Edit course menu. The Edit Course Menu screen appears. • • • Select one or more tools/pages/links to delete. To delete all tools, click Select all. To clear all selected tools and start again, click Select none. • Under Options:Links, click Delete link. A warning message appears confirming the deletion(s). Click OK. The screen refreshes and each link is deleted. • This deletes the tool or page from the Course Menu only. If the tool or page is also on the Homepage or an Organizer Page, and you want to delete it entirely from your course, see Deleting a page or tool from the Homepage or an Organizer Page. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 15 Don Bell 9/1/04 Hiding/Revealing Links on Homepage, Organizer Page or Course Menu On your course site there may be certain icon tools, links or pages that you want to temporarily hide from students until you are ready to display them. The reveal hide/ option allows you to show or hide the selected link from all students' view of the course. • From the Homepage or an Organizer Page, click on the radio button next to the link that you want to hide or reveal. Under Options: Links, click Hide or Reveal. (This example uses the Study Tools icon.) • The screen refreshes. Showing that the icon is now hidden from students view. To hide/reveal links on the Course Menu, select: Course Settings > Edit Course Menu • Check the box for the link you wish to hide/reveal. • Click on ‘Hide link’ or ‘Reveal link’ button Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 16 Don Bell 9/1/04 Selectively Releasing Icon Tools, Links, Organizer Pages The selective release feature allows you to specify when and to whom an icon tool, link or organizer page will appear. Although selective release icon or link is always visible to the designer it not visible to students until they meet the criteria you specify. If the link appears on the Homepage, an Organizer Page, and the Course Menu, you can apply the selective release to all locations of the link. You can release a link by setting release criteria based on one or more of the following: First Name, Last Name, User ID, student records (information from Manage Students), start date, or duration. To selectively release an icon or link, click on the radio button next to the icon or link, and then click on the ‘specify selective release’ button. For more information about using selective release consult the online help at: http://webct-fall.rpi.edu/web-ct/help/en/designer/designer_index.html Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 17 Don Bell 9/1/04 Reorganizing Tools, Links, Organizer Pages and Course Menu After deleting or hiding various tools and links on your course site that you don’t intend to use, you may need to reorganize the tools, links and organizer pages that are left. You can move a tool or link backwards and forwards on a page, move it to another organizer page or to the Course Menu. There are two ways of doing this - using the Homepage Wizard or using the WebCT tools directly. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 18 Don Bell 9/1/04 Reorganizing Course Menu Links Select: • • Course Settings > Edit Course Menu Check the box next to the item you want to edit. • Click on an action button Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 19 Don Bell 9/1/04 Add a Page/File or Tool to Your Course If your course was created using the RPI WebCT template as a model, then you started with an almost complete set of WebCT tools in your course. However, at some point you may want to add more tools, links to pages/files or URLs. This can be done using the ‘Add Page or Tool’ function. You can get to the ‘Add Page or Tool’ function via • ‘Control Panel’ or • ‘Designer Links’ in Course Menu or • Actions (when Course Designer 1. The tools are grouped into 6 categories. Select the page or tool you wish to add. 2. Type in a title 3. If applicable, browse to find the filename 4. Select where you would like the link placed – on the Course Menu, Organizer page or both 5. Complete the remaining checkboxes 6. Click ‘Add’ Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 20 Don Bell 9/1/04 Add a Syllabus to Your Course There are 4 different ways of adding a syllabus to your course. You can: • point to an existing syllabus already available on the web • use an existing syllabus file • use the RPI Syllabus Template and customize it for your course • use the WebCT syllabus tool and syllabus wizard. Point to an Existing Syllabus on a Web Site If you already have an existing syllabus available on the web, you can simply point to the syllabus URL. You first need to delete the current syllabus icon which points to the RPI Syllabus template. 1. To delete the current syllabus icon on the course content organizer page make the following selections: • • On the course Homepage select ‘ Course Content & Related Materials’ Click on the radio button next to the Syllabus icon • Under Options: Links Click “Delete’ 2. To delete the Syllabus link on the Course Menu (refer to the earlier page on ‘Deleting a Page or Tool from the Course Menu’.) Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 21 Don Bell 9/1/04 Point to an Existing Syllabus on a Web Site 3. To add the syllabus URL to the Course Content organizer page. Select • • Add page or tool URL • On the ‘Add URL’ screen enter Syllabus for the title, enter your syllabus URL address check the boxes as on the opposite screen. In the ‘Choose icon’ box make the following entry: /wct_files/icons/webct_photo_trans/syllabus.gif • • Click the ‘Add’ button Note: the URL link to the Syllabus will now appear on both the Course Content organizer page and on the Course Menu. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 22 Don Bell 9/1/04 Point to an Existing Syllabus on a Web Site 4. To move the ‘Syllabus’ icon forward to the first icon position on the Course Content organizer page: • Select the Syllabus icon • Click on ‘Move forward’ 1. To move the Course Menu syllabus link upward on the course menu: • • • select Homepage > Control Panel > Course Settings > Edit Course Menu check the Syllabus box use the ‘Organize’ function to move the syllabus link to where you want it in the Course Menu. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 23 Don Bell 9/1/04 Customize the RPI Syllabus Template If you don’t have your syllabus on a web site or it isn’t already stored in a file somewhere, then you can modify the RPI syllabus template. You need to download the file, edit it in a web page editor or Word, save it, and then upload it back into your WebCT course replacing the old version. If you are using Word as your web page editor be sure to save it as a “Web Page, Filtered” version. Select • Control Panel • ‘Manage Files’ • syllabus.html • Select ‘Download’ Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 24 Don Bell 9/1/04 Customize the RPI Syllabus Template • Download the file to your PC. • Select ‘Save’ Once you have saved the original template file to your PC you can open it in a web page editor or Word and edit it. After customizing the RPI syllabus template to suit your course, save the revised version. Note: If you are using Word as your web page editor be sure to save it as a “Web Page, Filtered” version. You can now upload the revised version of the syllabus using the steps covered earlier on uploading a file to WebCT. *** Warning About Using the Built-in WebCT HTML Editor *** The Built-in WebCT HTML Editor is OK for editing simple html pages and homepage textblocks, however, you should not use it on the syllabus template or any web page with internal links it will corrupt the internal links (anchors) and make them unusable. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 25 Don Bell 9/1/04 Use an Existing Syllabus File If you already have your syllabus in a file, then you can upload the file to your WebCT course site. You will then need to modify the syllabus links on the course content organizer page and the course menu bar so that they link to your syllabus file. • Select ‘Manage Files’ • Select ‘Upload’ • • • Browse to locate the file Click on ‘Upload’ If there is a file with the same name, overwrite the file. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 26 Don Bell 9/1/04 Use an Existing Syllabus File If the syllabus file does not have the name “syllabus.html”, you need to change the name of the file in the icon link and the course menu link to refer to the new filename. Make sure you are in Designer Options. How to edit an icon link filename. Select: • Syllabus on the course menu • • Browse for the syllabus filename Click on ‘Update’ Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 27 Don Bell 9/1/04 Use the WebCT Syllabus Tool and Syllabus Wizard Another method of adding a syllabus to your course is using the built-in WebCT syllabus tool. • • Click on ‘Control Panel’ Make sure you have the ‘Basic Control Panel’ selected. A ‘Course Design Center’ button should appear at the bottom of the page. • Click on ‘Course Design Center’ • Click on Syllabus The Syllabus Wizard guides you by highlighting the button to click or textbox to fill in with a wand and gold star and shadowing the rest of the screen. You can copy and paste text from an existing document into Syllabus sections and you can use HTML tags in the windows When your syllabus is complete, exit the Course Design Center. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 28 Don Bell 9/1/04 Update Student View When you make changes to content pages in your course the changes are not immediately visible to students. This allows you to make several changes to your course before updating the student view. Use Update Student View to make changes to content pages available to your students. You must update the student view when you: • upload a newer version of a file. • modify the text of a file. • modify colors, or background images of content pages. • modify the Action Menu on a content page. 1. From Content Module, under Options: Content Module, click Update student view. 2. The Update Student View of Content Pages screen appears. Select the type of update: • Update entire course: all content pages and Action Menus are updated. Choose this option when you have uploaded or modified a file. Note: This operation may take several minutes to complete, depending upon the number of content pages that have to be updated. • Update changes to text, colors, and Action Menu. 3. Click Update. The Update Student View Report screen appears confirming that the student view has been updated. Note: You can also Update Student View from the Control Panel under Edit Page or Tool, or from within a content page on the Content Page Settings screen. View Your Course as a Student Immediately after making any updates to your course, it is always a good practice to view the changes from a student’s view of the course. Although clicking on the ‘View’ tab (next to ‘Designer Options’) will give you an approximate student view, it is not always exactly what a student sees. Thus, it is best to logout as a designer and login as a student to verify the appearance of your course to students. Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 29 Don Bell 9/1/04 The Course Design Center You can either use the WebCT tools directly or use the Course Design Center. The Course Design Center consists of a set of wizards. Each wizard provides step-by-step instructions on using a tool. If you are new to WebCT, we recommend that you use the Course Design Center. The Course Design Center contains wizards for the following WebCT tools: Homepage, Organizer Page, Syllabus, Content Module, Discussions, Mail, Calendar, and Chat. You can use any of the wizards from start to finish, or you can save your work in a wizard and return to it later. You can also make further modifications to a tool after you leave the wizard. For example, you can use the Syllabus wizard to add information about course goals and policies. Afterward, you can go directly to the Syllabus tool and add information about textbooks. To get to the Course Design Center, click on Control Panel. If not already selected, select the ‘Basic Control Panel’. At the bottom of the Basic Control Panel Page, select ‘Course Design Center’ Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 30 Don Bell 9/1/04 Additional WebCT Resources Here are some other resources for learning about WebCT: • • WebCT @ Rensselaer site - http://www.rpi.edu/web/webct/ Online help documentation – Designer Help Index http://webct-fall.rpi.edu/web-ct/help/en/designer/designer_index.html • • • • • • WebCT Support Site Map http://www.webct.com/support/viewpage?name=support_sitemap Search WebCT Knowledge Base - http://help.webct.com/knowledgebase Ask Dr. C (a support question) - http://www.webct.com/ask_drc/home Online Teaching Learning Newsletter http://www.webct.com/otl/Viewpage?name=otl_newsletter_current WebCT Community Resources - http://webct.com/wyw/ Academic Subject Resources - http://webct.com/subject/ Customizing RPI WebCT Course Templates page 31 Don Bell 9/1/04