Introduction.

Welcome to the WebCT 6 Online Course Orientation. We are honored that you have selected UA Fort Smith to help you reach your educational goals. This orientation is one way that UA Fort Smith will help you in your educational endeavors.

In this orientation, you will learn how to use WebCT, an online course management tool and access your WebCT courses.

UA Fort Smith webpage-We are going to first show you how to log into WebCT.

WebCT is easy to access—simply click on the Creative icon in the upper right hand corner of the UA Fort Smith Home Page or at the left bottom section of the screen in you have already logged in.

• Note in LionsPass to go to the Log in-Enter your LionsPass user name and password. If you do not have a user ID and password, please obtain one from the LAC or Library or the admissions counter.

Problems with your browser.

If this is the first time you use your computer to access WebCT, you need to check your browser by clicking Run a Bowser Check hot link.

If you see a Red “X” on one item, you need to have the issue resolved. Most common problem is the Browser check. If you are using Internet Explorer 7, you will have a red “X” on the first box, but you can still use WebCT courses.

You must have a green check on the last box with is the “Java Check”. If you have a red “X” on the last box “Java Check”, you will not be able to fully use functions within the WebCT course. You need to download Java runtime at Sun Microsystems website. Java Runtime is free and is very easy to download.

WebCT course list screen.

After you logged into WebCT, a list of WebCT courses are currently taking are presented in the course list.

Look into a few different WebCT courses.

WebCT courses may look different. Let’s take a look at a few courses to get an idea.

Open Jamie’s course.

Now let’s go through one of the WebCT courses.

Go to Welcome message.

If this is first time you are in your course, you should read the course orientation message.

It may be called “Welcome”, “Start here”, or “getting started”. Read the message and go through the information presented. Some faculty may give you a quiz if the information presented in the course orientation message is important.

You might have icons present under the course name on this screen. If those icons are selected it will take you directly to the new information in that section of the course. However, to get directly to the course homepage; select the course title.

Open the syllabus.

Next, you should read the syllabus. Most instructors have a syllabus icon.

The faculty may have syllabus materials posted from an icon under course tools if not located on the homepage of the course.

The syllabus contains all the necessary information about the course and instructor contact information.

Show Pop-up window blocker.

If the syllabus is linked to an attachment, it may be blocked when you first log into the course and attempt to open the file.

To un-block the file (because screens in WebCT are pop-ups, a security feature in your browser will alert you to possible problems; however within your course, opening files will be safe) click in the security bar. The security bar will be found in a light yellow bar directly below the web "http://" address bar.

Select download. This return you to the course listing as it will kick you out of the course. You need to get into the course again. Then click Syllabus or file you were trying to view. A popup window appears to ask you if you want to open the file or save the file.

Please remember any course content linked to a file will require you to unblock the pop up.

These directions are given using Internet Explorer, if you are using Netscape or similar browsers, please follow similar security precautions.

Calendar-Let’s go through some course tools. We will review the most commonly used icons.

Some classes are driven completely by the calendar. First you go to the calendar and find the links to the lessons by either clicking directly on the link or clicking on the numerical date on the calendar. By clicking the numerical date on the calendar, the student is able to see all postings for this date; whereas by clicking on the file, only the file can be viewed.

Note that some courses have a separate icon that links you to course materials.

Note on the course tool bar, there is a green* to the side of the link icon. Anytime a student sees this feature, they are prompted to view new postings. This prompt is used with many features on the course tool bar.

Calendar links to test or assignments.

The calendar lets you know about upcoming assignments and tests. This is a good way to stay organized and focused in your academic studies.

Some of the courses are organized by weeks while others may be organized by Units or Modules.

Assessments-Show how to take the test and the test result.

Click on Assessments to take tests.

Show the save answer button.

Make sure you read the directions for each quiz.

For each question, you must “save” the answer. Notice the right box and make sure that once an answer is saved a check mark appears where there was a yellow circle. Some exams are set so you can’t go back and answer questions. Make sure you save each answer before moving on to ensure each question has the opportunity to be graded.

Show the finish button and the results.

When you are finished with an exam/quiz, you must click the “Finish” button. If you don’t, your exam is not submitted for grading and you won’t receive a score.

My Grades.

You can see your grades on each test by going to “My Grades.”

Show Announcement and Mail.

Important announcements of the course may be in Announcements of the course or may be sent to you by WebCT personal email.

Assignments.

Many WebCT courses include assignments. The assignments may be placed within a learning module following the content or located through the assignments icon. When the assignments are placed within the assignment tool (from the icon on the course home page), available assignments can be retrieved from the inbox tab.

Once assignments have been submitted, the student should go back to this section and look for feedback from faculty as well as the grade for the assignment. Faculty may electronically grade your assignment and attach a file for you to review.

File attachment and WebCT computer icon problems. Show a problem screen.

When you are in WebCT and try to attach a file, in normal situation, when you click the “Add Attachments” button, on the left screen you will see” Get files” with four locations. “My Files” and “My Computer”. The “My Computer” icon allows you to browse your local drive or storage device such as a jump drive or CD to attach the file you have worked on. Notice that you can attach more than one file.

In some cases, “My Computer” icon may not be there instead there is a read Cross “X”. In this case you can still browse your computer local drive by:

• Moving your you cursor to the top left computer above the cross as soon as the mouse changes to hand or something similar, click the location of the screen
• Click the hot link “click here to select files individually”; now you will see a screen titled “Upload Files From your Computer”,
• Click the Browse button to attach the file.

If you are using Vista Operating System, you will have to move your cursor under the icon “class files” to the empty space at the upper left corner (Remember you won’t have a red “X” or a computer screen icon for you to browse the local drive). The cursor changes and you will be able to right click and get a prompt to browse for the file.

You may lose the assignment if you walk away and doing something else before you complete the assignment. The WebCT will kick you out if there is no activity for 20 minutes.

E-mail.

Show how to send an email to your instructor. Select the mail icon. This is an intranet email. You will need to first select “create message” and then “browse for recipients” to select the person that you are sending the email to. Once you have selected a recipient, type in the subject line a very specific message so the recipient will know the specific reason for the email.

You can then create content in the message box as well as send an attachment.

Once you have sent an email, it automatically saves in the sent file. This creates a record of all your email transactions. Make sure and not delete any of these as they are time stamped and create a record of correspondence.

Chat room-Show how to chat.

Type in the content box “Hi, I have a question about the first assignment. Do the references have to be in APA format? And do you want the assignment sent as an attachment.”

Some instructors use the chat room for Office hours and or for course learning activities.

This is an example of typical correspondence from a student to a faculty; they are asking a question in real time so they can get immediate feedback on their question.

Show who is online on the WebCT page.

But most instructors and students like to use the instant messaging feature of WebCT6. It tells you how many people and who’s on line in your course.

Another important communication feature is who’s online.

A list of students who are currently online comes up and you can send a chat invitation

Show who is online send invitation page.

You can achieve this by selecting the box beside the person’s name and select “send chat invitation”.

Discussions.

Some instructors use “Discussions” for class assignments. The Discussions are also used to “take attendance” in some courses where you must place comments on the Discussions in order to be counted as “present” each week.

Go to a sample discussion.

Discussions may facilitate conversations that simulate a “typical” classroom discussion.

This is an example of how discussion is used to measure learning outcomes specific to a content matter posted by a faculty.

PowerPoint Help Page.

If you need help, please contact your instructor or Computer Help Desk at 479-788-7460

Summation.

Thank you for allowing UA Fort Smith to facilitate your education journey. We hope that you will reach your educational goals.

Please feel free to contact your faculty to help you in reaching these goals.