UW Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning, Instructional Computing Services
>>>> This page is under development and not complete.
Last Revision 15 August 2008; R. Hill
Broad Guidelines and Remarks
| Pedagogical Need | Suggested Platform |
|---|---|
| Immediately available | Course Studio |
| Discussion (threaded) | eCompanion |
| Gradebook with formulas | WebCT |
| Quick file transfer and quiz edit | WyoSakai |
Faculty who use the option of least resistance, Course Studio in WyoWeb, are sometimes disconcerted by its limitations. Please know what you're getting into.
| Course Mgmt System | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Course Studio | Simple, available through WyoWeb portal. Similar to Groups, used for collaborations of all kinds. Instructor-designated admin controls for students. Course consolidation, to combine sections for materials distribution, etc. |
Course tools limited (see below). Storage and other
restrictions imposed by the portal software may not be apparent to users or even
known to this office. Participation limited to UW community. |
| eCompanion |
At UW, automatically populated from Registrar. |
Unit structure forces content and graded items into disjunct categories. Counterintuitive and limited gradebook structures and interface. |
| WebCT (version 4.1) |
Layout of course pages is determined by instructor. Flexible participation, governed by ICS. |
Seeing a full sequence of discussion requires some probing. No solid facilities for student collaboration. |
| WyoSakai | Complex features and customization; many collaborative features. Sections can be set up. Students can create project sites. |
Sparse documentation; lack of experience on UW campus. No
clear separate Student View for instructors. At UW, running only in limited pilot mode. |
For course management system details, see workshop notes and other Instructional Computing Services materials.
Other matters that may be significant to instructors include administrative and procedural differences.
| Course Mgmt System | Administrative Notes | Schedule and Archival |
|---|---|---|
| Course Studio | Well integrated into WyoWeb portal; anyone at UW can be a member. Consolidated courses available for several sections with common materials. |
Course shells are created by the student information system according to data submitted by the department and processed by the Registrar and IT. As soon as a course appears, both instructors and students have acces to it. (Instructional Computing cannot control the timeline or access.) Course shells last only one year. No export or archive. |
| eCompanion | Subject to contractual arrangement; only to supplement a campus
course (up to 1/3, rest must be face-to-face) Maintained on eCollege servers in Denver |
Course shells are created on request, and available only to instructors for setup until a week before the term begins. Course shells in past terms available indefinitely on faculty eCollege page. |
| WebCT | Subject to contractual student seat limit, which forces course
allocation cutoff Maintained on UW server on campus; term dates and opening controlled by us. Will be dropped after Spring 2009 |
Course shells are created on request, and available to instructors only, until the instructor allows student access. Course shells deleted (from server access) at the end of the semester, but backups maintained, for duplication or restoration on faculty request. |
| WyoSakai | Not subject to any commercial restrictions; available for any
collaboration and arbitrary time periods In 2008, hosted by a vendor (rSmart). |
Course shells are created on request, and available to instructors only until the instructor publishes the course for access by others, including students. Archival policy to be determined, but probably similar to current WebCT policy, with courses deleted at the end of the semester but archived off the server. |
Software is listed by column below.
| Course Studio | eCompanion | WebCT | WyoSakai | |
| Look-and-feel | Three-column portal interface; clean but little customization possible. Without the Announcements and Message Board tools, the middle column is empty. | Layout (frames and headings) fixed. Based heavily on "unit" structure for organization and identification of content elements. Presents WYSIWYG editing windows for many content items. Many tools expect introductory pages | Based on organizer pages, with icons and texblocks, set up by instructors | Consistent three-column layout, with tools (fixed) on left, options above. Entry into a tool takes you to the level down in the hierarchy where you left it on the last visit. |
| Syllabus | No special tool; just the distribution available through "Files." | Either via single file upload or by predefined section. | Either via single file upload or by predefined section. | May be uploaded directly into Syllabus tool; or into Resources, then connection through Syllabus tool |
| Sections | Course Consolidation can provide (for a single instructor) groupings for shared website use. | None, but Group Management can be used to manually tag students in different sections. | No way to share dynamic materials across course shells. Groups can be defined manually, but will not show in Gradebook. | Sections can be defined, and most applicable tools (Announcements, Discussion, Gradebook) are section-aware. |
| Written materials | For files stored in course space, launches client application. | Converted to HTML. Content items do not exist as separate file objects. | Launches client application | Through Resources tool, any file type. File upload efficiently shows local system contents. Can edit properties. |
| Presentations | Files of arbitrary type, including PowerPoint, can be stored in file space for download. | File identified as MS PowerPoint will be converted to HTML | Launches client application for PowerPoint and other know file types. | Files of arbitrary type, including PowerPoint, can be stored in Resources for download. |
| Discussions | "Message Board" tool | Topics and threads. Good interface, with sorting on different properties. | Topics and threads. Awkward interface. | Forums or Discussion Forums tools, with straightforward interface. |
| E-Mail or other messages to individual external addresses | Uses UWYO domain addresses; integrated into WyoWeb portal. No archive, no drafts. | Mail tool provides external e-mail; students receive messages at e-addresses specified by them. Bare edit window (no drafts or folders), recipient selection; no archive. | Mail tool provides internal e-mail; students and instructors must log in to course to receive it. Folders provided. | Sent from outside e-mail client to course address, distributed to all course members at external addresses; archived in E-mail Archive tool. |
| Chat or other synchronous text communication; whiteboard | Yes | Chat; no whiteboard | Yes | Chat; no whiteboard |
| Exams and Assessments | None | Standard question types (selection, text answer). Results can be downloaded as HTML table. | Standard question types (selection, text answer). Results can be downloaded as delimited text file. | Standard question types (selection, text answer) |
| Student Work Submission | Students can upload documents to file space, but if accepted, they are available to all. | Yes, through Dropbox, to instructor | Yes, through Assignments tool, to Instructor | Yes, through Assignments tool, to Instructor |
| Collaborative Spaces | Students can submit articles, files, photos, which await approval by instructor or designee. | Doc Sharing allows instructor (and students, if allowed by instructor) to upload files for download. Groups can be defined for Doc Sharing. | Files can be added to course pages at will by instructors. Very limited Student Presentations tool. Groups can be defined for Discussion and Presentations. | Wiki and Blogger tools. Students can create project sites, containing the major course tools. |
| Gradebook | None | Awkward structure and interface. Raw points only, except: Extra credit, ungraded status, and item weighting available. Export as ".csv" file. | Formulas allow instructors to incorporate selected items; for averaging, scaling and intermediate computations. Download available. | Raw points only (until we install the more advanced tool). Grade edits are logged with time and identity of editor. Export as ".csv" or native Excel. |
| Management of Participants | No outsiders-- only UWYO domain members. Members listed by first name. | Outsiders can be added by request to ICSL administrators | Open to anyone on creation of WebCT account on UW server. | Open to anyone on creation of UW account, subject to approval by ICSL administrators |
| Course Mgmt System | Bottom Line: Recommended Scenarios |
|---|---|
| Course Studio | For uploading your syllabus and a few other small files, displaying a photo or two, putting up an new announcement every week, and e-mailing the whole class (as long as you don't need archival). |
| eCompanion | For clearly defined unit structure with subordinate content items, consistent layout, clear threaded discussion with options (especially if included in assessment), and exams that allow cycling through all during the grading process. |
| WebCT (version 4.1) |
For free-form homepage, actions associated with content module files, separate file space, gradebook with intermediate calculations and formulas, whiteboard, and manageable quiz questions database. |
| WyoSakai | For private instructor and student workspaces with linking capability; extensive course materials with sharing among courses; advanced control over many parameters of file sharing, exams, assignments, discussion, and participation; e-mail options and archive; citation lists; wiki and blog tools, inclusion of outsiders by e-mail invitation, sections, groups, and roles; exam question quick-create from a text file; grade import and export; drag-and-drop file transfer; collaborative worksites outside the academic class paradigm and calendar. |