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University of Wyoming
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Online Course Platforms at UW
 


Please refer, first, to the UW Supplemental Online Courses page: http://www.uwyo.edu/onlnsupp. 


As of Fall 2006, four course management systems are available to all UW instructors as supplements to campus courses.  This page offers a brief introduction to access procedures, setup, and facilities of each platform. eCompanion and WebCT are described first, followed by Course Studio and Sakai.

Are you looking for a comparison of online course platforms?  Click here.
 

eCompanion and WebCT
 

Both of these commercial online course platforms give instructors a website, reached through a browser, for a campus course, through which students can view and download course notes and materials, follow links to other websites, carry on discussions, submit work, check their grades, and take quizzes.
 

  Getting Started

  eCompanion WebCT
URL for access As above, the UW Supplemental Online Courses page, or...
ecampus.uwyo.edu webct.uwyo.edu
How to Request Through the same Course Request form, at the UW Supplemental Online Courses page, under "Faculty Resources"
What to Tell Your Students "Go to the OnLnSupp page, http://www.uwyo.edu/onlnsupp, follow the Student Info link on the left, and read the eCompanion/WebCT section of the instructions (not the same as Student Resources in the WyoWeb portal)."
Common Feature: User's Home Page Lists all courses for that user, as either student or instructor.  (ECompanion:  Click "Academics" tab.)  To enter a course, click on its name, which displays the course home page.  
Common Feature: Two views of a course “Course” for students; “Author” for instructors “View” for students; “Designer Options” for instructors

 

  Initial Setup

  eCompanion WebCT
What your students see first Home page with introductory text, and Announcements. 
  Switch to Author view to write introduction or "Add Announcement" with expiration date.		 Home page with tools you've set up, as links (icons and text) and textblocks. 
  In Designer View, add upper or lower textblock in designer view on home page.
Appearance and Structure Layout provided.  Organized into units in list on left, where units can be lessons, topics, or weeks; with "Course Home" the default unit.  Some course tools appear in tabs across the top. Appearance and layout can be customized.  Elements appear as links on homepage, unordered, leading to a document or course tool, or another organizer page containing more items.
Tools Available; Adding or Removing To units, you add content items; a content item can be either Text or some other form of document, or a Threaded Discussion, or an Exam. In the Control Panel, under "Add Page or Tool," you can see the list of tools which can be added to the Homepage or to a different organizer page.
Written Course Materials, in General Add a "Text" content item, and fill it in through the copy-and-paste edit window; same window is used for edit.  ECompanion also accepts MS Office formats for automatic conversion to web pages, and allows download of materials of all formats.  Files, contained as separate objects in the File Manager and Doc Sharing, cannot be edited onsite. Add a page of text or HTML by itself, linked to a file in the course, or as part of a Content Module, organized like a book; all will appear in the file space.  Documents of other types can be provided, for download or for opening on the client machine using client software.  HTML files can be edited onsite.
Student Enrollment ECompanion courses are populated and updated from UW registration data, with a time lag of a day or two. Students set up their own WebCT user accounts and add themselves to courses.

 

  Particular Tools and Elements

  eCompanion WebCT
Syllabus Click "Syllabus" in Course Home unit; then enter individual components or use your own, uploaded. Add syllabus tool; then enter individual components or use your own, uploaded.
Adding New Items and Files Add a unit, then a content item, then attach it to the unit and enter content.  If a content items is entered right there through the edit window, it does not exist as a separate file.  The File Manager (under the "Course Home" unit) can be used for storage or for files offered to students through links in content items. Add new page or tool, then connect to some file or external link.  A file is uploaded first, then referenced by course tool or uploaded during the creation of a course tool.   Simple textblocks and files can be entered through copy-and-paste edit windows (text or HTML).  These tasks can be performed in "Manage Files."
Discussions Add content item of type "Threaded Discussion." Add Page or Tool-- choose "Discusson."
Collaborative
Assignments		 Course Admin tab --> Group Managment to select students for groups; DocSharing and Discussion both have views that are sensitive to groups.  Add the "Student Presentations" tool, and create groups within it.  Allocates file space for an HTML hierarchy, with each student allowed read/write access.  Include a group discussion if desired.
Calendar Item always present.
Allows scheduling unit and item visibility and write access.  Some entries derived from other tools; events and notes can be added.		 Add Page or Tool-- choose "Calendar"
Some entries derived from other tools; events and notes can be added.  (Schedule tools by editing their settings.)
More Advanced Teaching Tasks
Grades Gradebook tab; select unit from drop-down list:
To enter new item, "Setup Gradebook."  To enter data, "View Gradebook."		 Manage Course; Manage Students:
To enter data or items, "Manage Columns."
Exams Add content item of type "Exam," then click on it and enter Exam Builder. Add Quiz tool, then click on it; add questions or select questions from database.
How to find more details "Instructions for Standard Teaching Tasks in eCompanion" (Faculty Resources at the OnLnSupp page) "Instructions for Standard Teaching Tasks in WebCT" (Faculty Resources at the OnLnSupp page)

 

Course Studio and Sakai

 

The other two online course platforms are either more limited or experimental.  Course Studio provides communication tools and file space, but no quizzing or grading. See the Instructional Computing Services "Faculty Help" question about the new web portal for an overview, and see "How To... Set Up Course Studio as an Online Supplement."  Sakai is a full collaborative platform, for both research and teaching, highly configurable, but not yet on a UW production server.

 Getting Started

Course Studio Sakai
URL for access In your WyoWeb portal, go to "MyCourses." At www.uwyo.edu/ctl/, click on "Online Courses (WebCT and eCompanion)" or go to http://www.uwyo.edu/onlnsupp, then follow the "Login Sakai" link; or go directly to
  http://ctl-muddygap.uwlib.uwyo.edu:8080
How to Request Provided by default for each official teaching assignment. Submit a Course Request form, or contact Instructional Computing Services, at 766-5499, or "ectltech@uwyo.edu."
Common Feature: User's Home Page Lists all courses for user (as either student or instructor) in "My Courses" (WyoWeb) or "MyWorkspace" (Sakai).  To enter a course, click on its name, which displays the course home page.  
Different views of  course Views are same except that instructors have all Content Tools, and Configuration Tools section. No specific student view.  Screen appearance same for students, but tools provided may be different and do not include editing options.  Students are able to create their own collaborative sites (that is, they are allowed to submit requests, like faculty).

 

  Initial Setup

  Course Studio Sakai
Appearance and Structure Layout provided (same as portal Groups).  List on left links to Announcements, Files, News, Photo, Links, Message Board, and other course tools, and also configuration menus.  Middle column contains applications chosen (not configurable). Appearance and layout can be customized by the institution and further by the instructor.  List on left shows course tools.
Adding or Removing Tools To see what's available, and add or remove:
  In the Configuration Tools -->
    Applications		  To see what's available, and add or remove: 
  Site Info -->
    Edit Tools.
Written Course Materials, in General Upload to Files, in any format that can be opened by your students with a client application, such as plain text; HTML; Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office applications; and PDF. Use the "Resources" tool for directories and files.  HTML files can be edited onsite.  Easy upload-- see below.
Student Enrollment Automatically populated from Registrar's data.  Students appear in the list of "Members." For the time being, instructor and student accounts are created and added by Instructional Computing staff.

 

  Particular Tools and Elements

Course Studio Sakai
Syllabus Upload the syllabus as a file, as described below.  (There is no special-purpose Syllabus tool.) Add syllabus tool; then enter individual components or use your own, uploaded.
Adding New Items and Files Use "Manage Files" (in the Content Tools) to upload files of all types to the course, and organize with subfolders.  Search function provided.  File size severely limited. Set up a Network Place (in Windows) to drag folders and files into course Resources through WebDAV, or upload individually.  Files launch client apps.
Announcements Shown on home page.  Expire in one week, then deleted.  No archive. Announcements tool.  Can set time span and other options.  Can merge announcements from other site (a different course) into current one.  Group-aware.
Discussions Message Board tool Discussion tool
Collaborative
Assignments		 Delegate management authority (with the "Member" tool) to groups formed in class, for sharing News, Photos, and Links.  Or request a portal Group for a student collaboration. Site Info --> Manage Groups
Also:  Grant access to outside guest instructors by e-mail address, in the Site Info --> Add Participants.  Guests will be e-mailed passwords to Sakai server.
Calendar Use the tool here, in the course, or the WyoWeb Calendar. Schedule tool
Grades None Gradebook tool
Exams None Tests and Quizzes tool
Final Prep
Where to find more details "Instructions for Standard Teaching Tasks Using Course Studio in WyoWeb" (Faculty Resources at the OnLnSupp page) See us, or the extensive Help pages at your Sakai site.
What to tell your students Log in to the WyoWeb portal with your standard UWYO domain account user ID and password.  Under the "Student Resources" tab, in the "My Courses" channel, click on the semester to see the list of your courses, and click on a course name to enter it. Access time is normally limited to 9:00 to 4:00.  At the OnLnSupp page:
  http://www.uwyo.edu/onlnsupp
Use the "Login Sakai" link

 

 

For additional information, see Instructional Computing Services FAQs.


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