Maintained by ic@ucsc.edu
This page updated:
September 14, 2006

WebCT - Before you start using WebCT

Setup Your Account

ITS Instructional Computing/Faculty Instructional Technology Center administers the server for WebCT at UCSC.

1. Request your course account
2. We will import your electronic class list from AIS. Large courses with several sections should identify which sections students are enrolled so we can add that information to WebCT to make grading more manageable.
3. Tell us who to add as your course TAs or designer so we can setup their account and access permissions.
4. You will receive via email your account information and course confirmation.
5. Check out the on-line tutorials and getting started documentation.
6. Plan to attend a FITC sponsored WebCT Orientation/Training
7. Decide if you wish to take advantage of having 4 hrs (per quarter) of technical support (provided by FITC student WebDev personnel) to develop your WebCT course. On-line request form.
8. Check out WebCT's Getting Started 4.1 Tutorial

Adjusting Your Browser Settings

Before you start designing a course using WebCT, you should enable JavaScript, enable cookies, and set the cache of your browser to refresh always.

To ensure the validation of your browser, click the Check Browser button on the login page.

For more information, go to WebCT Supported Browsers and Plug-ins or check the WebCT Browser Tuneup page.

Login to UCSC WebCT

URL: http://ic.ucsc.edu/webct

Use the same login and password you use for CruzMail (xx@ucsc.edu). When you first log on you may be presented with either the course Homepage, or the Course Designer Center, a collection of wizards to step you through setting up WebCT tools. For the purposes of this document, we assume that you are at the course Homepage, and that you have selected tools from your original request already setup.

Designer Map WebCT Screen Terminology

Take a minute to familiarize yourself with the screen elements.

The Menu Bar contains links to myWebCT, Resume Course, Course Map, Check Browser, Log Out, and Help. It also shows your current location and indicates whether you're in View or Designer Options. Each of these items is described below.

Name	Description
myWebCT	Contains links to all the courses that you are teaching, along with announcements, bookmarks, and a link to WebCT's e-Learning hub.
Resume Course	Allows students to resume their place in the Content Module (course content).
Course Map	Allows you and your students to see the course structure on one page. The course elements are hyperlinks, enabling you to go directly to any place in the course.
Check Browser	Allows you to check what browser you are using and whether or not it is validated for use with WebCT.
Log Out	Logs the user out of WebCT.
Help	Links you to context-sensitive online help.
View	Allows you to see how the course will appear to a student. On some screens, View only approximates what a student sees. To see the actual student view, log on to your course as a student.
Designer Options	Allows you to make modifications to tools, pages, or content.

The Navigation Bar contains a Control Panel and a Course Menu section. On the right is the Actions menu.

Name	Description
Control Panel	Provides central access to course creation and management functions. It is visible only to designers.
Course Menu	Provides access to course elements. It is visible to designers and students. You can customize the links on this menu.
Actions	Allows you to make changes to selected objects and tools, add and delete items. Must make a selection in the Content Area first before you can perform an action on this item.

The breadcrumbs list the path of screens that a user has visited.
The Content Area is where the actual course material is displayed.

Course Design Basics

The general procedure for adding any element to your course is to first add the element, and then to go to the element itself and customize it for your course. For example, to add a quiz feature to your course, you first add the Quizzes/Surveys tool, and then you go to Quizzes to set preferences, such as creating a question set and begin creating a quiz.

The Designer Map

The starting point for adding any item to your course is the Control Panel or from the Actions Options displayed on the right side of your page. From the Navigation Bar, click Control Panel. The Basic Control Panel appears below.

If you click Expanded Control Panel you will notice how tools and pages are grouped by function.