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Can I put pictures, sounds, videos, etc. in WebCT?

Yes, WebCT will allow you to place any type file you want in its file management system. Whatever type of file you provide it is just necessary that the students have access to a program that can read them, i.e. change them back into sounds or pictures or whatever. At Camosun College we wanted to use a variety of radio programs we had developed with our WebCT system so we decided to buy a RealAudio server that compresses files quite efficiently. Another reason for going with RealAudio is that we wanted to provide live, real time audio streaming on our student radio station. There are a number of other file formats that we could have used however and all could have been placed in WebCT or pointed to from a WebCT file.

There are a few issues that need to be considered here. The first is copyright. Unless you produce original material, such as our radio programs, you don't own the copyright to the material and you will need to get permission to use it. If a given image or file is one the web and is not protected by a password you may create a pointer to it without permission, though is usual to ask permission to point to a site if you expect to be sending a significant number of users to it.

There is also the issue of "bandwidth," or how much information your system can send and/or receive. We have enough bandwidth to serve audio, but we are in no position to serve anything more than a few 30 sec. animations or video clips. Plan ahead, and check with your technical people before you even contemplate putting any video up.

I currently use PowerPoint with a computer and an overhead to present lectures Can I do anything similar with WebCT?

Power point presentation can be placed in the WebCT file system and pointers to PowerPoint presentations can be placed on any page. I have my course set up with lecture notes and pointers to images as one of the pages. I then go to class with a computer and a video projector and use my WebCT page instead of a PowerPoint presentation. I have my lecture outline and can also project images either stored in WebCT or on the Internet.

I have this great CD ROM of images and animations that I have put together. Can use it with WebCT?

WebCT has the ability to point to specific CD's and locations on that CD. This has great potential because a great number of images, audio and video files can be stored on CD ROMs. CD ROM cutters are increasingly inexpensive. This process is presented quite clearly in the WebCT Help Index under "CD-ROM Configuration." Sometimes students have slow Internet Service Provider and charge by the minute and they can run up a considerable charge for accessing course material. Providing all or most of the course material on a CD ROM would be a way around this. I recently worked with a group swim coaches who's group is spread all across Canada. They are moving to on-line instruction to do most of the presentation of basic content, but they have a great deal of video of swim techniques to which they would like their members to have access. It would seem like the solution for them is put their video on CD ROMs.

What types of uses can be made of the "Student Presentation" facility?

The student presentation facility is for one or more students to create a web page or series of web pages and post them so all their class mates can view them. Increasingly papers at all levels of education are being written in html or Internet format and this will be good practice for your students.

How do students use the "Student Presentation" facility?

The WebCT Student Presentation Tool makes students into course authors by allowing them to place material onto the WebCT server which other students can then access. The Student Presentation tool can be used to have students create multimedia WWW presentations on particular course topics.
The instructor can choose to divide the class into groups of 1 or more students, who may then collaborate on a project. The group generation can be done manually by the instructor, or groups can be generated randomly with the WebCT group generator.
To give students access to the Student Presentation tool, a "Presentations" icon must be placed on the homepage or on a toolpage.
All group presentation information is stored under the "Course Files" directory in a directory called "student_pres". This "student_pres" directory contains a separate subdirectory for each group. The group directories' names are identical to the group names. The instructor can thus use the File Manager to view student submissions. Students in a particular group have access to a subset of File Manager functions, which allows them to upload files to their group's directory only. Students from other groups may view each group's submission through the Student Presentation icon mentioned above.
The Student Presentation Tool can be accessed as a designer from the "Student Presentations" button on the "Course Management" menu on the main homepage. (WebCT Help)

	Can I put pictures, sounds, videos, etc. in WebCT?
	Yes, WebCT will allow you to place any type file you want in its file management system. Whatever type of file you provide it is just necessary that the students have access to a program that can read them, i.e. change them back into sounds or pictures or whatever. At Camosun College we wanted to use a variety of radio programs we had developed with our WebCT system so we decided to buy a RealAudio server that compresses files quite efficiently. Another reason for going with RealAudio is that we wanted to provide live, real time audio streaming on our student radio station. There are a number of other file formats that we could have used however and all could have been placed in WebCT or pointed to from a WebCT file. There are a few issues that need to be considered here. The first is copyright. Unless you produce original material, such as our radio programs, you don't own the copyright to the material and you will need to get permission to use it. If a given image or file is one the web and is not protected by a password you may create a pointer to it without permission, though is usual to ask permission to point to a site if you expect to be sending a significant number of users to it. There is also the issue of "bandwidth," or how much information your system can send and/or receive. We have enough bandwidth to serve audio, but we are in no position to serve anything more than a few 30 sec. animations or video clips. Plan ahead, and check with your technical people before you even contemplate putting any video up.

	I currently use PowerPoint with a computer and an overhead to present lectures Can I do anything similar with WebCT?
	Power point presentation can be placed in the WebCT file system and pointers to PowerPoint presentations can be placed on any page. I have my course set up with lecture notes and pointers to images as one of the pages. I then go to class with a computer and a video projector and use my WebCT page instead of a PowerPoint presentation. I have my lecture outline and can also project images either stored in WebCT or on the Internet.

	I have this great CD ROM of images and animations that I have put together. Can use it with WebCT?
	WebCT has the ability to point to specific CD's and locations on that CD. This has great potential because a great number of images, audio and video files can be stored on CD ROMs. CD ROM cutters are increasingly inexpensive. This process is presented quite clearly in the WebCT Help Index under "CD-ROM Configuration." Sometimes students have slow Internet Service Provider and charge by the minute and they can run up a considerable charge for accessing course material. Providing all or most of the course material on a CD ROM would be a way around this. I recently worked with a group swim coaches who's group is spread all across Canada. They are moving to on-line instruction to do most of the presentation of basic content, but they have a great deal of video of swim techniques to which they would like their members to have access. It would seem like the solution for them is put their video on CD ROMs.

	What types of uses can be made of the "Student Presentation" facility?
	The student presentation facility is for one or more students to create a web page or series of web pages and post them so all their class mates can view them. Increasingly papers at all levels of education are being written in html or Internet format and this will be good practice for your students.

	How do students use the "Student Presentation" facility?
	The WebCT Student Presentation Tool makes students into course authors by allowing them to place material onto the WebCT server which other students can then access. The Student Presentation tool can be used to have students create multimedia WWW presentations on particular course topics. The instructor can choose to divide the class into groups of 1 or more students, who may then collaborate on a project. The group generation can be done manually by the instructor, or groups can be generated randomly with the WebCT group generator. To give students access to the Student Presentation tool, a "Presentations" icon must be placed on the homepage or on a toolpage. All group presentation information is stored under the "Course Files" directory in a directory called "student_pres". This "student_pres" directory contains a separate subdirectory for each group. The group directories' names are identical to the group names. The instructor can thus use the File Manager to view student submissions. Students in a particular group have access to a subset of File Manager functions, which allows them to upload files to their group's directory only. Students from other groups may view each group's submission through the Student Presentation icon mentioned above. The Student Presentation Tool can be accessed as a designer from the "Student Presentations" button on the "Course Management" menu on the main homepage. (WebCT Help)