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A Comprehensive WebCT Integration System. Rob Phillips Teaching and Learning Centre, Murdoch University James Strong NetSpot Onno Benschop ITmaze Mark Hallam WebCiTe. History. 1998: Adoption of WebCT at Murdoch 1999-00: Murdoch Online Mainstreaming Project - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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A Comprehensive WebCT A Comprehensive WebCT Integration SystemIntegration System
• Rob Phillips– Teaching and Learning Centre,
Murdoch University
• James Strong– NetSpot
• Onno Benschop– ITmaze
• Mark Hallam– WebCiTe
HistoryHistory
• 1998: Adoption of WebCT at Murdoch
• 1999-00: Murdoch Online Mainstreaming Project– to establish WebCT as a mission-critical
application– to integrate WebCT with other
University systems
Murdoch Online Mainstreaming Murdoch Online Mainstreaming Project ObjectivesProject Objectives
• 9,600 (of ~12,000) students now use WebCT• ~255 units in WebCT• WebCT is integrated with other corporate
systems– Callista student records system– Concept 1 human resources system– Murdoch’s own MAIS authentication and
identification system
WebCTManWebCTMan
• Integration achieved through WebCTMan• Middleware WebCT management application
– mySQL database– suite of operator tools and data transfer scripts
• Collates student and staff information from multiple sources
• Enables the flow of students in and out of WebCT
OverviewOverview
• Conceptual issues around Murdoch’s implementation of WebCT
• Design and Functionality of the system
• Demonstration
ConceptualConceptual IssuesIssues
• Course categories• Parent IDs• Unit offerings• Course Naming
CategoriesCategories
• Murdoch has four teaching ‘divisions’• One WebCT Category for each division• When a course is in use, it’s available through:
– the Course Listing screen– MyWebCT
• When a course is in not in use:– in hidden category (Under Development)– not visible to students
ParentParent IDsIDs
• Each category has an associated globalID, known as a “parent ID”
• The parent ID is owned by the WebCT team– assigned as the primary designer– allows access to all courses – enables quality assurance
• Teaching staff are shared access designers
Unit OfferingsUnit Offerings
• Units are offered flexibly at Murdoch– at different campuses/ locations
– externally, internally and/or online
– in different teaching periods (semester, trimester…)
• Callista uses the concept of a Unit Offering
Administrative IssuesAdministrative Issues
• Managing cohorts is an issue– whole cohort in one WebCT course?
– different cohorts in different courses?
• Managing semester breaks– when to remove students?
Course Naming Policy Course Naming Policy
• A WebCT course exists for each offering of a unit in a distinct teaching period
• Naming convention– A123s1: Unit A123 offered in semester 1
– A123t3: Unit A123 offered in trimester 3
OverviewOverview
• Conceptual issues around Murdoch’s implementation of WebCT
• Design and Functionality of the system
• Demonstration
enrol in
provides data for
provides data for
map to
populate
map to
Callistastudent DB
Students Unit offerings
WebCT courses
Global Database
Course database
Course database
Course database
Central systems
WebCTMan
WebCT
OverviewOverview of of WebCTManWebCTMan
CallistaCallista IntegrationIntegration
enrol in
provides data for
provides data for
map to
Callistastudent DB
Students Unit offerings
WebCT courses
Central systems
WebCTMan
Course MappingCourse Mapping
– demo
Course Mapping SummaryCourse Mapping Summary
• Students can be allocated to WebCT courses in any way desired
• Non-Callista students can be added manually– e.g. first-year students at Murdoch’s
partner institution in Malaysia
• Student details from multiple sources combined in one place
WebCT IntegrationWebCT Integration
enrol in
map to
populate
map toStudents Unit offerings
WebCT courses
Global Database
Course database
Course database
Course database
WebCTMan
WebCT
Course StatusCourse Status
• which WebCT courses should be populated with students?– e.g. students enrol early but the unit lecturer
isn’t ready for them to use WebCT
• Concept of course status – active– static– inactive
Active CoursesActive Courses
WebCT Man
Callista
Callista UploadCallista Upload
WebCTglobal DB
WebCTcourse DB
PopulatePopulate
• Courses being used by students
• Data updated daily
CallistaCallista UploadUpload
• Perl script loads data into WebCTMan daily
• Get all active unit offerings• Get all students in Callista who are
enrolled in these unit offerings• For each student:
– Add or update student details– Get student’s unit offerings from Callista and
update these in WebCTMan
Populate into WebCTPopulate into WebCT• Perl script loads data into WebCT daily• Get all students in WebCTMan• For each student:
– Look up courses for this student– For each active or static course:
• Make up WebCT API call to add or update global database
• Check for orphans and reconnect• Update personal details in each course
database
Static CoursesStatic Courses
• Stop getting Callista data for this course
• Enrolment data not updated
• If student in any active course then personal data updated
WebCT Man
Callista
WebCTglobal DB
WebCTcourse DB
PopulatePopulate
InactiveInactive CoursesCourses• Students’ enrolments records
are deleted for that course in WebCTMan
• The API call to WebCT for that student will not contain that course
• The student will be orphaned • The course data remains, but
students cannot access it
WebCT Man
Callista
WebCTglobal DB
WebCTcourse DB
Course Status InterfaceCourse Status Interface
• demo
Integration with Other SystemsIntegration with Other Systems
enrol in map to
provides data for
provides data for
map to
are synchronised
with
populate
Callistastudent DB
Students Unit offerings
WebCT courses
Global Database
Course database
Course database
Course database
Central systems
WebCTMan
WebCT
have roles in
provides data for
populate
WebCT courses
Global Database
Concept 1Staff DB
Staff
propagatespasswords to
Global Database
MAISauthentication
WebCTMan Admin. InterfaceWebCTMan Admin. Interface
• With the addition of staff data, WebCTMan had the potential to fully manage WebCT– circumventing the Administrator Interface
– adding more functionality to manage staff and courses
– demo
Wrap UpWrap Up
• Conceptual issues around Murdoch’s implementation of WebCT
• Design and Functionality of the system
• Demonstration
SummarySummary
• WebCTMan – Comprehensively integrates WebCT
with other systems– Provides extra administrative
functionality • allows for management of students,
courses and staff roles
– Authoritative source of data which controls how WebCT behaves
Major FeaturesMajor Features
• Parent IDs - primary designers of categories– facilitates the management of multiple
client groups on the one server.
• Unit Offerings - many-to-many mapping between unit offerings and WebCT courses
• Course Status - active, static and inactive courses
Wider ApplicationWider Application
• Applicable to other WebCT installations?
• Multiple WebCT installations hosted on a single server
• Enables migration away from WebCT– if the feature/cost nexus indicates that
another system is preferable
Questions??Questions??
• Rob Phillips– Murdoch
• James Strong– NetSpot
• Onno Benschop– ITmaze
• Mark Hallam– WebCiTe
• Software design
• Automation scripting
• Admin. Interface
• WebCT internals