Hopkins WebCT expands options

College campuses across the country are constantly integrating information technology into course curricula, and Johns Hopkins University is no exception. Here at the Homewood campus, the WebCT program allows for professors to put lecture notes online, facilitate student-to-student and student-to-teacher chats, respond to questions via online message boards and much more. For classes using the WebCT program, students can also check their grades online, access old exams, homework, answer keys, syllabi, study guides and more.

WebCT started at Johns Hopkins in 1998, when college campuses were just beginning to put together online course resources. The WebCT program itself began at the University of British Columbia. At Johns Hopkins, faculty like Ian Goh from the Center of Education Resources began experimenting with the program and training professors in its use.

When asked what the main purposes of WebCT are, Goh said, "Well, the main purpose is information dissemination - lecture notes, homework and other study tools. The advantages are that it's very convenient. Before, if you wanted to access a particular document, you might have to go the library and check for it on reserve, wait for it if it were being used by someone else, photocopy it and so on. WebCT offers more accessibility to course tools. You also have more access to the professor, and you can see what other students in the class have questions about on the message board postings."

WebCT is more likely to be used for lecture courses where students might not otherwise have personal contact with the professor. The system is being used mostly in the School of Arts and Science and in the Whiting School of Engineering. Goh adds "For the most part, WebCT is a supplement to courses here at Hopkins. This isn't distance education. But we do have sections of the university that are fully online, such as part-time engineering courses, and the Center for Talented Youth creative writing courses."

There are many advantages to the WebCT program. Students can see what questions other students in the class have asked and receive answers to them, as well as review all the notes before an exam, or access the lecture notes they might have missed due to absence. Also, WebCT allows professors to talk directly to students via message board postings and live chats. Goh says, "WebCT is especially good right before midterms. It's a lot easier if all the information you need is ready and accessible in one place."

WebCT is also being used by Johns Hopkins Technology Fellows in the Center for Education Resources (JHED). The purpose of the program is to promote the use of information technology in learning and to further develop the information technology that is already being used.

Maintenance of the WebCT system involves the more technical issues of licensing and server maintenance, but the most important part, says Goh, is training the faculty in the use of WebCT. Since professors and TA's set up the individual tools available for their course on the WebCT system, Goh considers their training crucial. Although the usage of WebCT differs from class to class and from department to department, there is no doubt that now that WebCT is in use, it is going to benefit both graduate and undergraduate students across disciplines at Johns Hopkins.

What is the future for WebCT here at Hopkins? Goh says, "I would like to see WebCT expanded. We're going to implement some upgrades this spring and work on training professors over intersession. We're also trying to integrate WebCT more with Student Information Services at the registrar and with JHED. Then, your JHED ID would be the same as your WebCT login, and you would have a personalized course roster accessible online."

WebCT is accessible online through their Website at http://jhcourse.jhu.edu.