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WebCT Information for Instructors

Instructions for the Discussion Tool

Creating the Discussion Tool

  • Click on the Control Panel
  • Click Add Page or Tool
  • Under Add Page or Tool, make sure Use a wizard when available is deselected
  • Under Communication Tools, click Discussion Tool
  • Enter an appropriate title, select where you wish links to appear, and select an icon.
  • Click Add

Creating a Discussion Topic

  • Click on the Discussion Icon
  • The Discussions screen appears. You’ll notice that it contains three default topics: All, Main, and Notes.
  • Under Actions, click Create topic
  • In the text box, type an appropriate name
  • Click Create
  • You should now see your newly created topic added to the Topic Settings table

Creating a Discussion Message

  • Click on the Discussion Icon
  • Click on Compose Message
  • Next to Topic, select the topic you wish the message to appear under
  • Click in the subject textbox and enter an appropriate title
  • Click in the textbox below the subject and type your message
  • When you are finished typing your message, click Post
  • Click on the topic your message was posted under
  • If the new message is not yet visible, click Update Listing

Adding a Discussion Forum to a Content Module
 When you add Discussions to your Action Menu in a content module, the students click on the Discussion link from that Action Menu and the "subject" is the title of the content page. This posts to the Notes discussion forum.
 

  • Click on the Content Module Icon
  • Under Actions, click on Edit Content Module Settings
  • Under Action Menu, Select the Action Menu items you would like to appear in this module, select Discussions
  • Click Update
  • A link to Discussion will now appear at the top of every page in that content module, and students will be able to compose discussion messages that will appear in the Notes section

Archiving Discussion Threads
You can backup and restore the course to a new/different WebCT course and choose not to reset it. This would allow for a clean start for new student access, if need be, but allow them to read all of the previous postings.

Compiling and Downloading Discussion Threads
You can use the Compile feature to compile and download your discussion thread to your computer.

  • Click on the Discussion Tool icon
  • Open a topic (example: the All topic).
  • Select postings to compile by choosing the checkbox next to the posting or select all by clicking the checkbox next to Subject.
  • Below the postings, click the Compile button.
  • A popup window appears with the chosen postings compiled into a text document format that can be downloaded. (Note that if you compile a posting that has an attachment, that attachment is not included in the compiled document. You must download that attachment or print it out separately.)
  • To download, click the Download button
  • In the next window that appears, click Save
  • In the next window that appears, select the location on your computer to save to and click Save

For proper formatting it is recommended that you open the .txt file in a word processor such as MS Word rather than a text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad.

Creating Private Topics in Discussion Group
If an instructor wishes to send messages to specific groups/teams of students in a class, the best alternative is to create private topics in the Discussion tool with the members of each group assigned to a specific private topic. Another advantage of this is that it enables the instructor to mail the same message to several recipients while only one copy of the message is stored and displayed in the course instead of multiple copies of the same message.
 

  • Click on the Discussion Icon
  • Under Actions, click Create topic
  • In the text box, type an appropriate name
  • Click Create
  • Under Topic Settings, next to your new group name select Private (The group and it’s messages will only be viewable by it’s members, otherwise if you leave it public, it will be viewable to all members of the course)
  • Click Update
  • Select your new, private group and under Options, click Manage Members
  • Click Select Members
  • Select the students you wish to be members and include yourself
  • Click Update
  • Go to Discussions
  • Click on the new group’s name
  • Click Compose Message
  • Next to Select Topic, your group should be listed. If not, select the name of your group from the dropdown menu
  • Compose your message and click Post.

Problems with Shared Designer in Discussion Group
Although users with Shared Designer Access each have a unique WebCT ID and password, they all share the course tools with the Primary Designer. They are all, functionally, the same user and share the same account inside the course.

For example, all Designers, Primary and Shared, share one mail tool and receive the same mail. In Mail, Discussions, Chat, and Whiteboard, they all appear with the name designated in the Course Settings "Instructor" field.

This raises two issues:
1) From the students' point of view, the Primary Designer and anyone with Shared Designer Access appear as exactly the same person.

2) If one of the people using any Designer access checks "new" mail or discussion messages, these will no longer appear as "new" for the next Designer who logs in to the course.

These are workarounds most commonly used to clarify the above issues.

1) As well as sharing designer access, Shared Designers are assigned another WebCT ID and are added to the course as Teaching Assistants. The second TA IDs give them access to Mail, Discussions, Chat, and Whiteboard with their own names.

Note: With this workaround, as a Shared Designer, you would have two WebCT IDs. To help manage content, you would log in using the WebCT ID that has Shared Designer Access. For all other functions, you would log in using the WebCT ID with TA access.

2) In Course Settings, the course instructor's name is set as something generic like "Instructor". Then, when Designers, both Primary and Shared, create mail or discussion messages, they place their own names into the subject line, or at the end of the posting as a signature line. In chat, they enter their initials at the beginning of each chat string. This method eliminates the necessity for two WebCT IDs for each Shared Designer, but it may cause confusion if the name, initials, or signature line are occasionally forgotten. This workaround does not address issue #2 above concerning new message notifications.

Making Shared Designer a Teaching Assistant
First, create a new WebCT account for the Shared Designer, and then follow these instructions:

  • Click Control Panel
  • Click Manage Course
  • Click Manage Teaching Assistants
  • Under Manage Teaching Assistants, select Add/Import Teaching Assistants
  • Click Go
  • Under Import from Global Database, enter teaching assistant’s new WebCT ID
  • Click Add

Click on this link for a printable version of this page.

If you have problems or questions about uploading files into WebCT, contact Suzanne Sprouse (sprouses@winthrop.edu) 
 
WebCT Contact Information
Suzanne Sprouse, E-Learning & Project Coordinator
Distance Learning and AV Services | 803.323.2551 | sprouse@winthrop.edu
Last updated: 02/05/07