WebCT
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What is WebCT?
WebCT User Name/Password
How do I access WebCT?
WebCT Help

What is WebCT?
WebCT is an Internet based program that gives you access to your instructor and the other students taking this course, along with various elements of the course. WebCT is a password protected environment—you must have a User Name and Password to access WebCT.

WebCT appears to work best when viewed using Netscape Navigator version 4.77 or 4.76 (4.76 can be downloaded from Netcape 4.76 Downloads). We have had problems in the past when accessing WebCT using Internet Explorer or AOL's built in browser. For this reason, I highly suggest that ALL students use Netscape Navigator 4.77 or 4.76 to access this online course especially when taking quizzes or exams. If you do not currently have one of these versions on your computer, you can download it for FREE or use one of the computers on campus to access the site.

• Students will be able to communicate one on one with the instructor and fellow students through WebCT Private E-mail. (link labeled E-mail Instructor)
  
  
• Assignments for this course will be submitted through the WebCT Assignment Dropbox.
  
  
• Assignment Due dates are handled via the WebCT Schedule (calendar).
  
  
• All students enrolled in this course as well as the instructor can view Messages posted on the WebCT Discussion Board. (if used in the course)
  
  
• Students can keep track of their course grades by accessing WebCT My Grades.
  
  
• All Quizzes and Tests will be accessed using WebCT Quizzes/Tests.

WebCT User Name and Password
To follow is the information regarding your User Name and Password. If you have any problems logging in after reading all of the information on this page, please contact the Training, Technology & Learning center.

User Name: firstnamelastname  All lowercase, no spaces
For example, timothymoore

NOTE:  even though a student with the name Timothy may go by “Tim” the school database would most likely have him listed as “Timothy,” so to properly access WebCT he must use his full first name to access WebCT.

Password: socialsecurity#   8 numbers, no hyphens
For example, 123456789

How do I access WebCT?
Accessing links in this course
Accessing all online courses

Accessing Links in this Course
To access certain portions of your class, such as: Schedule, Tests/Quizzes, Instructor Email, Grades, and Assignment Dropbox:

This course has been designed with direct links to the WebCT items related to the course. By clicking on Schedule, Grades, or various links in the Classroom you will activate the WebCT account associated with this course.

By clicking on various links throughout this course you will prompt the WebCT User Name and Password dialogue box:

Enter the appropriate information (User Name/Password information is described above) and click OK.

You will then directly enter into the WebCT portion of this course.

Accessing All Online Courses
If you wish to access all of your online courses at Triton:

First, you will first need to point your browser – Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer – to:

http://online.triton.cc.il.us:8900
(The page that appears will look like the graphic below.)

Once at this site, you should click on “Log on to” link.  This will open a login dialogue box that will ask for your User Name and password. Enter in your User Name and Password as described above.

After entering your User Name and Password, click on the “OK” button in the dialogue box.  This will give you access to your “myWebCT” account.

In “myWebCT” you will be able to access all the online classes for which you have registered.  The classes will be listed in a column on the left hand sNamee of the page (Your classes will be different than the ones listed here, unless you are registered for the same classes.). Clicking on the title of the course will take you to your class. 

WebCT Help
Using WebCT Private Mail (Email Instructor)
Using the Assignment Drop Box
Taking a Quiz or Exam in WebCT
Using the WebCT Discussion Board

Using WebCT Private Mail
Mail allows you and your instructor and fellow students in this course to send private mail messages to each other without having to go through an outsNamee email program. As long as you have internet access and access to this WebCT course site, you will be able to send and receive email messages. This is the preferred method of communication with your instructor.

There are four default folders for each user. All: contains all messages; Draft: contains all unsent messages; Inbox: contains all received messages; Outbox: contains all sent messages.

1. Click on the Mail tool to get into the feature
2. Your current mail folders will appear showing you how many messages you have and which ones are unread

To Send a Message

1. Click Compose Message. The Compose Message window appears.
   
   
2. Complete the Send to text box by typing the name of the recipient(s) or viewing the list of possible recipients.
   a) To view the list of possible recipients: click the Browse button.
   b) To select a recipient, click their name.
   c) To select more than one recipient, hold the SHIFT key while selecting the names.
   d) Click Done.
   
   
3. Complete the subject line, and type your message in the text box. Blank subjects or messages are NOT allowed.
   
   
4. If you would like to attach a file
   a) Enter the filename of the attachment.
   b) Click Attach File. The filename appears.
   
   
5. Click Send. The mail is sent and a copy is placed in the Outbox folder.

Reading Mail

1. From the Mail Folders table, click the folder that contains the mail that you would like to read. The Mail Messages screen appears.
   
   
2. To display any mail that was just sent, click Update Listing.
   
   
3. Click the hyperlink to the message that you would like to read. Note: only unread messages are listed; to view all messages, click Show All.
   
   
4. If the mail includes a file attachment you'll see a paper clip icon. Note: for security reasons, it is recommended that you download the attachment to your own computer before you view it, but you can just open it directly through WebCT.
   
   
5. To download the file attachment, click the paper clip icon, and then follow the instructions for downloading from your browser. When the download is complete, click Done.
   
   
6. When you have finished reading the mail, you can either close the message (Click Close. The Mail Messages screen appears) or forward the mail, reply to it, or download the message.

Marking all mail as read

1. From the Mail Folders table, click the folder that contains the mail that you would like to mark. The Mail Messages screen appears.
   
   
2. Display the messages that you would like to mark. By default, only unread messages are listed; to view all messages, click Show All.
   
   
3. Click Mark all as read. The message: There are no unread messages in this folder appears.

Marking selected mail as read

1. From the Mail Folders table, click the folder that contains the mail that you would like to mark. The Mail Messages screen appears.
   
   
2. Display the messages that you would like to mark. By default, only unread messages are listed; to view all messages, click Show All.
   
   
3. Select the messages that you would like to mark as read.
   
   
4. From the Apply to selected message(s) below drop-down list, select Mark as read. Click Go.

Using the Assignment Drop Box
The Assignment Drop Box enables students to attach their assignments directly into WebCT in an organized manner. Instructors can then open the assignments, grade them and post scores and comments directly into WebCT. By using this tool a corresponding column for grades is added in the Student Management Feature of WebCT where students can access their personal point totals.

Note: Before using the assignment drop box, students must type their assignments in a Word Processing Program (Microsoft Word is the program to use for this course). The file must then be saved on the students computer before accessing the assignment drop box. Be sure to save your file with the appropriate file name WebCT will NOT recognize filenames with spaces, or characters that are not numbers or letters.

1. After you have typed up your assignment and saved it to your computer: Click the Assignment Drop Box from the WebCT Home Page (you can access the WebCT home page via links on the Classroom page). The Assignments screen appears.
   
   
2. Click the hyperlinked name of the assignment you want to submit. The Assignment Instruction screen appears.
   
   
3. To choose the file to upload, click Student Files. The View/Upload Files For Assignments screen appears.
   
   
4. Click Upload. The Upload File For Assignment screen appears.
   
   
5. To locate the file, click Browse to open your local computer's browser (note you may have to change the files of type box at the bottom of the browse window to view "all files").
   
   
6. Select the file by clicking on it. The Upload File For Assignments screen reappears, with the name of the file shows in the Filename text box.
   
   
7. To upload the file, click Upload. The View/Upload Files For Assignments screen reappears.
   
   
8. Click the Return to Assignment hyperlink. The Assignment Instruction screen reappears.
   
   
9. To submit the assignment, click Submit Assignment. The Submit Assignment screen appears.
   
   
10. Click Submit Assignment. A confirmation box appears asking you to confirm the procedure.
    
    
11. Click OK. The Assignments screen reappears, with the message Not Graded appearing in the Status column. When the assignment has been graded by your instructor, this message changes to a hyperlink that says Graded and your grade appears in the Grade column. Click the hyperlink to view your instructor's comments about your work.

Note: When naming an assignment file which you intend to upload, a single-word filename MUST be used. WebCT will NOT recognize filenames with spaces, or characters that are not numbers or letters. Also be aware that in order for the instructor to open a student’s file, the instructor must have the same software on his or her computer that the student has used. For this reason, all students MUST use Microsoft "Word" as their word processing program.

Taking a Quiz or Exam in WebCT
There is a time limit for each quiz and/or test, so make sure you are aware of how much time you have before you start the quiz or test.  Once a quiz is accessed the clock starts and continues counting down until the student actually submits the quiz for grading. Once the time runs out, the student will no longer be able to save new answers and must submit the quiz for grading. 

If a student accNameentally gets knocked off-line the student should immediately attempt to get back into the quiz and continue where he or she left off.  Please note that the time available that appears on the clock only updates when the student clicks the save button and/or submits the quiz.  The time is still counting down on the server even though it may not have changed on the screen.

To pick a correct answer click in the check box before the answer you think is correct.  At the end of each question click the SAVE button. When you have answered all questions be sure to click the FINISH button.  When asked if you want to submit the quiz for grading say YES.

Quiz Grading and Viewing Your Score

After you click the submit button, your quiz or test will be immediately graded by WebCT and you can check your answers and score by clicking on the "view results button" in WebCT. Below is an example of how questions are scored. 

The Blue arrow indicates the answer chosen by the student.  The percentage number to the left of the answers indicates which answer is correct and which ones are incorrect.  In this case the student chose answer #2 which was incorrect.  The 100% next to answer #1 shows that this was the correct answer for this question.

Using the WebCT Discussion Board
WebCT Discussion Board allows you and your fellow classmates to post, read, and search for messages. The Discussion Board is divNameed into different topics or conferences set up by the instructor.

By default, the Bulletin board contains three public topics (see below) and then the instructor creates however many other topics are needed for the course: All: contains all messages from all public topics/conferences; Main: the main discussion area; Notes: messages related to a page of content in a Content Module.

To Use the Discussion Board Feature

1. Click on the Discussion Board Icon from the WebCT Homepage to get into the feature.
   
   
2. Your current bulletins categories will appear showing you how many postings you have in each category and which ones are unread. You can also see which conferences are private or public.

To Post a Message

1. Once insNamee the Discussion Board, click the topic that you want to post a message to. (The Discussion Messages window appears).
   
   
2. Click Compose Message" towards the top of the screen. The Compose Message window appears.
   
   
3. Make sure your topic is showing the correct forum you wish to post your message in. * If not, click the down arrow and choose the correct one.
   
   
4. Complete the subject line, and type your posting in the text box. Blank subjects or messages are NOT allowed.
   
   
5. Click Post. Your message is posted on the Bulletin Board.

To attach a file to the Discussion Board:

1. Click the Browse button and locate the file that you would like to attach. (please note: you may have to change the files of type at the bottom of the browse box to show "all files").
   
   
2. After selecting the file to be attached and it's name shows up next to the Browse box click Attach File.
   
   
3. The filename appears underneath the Attach file box with a check box next to it.
   
   
4. Select the check box next to the filename or click the delete attachments button.

Reading a posting on the Discussion Board

1. After clicking on the discussion board icon from the WebCT homepage, click the topic that contains the messages that you want to read. The Messages screen appears.
   
   
2. To display any messages that were just sent, click Update Listing.
   
   
3. Click the hyperlink to the message that you want to read.
   Note: only unread messages are listed; to view all messages, click Show All. Messages are presented by threads; to view in chronological order, click Unthreaded.
   
   
4. If the message includes a file attachment you'll see a paper clip icon. Note: it is recommended that you download the attachment to your own computer before you view it.
   
   
5. To download the file attachment, click the paper clip icon, and then follow the instructions for downloading from your browser. When the download is complete, click Done.
   
   
6. When you have finished reading the message, you can either close the message. (click "Close". The Messages screen appears) reply or download the message.

Replying to a message

1. From the Discussion table, click the topic that contains the message that you want to reply to. The Messages screen appears.
   
   
2. Click the message that you want to reply to. The message appears.
   
   
3. Click Reply. The Compose Message window appears.
   
   
4. Type your message in the text box.
   
   
5. Click Send.

Marking all postings as read

1. From the Discussions table, click the topic that contains the messages that you want to mark. The Messages screen appears.
   
   
2. Display the messages that you want to mark. By default, only unread messages are listed; to view all messages, click Show All.
   
   
3. Click Mark all as read.

WebCT Help section compiled by Marcy Satterwhite; edited by Amy Hornbrook.