Visitors!

Thursday afternoon, October 19, we welcomed our two representatives from WebCT/Blackboard who presented what's new in Application Pack 1. Rolf and Phil talked with about a dozen WebCT users in all during the two presentations. New features now available are internal class blogs, journals, and student and instructor profiles (which can include pictures and other information). If you're a WebCT user, contact Dave Stephens or Chris Palmarini and request the feature you're interested in if you'd like to experiment a bit!

Call for Presenters: Online Teaching Conference 2007

The 2007 Online Teaching Conference, "Going for the Gold: Achieving Excellence in Online Education" is sponsored by CVC, @ONE, CCC Confer, and CCCSAT in partnership with Ohlone College, June 11-12, 2007, Ohlone College in Fremont, California or online. The Online Teaching Conference committee welcomes you to share your knowledge and experience with California Community College faculty and staff by becoming a presenter. Deadline for submitting your proposal is 5:00 pm WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23 (the day before Thanksgiving Day). Two keynote presentations:

• "E-Learning: On the Right Track to a Successful Future," featuring Jim Farmer, Chairperson, Instructional Might and Magic, Georgetown University, and former VP of Information Technology, Los Rios Community College District.
• "The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of DE (as told by the Ancient Geeks)," featuring Dan Barnett, Chair, Distance Education Committee at Butte College and CETC Ambassador, and Patricia James Hanz, Dean of Academic Success and Technology, Mt. San Jacinto College.

Avoiding the Cookie Monster: A WebCT Quick Tip

When you log into WebCT/Blackboard, the software places a "cookie" on your computer, a little file that tells WebCT to require that you log in again after 90 minutes of inactivity. But sometimes, when I'm working with my courses, I want to leave everything in place while I eat dinner or watch Battlestar Galactica. To avoid having to log in again, go to the Mail area and check the box labeled "auto-refresh." Then leave WebCT up and running with the Inbox visible in your browser. Every few seconds the auto-refresh function will "click" on the page while you are away. When you return, WebCT will be ready and waiting. (Be sure not to do this on a lab or public computer, of course, but do try this at home!)

WebCT Bug Fix & Update to Application Pack 1

Hi, everyone, Several important issues. Please read the entire message because this may affect you and your students! UPDATE AND BUG FIX PLANNED FOR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2006 FROM 10 P.M. WEDNESDAY NIGHT UNTIL 6 A.M. THURSDAY MORNING We are planning to have WebCT install a major update and bug fix the night of Wednesday, October 11, beginning at 10 p.m. Pacific Time. The installation and testing may take up to 8 hours (from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. Thursday morning). It's never convenient to do this kind of installation in the middle of a week (or a semester), but we're doing so so we can be fully staffed Thursday morning to handle any difficulties that may arise. We're writing in advance to alert you and to try to anticipate any significant consequences. Since all of us are using WebCT differently, we don't know if or how you and your students may be inconvienced. If this looks like a major problem (WebCT unavailable Wednesday night at 10 until Thursday morning at 6) please write to Chris Palmarini (PalmariniCh@butte.edu ) or me (BarnettDa@butte.edu ) right away. We've spent several weeks working with WebCT and looking at the update and bug fixes, and it appears there is good reason to do the installation now rather than waiting until the end of the semester. Though new features will become available, we will turn them off until you are ready to explore them. WebCT will look and feel pretty much exactly as it does now and you can simply ignore any new choices you may find in operating your courses on a daily basis. WEBCT REPRESENTATIVE WILL BE ON CAMPUS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19 TO DEMONSTRATE NEW FEATURES NOW AVAILABLE AND TO ANSWER QUESTIONS Our WebCT representatives will be on campus Thursday, October 19 to demonstrate the new features we are installing so you can decide whether they will be useful to you for next semseter. They will be in LRC 222 with a presentation at 1 p.m. and a duplicate at 2 p.m. We are hoping to record the presentation and stream it for those who are unable to attend because of scheduling difficulties. This is your opportunity to talk with someone from WebCT who wants to answer any questions and hear any issues you may have with the software. If you can't attend in person, please send your questions along. (Incidentally, the update involves no additional cost to the campus.) NAME CHANGE WebCT is now part of Blackboard, Inc. and the company is fast-tracking a name change from WebCT to Blackboard Learning System (we'll probably end up calling it just "Blackboard"). Nothing will change except the name, but during the transition you'll notice that even though we will keep the WebCT name for this semester the online help will begin referring to "Blackboard." We know there may be some confusion about this so please direct any questions or comments to me. Thanks for being a part of the expanding number of WebCT/Blackboard users at Butte College! Cheerily, Dan

"WebCT" Becomes "Blackboard Learning System"

Blackboard has completed its acquisition of WebCT and will begin "rebranding" our flagship Butte College learning management system. In the next few weeks and months the name "WebCT" will disappear in favor of "Blackboard Learning System." The actual WebCT software will remain the same, though online help files, links on our Butte College home page and elsewhere, and printed materials will take on the new Blackboard Learning System name. As we make this naming transition, it's likely that references to "Blackboard Learning System" in our materials and presentations will be shortened to "Blackboard." The reference is still to our WebCT product, not to the Blackboard software (also from the same company) used at other schools. Our guess is that Blackboard Learning System (= WebCT) will be the software the company markets to educational institutions, with the current Blackboard software (used on other campuses) eventually targeted at corporate clients. In the meantime, WebCT becomes BLS!