Dr' Brian Finnegan

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• Dr. Brian Finnegan
• Advanced Learning Technologies
• University System of Georgia

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USG Institutions
Oversees 34 public colleges universities in
Georgia and the public libraries of the 159
counties.
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A Little Bit of History

• Multiple tools
• Broad range of capabilities
• Limited faculty participation
• Minimal institutional and System level
  coordination
• Emerging robust tools

• Learning curve for faculty
• Learning curve for students
• Little integration between tools
• No integration with administrative tools

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Academic Enterprise Systems

• A system far more capable to meet the needs of
  large multi-institutional implementations was
  required.
• Such a system would need to be built on industry
  standard enterprise class architectures.
• It would need an open architecture with clear
  API's and SDK's to allow the development of
  customizations and add-on products which would be
  ensured functionality through future releases.
• It would need to facilitate sharing and reuse of
  materials between faculty on a single campus or
  across the system.
• It would have to allow standards based
  integration with other campus ERP systems and
  portals.

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Timeline
2000 First WebCT Certified Server
Jan 03 First institution live in Vista 1.2
1997 Initial Campus Uses of WebCT
199914 Campuses Using WebCT
2001 8 Certified Servers. 31 Institutions using
System Server.
Jan 04 17 Institutions with live courses in
Vista 2.0
1999 System Endorsement of WebCT. Setup of
System WebCT Server and WebCT Helpdesk
Fall 04 All Institutions using Vista.
April 02 Systemwide Agreement for Vista
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Features of the Product
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Learning Contexts
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Learning Contexts
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Roles and Learning Contexts
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Personalized Gateway

• MyWebCT acts as an aggregation point for various
  tools and campus communications.

Example
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Consistent UI

• Within classes it provides a consistent interface
  for tools.

Example
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Reusable Content

• It is built around the concept of reusable
  inventories of learning objects.

Example
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Integrated teaching and Learning Tools

• Learning Modules provide structured, sequential
  access to content and tools.

Example
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Customizable Learning Paths

• Selective Release allows the creation of
  personalized learning paths.

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Tracking

• Tracking of data about users and usage allow
  individual faculty, institutions, or Systems to
  monitor usage and respond accordingly.

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What else do look forward to?

• More (fixed) learning context levels.
• More offline capabilities.
• L.O. workflow and peer review capabilities.
• More in class functionality.
• Greater objectives and outcomes tracking
  capabilities.

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Development Process

• Customer Involvement
• PAB, VAG, Customer Feedback
• Product Management Group
• Development
• Performance Lab

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Features of the Technology
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Vista Technology

• Oracle
• Web Logic
• J2EE
• Solaris (among others)

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Vista Configuration

• Production
• Application
• Users - 2 Sun V1280
• 4 application nodes each
• Administrative Processing 2 Sun 280R
• 2 application nodes each.
• Database Sun V1280
• Storage Sun 3150 Disk Array
• Backup Sun L25 tape drive

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Technology Standards

• SCORM
• IMS
• QTI
• Content Packaging
• Enterprise
• SDKs
• SSO
• SIS
• Reporting
• Tools development

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Planned Usage of PowerLinks

• Integration with Banner (the SIS used by 32 of 34
  USG institutions).
• Integration with Endeavor (which drives the USG
  statewide library system).
• Integration with Horizon Live (used by several
  institutions for synchronous communications
• Integration with Dreamweaver. Microsoft Office,
  Flash, others for content creation and import.
• Widespread use of Respondus across System.

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What we look forward to

• IMS and SCORM export in addition to import.
• Continued performance and scalability
  improvements.
• SDK access to more product areas.

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Features of the Company
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Snapshot of WebCT Today

• Thousands of institutions worldwide
• Campus Edition is deployed in more than 80
  countries around the world
• Vista adopted by customers worldwide
• WebCT PowerLinks was launched.

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WebCT A Leader in Standards

• Demonstrated integration with Microsoft Exchange
  using implementation of OKI specifications
• Co-chairing IMS working groups
• IMS Enterprise Web Services
• Resource List Interoperability Project
• Defined entire courses and tools using IMS
  content packaging standards
• Certification on SCORM 1.2

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Questions
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5 Years Ago

• 14 USG WebCT institutions
• System WebCT server
• Certified Server standard
• Course development standards

• Baseline standard of access
• Coordinated training
• Coordinated support services
• Shared development
• Integration with other applications

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Today

• USG WebCT license
• WebCT is official USG supported tool
• Coordinated training
• Coordinated services
• Robust standards for security reliability
• gt 50 of institutions hosted on System server

• Reduced learning curve for faculty
• Leveraged expertise
• Community of support
• Increased ease of use by students
• Increased tool capabilities

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Next Year and Beyond WebCT Vista

• 100 institutions on System server(s)
• Integration with other campus systems
• Student information
• GALILEO
• Portal
• Shared content
• Online training/orientation
• Course materials
• Templates

• Rich data collection capabilities
• Customizable learning paths
• Aggregated use at multiple levels
• Wide variety of integrated teaching/learning
  tools
• A standards based, open architecture
• Improved ease of use

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What we look forward to

• Link specific objective and outcome to specific
  assessment.
• Aggregate data across course, programs, and
  institutions. Link to program or institutional
  objectives and outcomes.

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Academic Operations Center
Georgia/ Florida Game