23 Mar 07 Moodle Testbed
A test version of Moodle, an open-source course management system, has been created and released to staff who currently have courses running in WebCT. We will experiment with this software until May 31st, at which time we will determine if it suits our needs. If it does, we will develop a transition plan to move to Moodle before our WebCT license expires in November.
01 Dec 06 WebCT Updates – November 2006
We continue on WebCT version 4.1.1.5 while we evaluate our options. We will create a Moodle test bed to evaluate its suitability as a replacement for WebCT.
31 Oct 06 WebCT Updates – October 2006
No change.
28 Sep 06 WebCT Updates – September 2006
No change.
05 Sep 06 WebCT Updates – February 2006
February 2006
At this point we are investigating an upgrade of WebCT software and the impact of Blackboard’s purchase of WebCT on our installation. The application was moved to a more stable and flexible Linux server in February 2006.
05 Sep 06 WebCT Updates – March 2006
March 2006
A meeting of WebCT stakeholders was held on March 22. Participants discussed the process for creating courses and student accounts, as well as licensing issues and the need to break the connection between unused courses and their students. A “seat” is defined as one person in one class, and we currently have about 1700 seats occupied. However, Matt Ivaliotes estimates that roughly half of the courses that account for the 1700 seats are not currently being used. Breaking the connection between unused courses and students could free up 800 seats. Both the course materials and the student accounts can be retained for future use without affecting our license. The group encouraged Matt to upgrade to WebCT 6.0. Following the implementation of TrackIt! (see below), course developers will be able to request new courses through the new help desk application.
05 Sep 06 WebCT Updates – April 2006
April 2006
Planning has begun for the upgrade of WebCT to version 6.0.
05 Sep 06 WebCT Updates – May 2006
May 2006
The move to version 6.0 requires migration to a database back end. We are investigating whether we can use an existing SQL installation or whether WebCT requires the acquisition of SQL Server 2005.
05 Sep 06 WebCT Updates – June/July 2006
June/July 2006
Hardware considerations are being reviewed. WebCT/Blackboard is concentrating its efforts on larger installations such as colleges and universities, so we are looking for the right combination of equipment and operating environments to meet our needs.
05 Sep 06 WebCT Updates – August 2006
August 2006
We believe we have a solution that will allow us to continue with WebCT despite our not needing the large campus configuration they recommend. A test server has been set up, and upgrade options are being tested.
