Courseware

At this TWIT session Jim, Vicky, Diane and I talked about two kinds of course management tools:

1. WebCT (Click here for MTU's WebCT Guide)
2. Moodle (Click here to check out the Moodle that is set up on our humanities server)

How do the two compare? This question has some long answers, which you will be able to create for yourself though experiementing if you have time.

But in short:

• Both have chat functions, places to upload documents & archive online discussions, built-in email features, grading systems, and so on.



• Moodle is used more often in secondary school settings, has a "friendlier" interface, and allows the teacher/course designer to build a course up from scratch within the moodle environment.



• WebCT has much more security than Moodle and it gets set up through MTU's Sponsored Educational Programs. This means you have to contact someone like Matt Bus to set up a WebCT space for your class. This can be done over email.



• Both programs have big brother-esque features built in, such as the ability for you, the teacher, to see how long your students are spending in the online environment.



• There are multiple ways to use each kind of courseware, and each can be customized to achieve whatever kinds of pedagogical goals you have. Please talk to me or to Jim if you have questions or ideas.