UT-Dallas’ distance learning support and services, including the university’s learning management system for online courses, WebCT, will be getting a new name – eLearning.
In Fall 2009, as UT-Dallas upgrades to PeopleSoft, distance learning policies and procedures will change to take advantage of this new student information system.
“The eLearning interface will not change – once users log in, it will look the same as WebCT,” said Rhonda D. Blackburn, associate provost in the Office of Educational Enhancement. Inside a course, students and faculty will see no difference between the new eLearning and WebCT.
What will change is the way in which courses are created. Currently, WebCT courses are automatically created based on SIS, the university’s current student information system. WebCT courses are created whether faculty use them or not and appear in the faculty’s WebCT course listing. Beginning in Fall 2009, faculty will request that a course be created for them in eLearning.
Moving to this course creation procedure offers several advantages. Faculty will see only courses they have requested in their eLearning course lists. In addition, faculty will be able to combine students from multiple sections into a single course. The new procedure will alleviate issues that often arise in the creation of cross-listed courses. It will also allow the Office of Educational Enhancement (OEE) to improve tracking of the use of the eLearning system for distance education and for support of campus-based courses.
Faculty are encouraged to attend OEE’s eLearning: Getting Started workshops offered several times a month during the spring semester to learn more about this move to eLearning. See the OEE Web site at http://oee.utdallas.edu for the workshop schedule.
Media Contact: Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, newscenter@utdallas.edu