LLTI Archives

November 2001, Week 5

LLTI@LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 29 Nov 2001 08:49:15 EST
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (37 lines)
--- Forwarded Message from [log in to unmask] ---

>Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 13:23:41 -0500
>From: [log in to unmask]
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: #6397 Course Management Technology(!)

------------------
Hello all,

I have been using WebCT at SMU for over two years, and have developed a variety of web-enhancement activities for more than a dozen foreign language courses. The most extensive one is beginning French, a two-semester sequence with graded homework online five days a week.

I haven't worked with Blackboard, because my institution has WebCT; but I'm told that Blackboard doesn't have the quiz capabilities of WebCT.

About diacriticals: We have developed a way for the user to write accents from any platform. It's a ("simple") Javascript with a keypad in a table, and it works on any webpage. We use it principally in WebCT quizzes, and it has been working flawlessly for two years.. My husband wrote the script and would be happy to share it with anyone interested, at no charge (you just have to run the credit ). To get it, you can contact Thain Marston offlist : [log in to unmask] and he'll email it to you.

About WebCT: To my knowledge, WebCT is indeed "clunky and counterintuitive". That being said, the next question should be, "...compared to -- what?"). WebCT has a powerful quiz engine, and I don't know of anything that touches it. It is _not_ "simple" but it is powerful and it does provide a way  for exercises to be graded online and for the students to get immediate feedback. Some home-brew systems can probably do what WebCT does, but the cost of developing such a tool is truly untold. After making nearly 500 WebCT quizzes, I have made most of the mistakes one can make at least once or twice, and I have learned to make it sing. Students generally like doing their homework online because they do find out whether they are correct (and you can set it up so that questions are presented randomly and students can take a quiz more than once for the highest grade).

If you want an overview of some of the things we have done in the beginning French course, we have a showcase on the web at

http://fllc.smu.edu/french/webct/index.html

for a QuickTime movie of a WebCT quiz sample, look at

http://fllc.smu.edu/french/webct/FRENCH1401/FrontPage/devoirs1.html#TOP

Let me know if you have any questions about this or my experience with WebCT. I'll be happy to go on about it.

Jan

Jan Marston, Ph.D.
Director, Foreign Language Teaching Technology Center
234 Clements Hall
Southern Methodist University
Dallas TX 75275
214-768-1691

ATOM RSS1 RSS2