Choosing Online Tools

Faculty at CCRI have several options available for managing courses, distributing course materials, and communicating with students on the Internet. These tools include the Pipeline portal, WebCT and personal faculty websites.

No single tool does everything and each one has its pros and cons. The key to having successful online course supplementation is to select the suite of tools that you are most comfortable with and that best suit your needs. This document will provide a quick overview of the strengths and challenges for each set of tools

Pipeline

Choose Pipeline If:

Don't Choose Pipeline If:

You want an easy-to-use system for online discussions, chat, distributing files, sharing photographs, and listing links to web sites.

You want a calendar that has pre-loaded the student class times and locations.

You want to e-mail students at their regular Pipeline address.

You want a limited number of photos, files, or links published to the whole class, but without any kind of database or search capabilities.

You do not need any quizzing, assignment drop-boxes, or other student evaluation features.

You want students to have easy access to materials through their regular Pipeline login.

Using the Course Consolidator tool in Pipeline you can now provide content that is reused semester after semester, year after year without uploading and re-linking each semester.

You need to back up material so it can be downloaded or reused. Pipeline has no way to compile and download student files or your files for archiving at the end of each semester.

You need public web pages people can access without a password. Only your students will have access to content in a Pipeline course.

You want to publish a web site. Pipeline can post html files, but doesn't support easy creation of a web site with navigation links between web pages.

You need to upload or download many files. Pipeline can only upload or download one file at a time, which can be a time-consuming with a lot of files.

You need to upload files that are larger than 50 mg. or if you will need an overall storage space of greater than 250 mg.

You need discussion forums that remember what messages you have read. Pipeline does not provide any indication of new or previously read messages. There is also no ability to compile and download all discussion messages for the semester.

You need to be able to lock discussion topics to groups or to control postings.

You need to use a tool that is not provided by Pipeline, but is provided by WebCT (like the grade-book, student group work, whiteboard, student tracking, private assignment drop-box, etc.)

You want to organize course content by adding menus, navigation links, etc.

WEBCT

Choose WebCT If:

Don't Choose WebCT IF:

Your textbook comes with a WebCT e-pack.

You need to manage a student grade-book.

You want students to be able to see their grades in the course.

You need automatically graded quizzes or anonymous surveys.

You want to provide a private assignment drop-box where students can submit assignments for grading.

You want students to work together in groups (Student Presentations).

You want discussion topics that notify you if there are new messages waiting, and can hide messages that were already viewed.

You need to easily compile and download discussion topics or lecture notes.

You need to easily search discussion topics or course content.

You need to archive chat sessions.

You want more than one chat room (so multiple chats can happen simultaneously)

You need a whiteboard to share freehand drawing among course participants.

You need to easily and quickly organize a lot of web pages by adding navigation links between them (build "Content modules").

You want to export course material easily to other courses (using the WebCT 4.1 "import" and "export" capabilities)

You want to backup your course materials easily (using WebCT's backup and restore features, or the ability to archive course materials as .zip files)

You need to upload or download many files at once.

You want a simple "image database" that is searchable (the photo gallery in the Pipeline portal is not searchable)

You want to easily integrate your course with materials distributed on a CD-ROM

You want the system to remember the last page a student viewed so that next time they log in they can resume the course where they left off.

You want the ability to release information to students only if certain conditions are true. For example, show Unit 2 only after they pass the quiz for Unit 1.

You want to combine multiple courses or sections of the same course together.

You want class lists created based on lab sections, not lecture sections.

You want to monitor student activities in a course (how they participated in discussions, content viewed, time spent in different areas of the course)

You want to monitor quiz effectiveness (how well students do on specific questions, which questions are consistently answered wrong, etc.)

You need public web pages people can access without a password. (WebCT can use guest accounts for this, but it is easier to use a normal web site.)

You prefer that students use their regular Pipeline e-mail account. WebCT's e-mail is really a messaging system just between participants of the course. If real e-mail is required, they would have to use an outside e-mail tool, such as the e-mail in Pipeline.

Personal Web Pages

Choose Personal Web Pages If:

Don't choose Personal Web Pages If:

You want to publish material that people can access without a password.

You want to do things that are not available in Pipeline or WebCT. However, keep in mind that this may require you to have special skill sets.

You need to make material available to people who are outside CCRI. These people normally must be part of the CCRI community before they can obtain access to Pipeline. It may be easier to password protect material on a normal web site and then share that password with selected off-campus people if they are not members of CCRI.

You need to develop a tool that is already provided in either WebCT or Pipeline (chat, whiteboard, grade book, etc.). It is much cheaper to utilize the existing tool than it is to rebuild a new tool for your web site that does the same thing.

You need to password protect the page for copyright, confidentiality, or other reasons. This can be done in a public web site, but it is more complicated. It is much easier to limit access using WebCT or Pipeline. The only exception is when you want to grant access to course materials to people off campus who cannot obtain accounts in WebCT or Pipeline.

Summary

Each of the tools discussed above have their own unique advantages and disadvantages.

A web site can do whatever you want, with enough programming. However, most instructors do not have the appropriate web development or application programming skills, or necessary time, to build the system they want.

The Pipeline portal is useful as an easy way to share information with students (links, files, pictures) and set up simple discussions or chats. However, it lacks advanced course management features like a class grade-book, graded quizzes, assignment drop boxes, student tracking, or student management. Pipeline should be considered an easy-to-use course communications tool, not a full course management system.

WebCT is the premiere course management system on campus. It has a wealth of communication, student assessment, course management, and course development tools built in that can greatly simplify creating and operating online courses. However, this added flexibility also adds complexity. It takes time to learn how to use the WebCT system effectively and to monitor its use in a course. Pipeline is more limited in its features, but that also makes it easier to learn and use.

No one system will do it all. Instructors must analyze their course needs, and select the system or combination of systems that best addresses those needs.

This document was adapted from University of Saskatchewan "Choosing Course Tools: WebCT, PAWS or Web Sites?"

Choose Pipeline If:	Don't Choose Pipeline If:
You want an easy-to-use system for online discussions, chat, distributing files, sharing photographs, and listing links to web sites. You want a calendar that has pre-loaded the student class times and locations. You want to e-mail students at their regular Pipeline address. You want a limited number of photos, files, or links published to the whole class, but without any kind of database or search capabilities. You do not need any quizzing, assignment drop-boxes, or other student evaluation features. You want students to have easy access to materials through their regular Pipeline login. Using the Course Consolidator tool in Pipeline you can now provide content that is reused semester after semester, year after year without uploading and re-linking each semester.	You need to back up material so it can be downloaded or reused. Pipeline has no way to compile and download student files or your files for archiving at the end of each semester. You need public web pages people can access without a password. Only your students will have access to content in a Pipeline course. You want to publish a web site. Pipeline can post html files, but doesn't support easy creation of a web site with navigation links between web pages. You need to upload or download many files. Pipeline can only upload or download one file at a time, which can be a time-consuming with a lot of files. You need to upload files that are larger than 50 mg. or if you will need an overall storage space of greater than 250 mg. You need discussion forums that remember what messages you have read. Pipeline does not provide any indication of new or previously read messages. There is also no ability to compile and download all discussion messages for the semester. You need to be able to lock discussion topics to groups or to control postings. You need to use a tool that is not provided by Pipeline, but is provided by WebCT (like the grade-book, student group work, whiteboard, student tracking, private assignment drop-box, etc.) You want to organize course content by adding menus, navigation links, etc.

Choose WebCT If:	Don't Choose WebCT IF:
Your textbook comes with a WebCT e-pack. You need to manage a student grade-book. You want students to be able to see their grades in the course. You need automatically graded quizzes or anonymous surveys. You want to provide a private assignment drop-box where students can submit assignments for grading. You want students to work together in groups (Student Presentations). You want discussion topics that notify you if there are new messages waiting, and can hide messages that were already viewed. You need to easily compile and download discussion topics or lecture notes. You need to easily search discussion topics or course content. You need to archive chat sessions. You want more than one chat room (so multiple chats can happen simultaneously) You need a whiteboard to share freehand drawing among course participants. You need to easily and quickly organize a lot of web pages by adding navigation links between them (build "Content modules"). You want to export course material easily to other courses (using the WebCT 4.1 "import" and "export" capabilities) You want to backup your course materials easily (using WebCT's backup and restore features, or the ability to archive course materials as .zip files) You need to upload or download many files at once. You want a simple "image database" that is searchable (the photo gallery in the Pipeline portal is not searchable) You want to easily integrate your course with materials distributed on a CD-ROM You want the system to remember the last page a student viewed so that next time they log in they can resume the course where they left off. You want the ability to release information to students only if certain conditions are true. For example, show Unit 2 only after they pass the quiz for Unit 1. You want to combine multiple courses or sections of the same course together. You want class lists created based on lab sections, not lecture sections. You want to monitor student activities in a course (how they participated in discussions, content viewed, time spent in different areas of the course) You want to monitor quiz effectiveness (how well students do on specific questions, which questions are consistently answered wrong, etc.)	You need public web pages people can access without a password. (WebCT can use guest accounts for this, but it is easier to use a normal web site.) You prefer that students use their regular Pipeline e-mail account. WebCT's e-mail is really a messaging system just between participants of the course. If real e-mail is required, they would have to use an outside e-mail tool, such as the e-mail in Pipeline.

Choose Personal Web Pages If:	Don't choose Personal Web Pages If:
You want to publish material that people can access without a password. You want to do things that are not available in Pipeline or WebCT. However, keep in mind that this may require you to have special skill sets. You need to make material available to people who are outside CCRI. These people normally must be part of the CCRI community before they can obtain access to Pipeline. It may be easier to password protect material on a normal web site and then share that password with selected off-campus people if they are not members of CCRI.	You need to develop a tool that is already provided in either WebCT or Pipeline (chat, whiteboard, grade book, etc.). It is much cheaper to utilize the existing tool than it is to rebuild a new tool for your web site that does the same thing. You need to password protect the page for copyright, confidentiality, or other reasons. This can be done in a public web site, but it is more complicated. It is much easier to limit access using WebCT or Pipeline. The only exception is when you want to grant access to course materials to people off campus who cannot obtain accounts in WebCT or Pipeline.