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Technology Terms
Adobe Acrobat Reader
This program allows you to read .pdf files. Some instructors will post .pdf files, so it would be helpful download this program. There is a link for Acrobat Reader at the bottom of the WebCT Login page.
Assignments
The assignment tool in WebCT may be used by an instructor to create assignments with a submission requirement. Rather than using e-mail for submission, this tool allows the student to submit the assignment directly into WebCT.
Browser
A browser is the tool that you use to “browse” or view pages on the Internet. The most popular and successful internet browser used with WebCT is Internet Explorer. Every Windows run computer will be equipped with Internet Explorer. The browser is what you will use to access WebCT. Netscape, Opera, and Mozilla are other browsers that may be compatible, but Internet Explorer is recommended.
Browser Tune-up
The WebCT browser tune-up will ensure that your internet browser is compatible for WebCT use. The tune-up will take you through a series of steps having you set up some Java and security settings. If you are having trouble accessing the Chat room or Discussion Boards, go through the browser tune-up. The link for the tune-up is located at the bottom of the WebCT Login page.
Chat Rooms
A Chat room is a place on the web where people can “chat” with each other by typing messages. Messages are displayed almost instantly, which allows for synchronous dialog. The WebCT Chat room is where online classes meet weekly and other classes meet as arranged.
Chat Transcripts
Chat Transcripts will display all the conversations that take place in Chat Rooms 1-4 of WebCT Chat. Using this, instructors and students can go back and refer to the dialogue that occurred in the chat session.
Close
Close refers to exiting out of an application. The easiest way to do this is to click on the “X” button on top right hand corner of the active window. If you are within a WebCT chat room, you may close the room by clicking once on “Quit”.
Copy
Copy is a function which copies text and stores it in memory for later use. To copy text you need to first highlight it and then go to the Edit menu at the top and click “Copy”. A shortcut to do this is by using Ctrl+c with text highlighted.
Clicking
Your mouse has two buttons on it. The left mouse button is normally used primarily; however, there is a right mouse button which will provide some shortcut options. If you click your right-mouse button somewhere,a menu will pop up givng you numerous choices. You also have the option to single click or double click. Single clicking you will use the most. It is mainly used for navigation and toolbars. Double clicking is mainly used to open programs that have shortcuts.
Discussion Boards
Discussion Boards are areas where class members can conduct an asynchronous dialogue. The instructor posts a question and students respond to the instructor and each other. The string of conversation created by this interaction is referred to as a “Thread”. Discussion boards are divided up into topics based upon the week number.
Expand/Collapse
This feature allows you to expand a discussion thread so all the responses are viewable or to collapse a thread so all the responses are hidden.
Threaded/Unthreaded
The Threaded view will display the messages in an organized fashion so you can tell who responded to whom. The Unthreaded view will sort the messages by the time in which they were posted. The Threaded view where you can see the whole Thread of messages is recommended.
Show All/Show Unread
The Show All view will display all the discussion board messages. The Show Unread view will only display the unread messages.
Download
Downloading means to transfer files and programs from the internet to your own computer. For example, you may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader and Java.
Firewalls
A firewall is a program that protects a private network from other networks. Firewalls filter out all the incoming requests to a network and decide whether or not they should be let through. Most work places will have firewalls installed making it unable to access WebCT while at work.
Homepage
The homepage is the page that is displayed when you open up Internet Explorer. You can change your selected homepage in Internet Explorer by clicking on the Tools menu and then clicking on Internet Options. You can change your homepage in Mozilla Firefox by clicking on the Tools menu and then clicking on Options.
Java
Java is essentially a program that can run within a web application. It is a small Java programmed application and referred to as a Java applet. The WebCT Chat rooms are Java applets, so you will need to Java to participate in chat.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processing application. Students will use Microsoft Word to type papers and discussion board responses. It is a technology requirement that every student has to have Microsoft Word.
myBlackboard page
The myBlackboard page (formally myWebCT) contains a list of all the courses you have access to. You can return to this page while you are within your WebCT course by clicking on myBlackboard in the upper right corner of the window.
Network
A group of connected computers that can communicate with one another. Networks enable computers to share files and resources and exchange messages.
Password
A password is a unique string of characters that is used for identification to login to a secure place.
Paste
The paste function allows you to reference an item that you copied into memory. To paste an item in a text field, go to the Edit menu on the top of the window and click “Paste”. <Ctrl+v> is the shortcut.
Select-All
The Select All function allows you to select all the items on a page. This is most often used in Microsoft Word to select all the text. To Select All, go to the Edit menu at the top of the window and click “Select All”.
Server
A computer that shares its resources, such as printers and files, with other computers on the network. An example of this is a Web server, which serves Web pages to other computers.
Upload
Uploading means to transfer files from your computer to another computer, usually a website.
URL
A URL is the web address of a site on the internet. It stands for Uniform Resource Locater. For example, http://www.csp.edu
Username
A username is a unique string of characters that is used as identification to login to a secure place.
WebCT Homepage
The WebCT Homepage is the page that is first displayed when you go into a course. It contains components that are specific to that course.
