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 WebCT has been a fantastically useful
and stable product at ANU. It has suited our purposes well and its use has grown
from a total of 5 million "hits" in 2001 to 287 million in 2007.
The ANU first started using WebCT Campus Edition 3 in 2001. In 2004 we
transitioned with minimal disruption to WebCT Campus Edition 4, and later to CE
4.1. The next version of WebCT has a significantly different user interface and
would require major changes to exisiting course sites.
Other Learning Management Systems (LMSs) now on the market, including newer
verisons of WebCT, have many new features which aim to increase the quality,
flexibility and efficiency of our Learning and Teaching. Online communication,
interaction with increasingly rich data resources, intuitive interface design,
and integration with the wider online environment, are all constantly being
improved among the products available. A newer system also gives us the
opportunity to support structures and practices at the ANU which have changed
since we first implemented WebCT, such as better support for courses taught
outside the main semesters, and perhaps creating templates or visual themes for
each college.
Meanwhile our current version of WebCT is becoming less compatible with the
way we now use the web e.g. WebCT frequently uses "Pop-up
windows", which most browsers are now configured to block; and WebCT-generated
e-mails, in response to assignment submissions etc, may be trashed by SPAM
filters. Vendor support (e.g. upgrades and patches) for WebCT CE 4.1
will be discontinued in August 2009.
These factors together make a good opportunity for the ANU to review Learning
Management Systems available, including the newer verisons of WebCT, and to
choose one that best suits our needs now and into the future.
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