Tutorial:  Designing a WebCT Homepage and adding simple tools/links

 

Here are some steps in designing your WebCT hompage and adding some links to it.

 

Step 1

Log into your WebCT site and click into the course you want to design.

Step 2

Note that there are two tabs at the top of the page that indicate two different views.  Be sure you are in the Designer Options view.  The other option is the student view.

Step 3

Add a Title or Heading to your course clicking on the Add Upper Textblock link in the right-hand column.  

Step 4

Under Text Heading, choose Center and Bold and then type in your heading in the textblock.  The screen will look like this:

 

Step 5

Scroll down to the bottom of screen and click on Add.

Step 6

If you find that you want to edit what you have typed, choose the radio button next to the title on your homepage and click the Edit link. You will then be able to edit what you had typed in originally.

Step 7

Add contact information by clicking on the Add Lower Textblock link.

Step 8

For the Text Heading, choose Center and Bold and change font to 3.  Type in the words “Contact information” in the text box.  In the lower text box, choose Center, but don’t make it bold.  Change the font to 2 and type in your contact information.  You must type the html tag “br” between <> to get a line break.  Here is what it will look like:

 

Step 9

Again, you can edit by choosing the radio button next to the lower textblock on your homepage and then clicking on the Edit link in the right-hand column. You will then be able to edit what you typed in originally.

Step 10

You can now add some simple tools to your WebCT site.  Make sure you are at your homepage in your WebCT site by clicking on the Homepage link at the top of the screen. 

Step 11

Click on the Add Page or Tool link in the right hand column.

Step 12

You can now choose from among several tools and or pages.  Here is a brief run-down on the most basic tools:

Content Module

Calendar

Discussions

Chat

Mail

Organizer Page

Single Page

URL

Quiz/Survey

My Grades

Self Test

Assignments

Student Homepages

Student Presentations

Step 13

You choose a tool by clicking on it. 

Step 14

You will then be prompted to fill in several textboxes and choose your icon.  Here are some guidelines:

  1. Give the tool or link a title that will make sense to students
  2. Choose Open in a New Browser Window if given the option
  3. Choose Homepage as the organizer page into which you want to place the icon (not navigation bar)
  4. If you are choosing a WebCT tool (not an icon to which you will link your own material), choose the default icon.
  5. If you are adding an icon to which you will link your own material (such as your syllabus), choose your own custom icon by clicking on Browse and then finding an icon you like in the WebCT-files folder.  (You can find the same icons as are in the template for the course I have created for you by following this path:

 

 

Step 15

Add as many tools as you need.  You can rearrange the icons, change the number of icons in each row, change the look and feel of the table into which the icons are placed, change colors.  You will find these options under the Customize heading in the lower right-hand column when you are on the homepage and in the Designer view.