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How Does an Online Unit in WebCT work?

The home page gives you access to up to four main areas (some sites may have additional elements) which have sub sections with unit materials and content. The four areas are:

Unit Information
Study Area
Course Utilities
Student Area

Details for each are listed below.

Unit Information

Unit information contains administrative and other important information related to the unit. Specifically, you will find the:

	Unit Outline
	which details unit information such as course coordinator information, syllabus, assessment and other important information that relates to the unit directly.
	Calendar
	Enables us to plan various unit activities, assignments and so on by day and month. You are able to add your own entries to the calendar, enabling you to use it to plan your own work. When you use the calendar, you will see summary entries per month and can click on any individual day to see more detail. The calendar will display the word "new" when there is a new entry you have not yet seen WebCT Help: Using the Calendar
	Assessment
	Some units will have an Assessment area in Unit Information which details a breakdown of what Assessment is due and when. If your unit does not have this section, then check the Study Area or the Unit Outline for more information.

There might also be unit specific details that are posted in this section.

Study Area

This is the most important area on the website as it has all of the course materials and syllabus for the unit, and will be the area that you will use most often. Included in this area is:

	Lectures
	Lectures, or alternatively Workshops, TuteShops, etc, is where your lecture/course notes will be located. They will normally be organised module by module or as successive lectures. There might also be assessment and assignment details located here. TIP: You need to click the blue arrow in the Lectures list to open pages in that section. WebCT Help: About Content/Lecture Pages
	Documents
	Your lecturer or tutor may add additional documentation about some of the study materials, and this can be found under Documents.
	Links/Resources
	Some units will have additional Links and/or Resources.
	E-Reserve
	This section is if the unit you are studying has resources available on E-Reserve. This icon will link you directly to the E-Reserve directory, where you can search for online readings by typing in your course coordinators name or the unit number. E-Reserve instructions E-Reserve Frequently Asked Questions
	iLectures
	iLectures is a system whereby live lectures given in a unit are recorded and are then able to be streamed via the unit website. If your unit utilises the iLecture system then the lecture recordings will be found in this section.

There might also be other unit specific study materials also put into this section.

Course Utilities

Course Utilities contain many of the 'Interactive' tools and components of your online unit website. Please note that most units will only have a combination of the tools listed below

	Discussion Boards/Bulletin Boards
	Discussions, or the Bulletin Boards are a very important component in most online units. It is the main forum for students to interact with other students, as well as a place for students and the unit tutors/lecturers to ask questions and post important unit announcements. Bulletin Boards are constructed via Topics and Threads and it is important that you understand what each one is and does. You should also adhere to Netiquette when using your class Bulletin Board. Go to both of the links below which provide a comprehensive guide to using Bulletin Boards in WebCT (Link 1), as well as information on general guidelines when using Bulletin Boards (Link 2). TIP: If you have new discussions available to you the 'New Discussions' icon will appear on the webpage. WebCT Help: About Discussions Bulletin Boards: How they work, Topics, Threads Netiquette Guide
	Chat Rooms
	Chat rooms allow you to chat online in real time with your fellow class mates. When you go to the Chat section of the unit website, you will see that there are numerous rooms that you can 'join'. There is also a common chat room for all units on campus that utilise WebCT. More specifically, you can send a private message to somebody else in the chat room or send a message to everyone (chat). For details on doing this follow the link below: WebCT Help:Using the Chat Rooms Chat Basics Guide
	Email
	Receive and send email between your fellow class members and the course instructor through WebCT. For information on the many functions available to you through the E-Mail tool in WebCT, follow the 'WebCT Help: Using Email in WebCT' link below. Also, Netiquette is an important issue when you are emailing. Your Unit Coordinator may ask you to link your external email address with your mailbox in WebCT so that they can send email to the class as a whole which you will recieve at the external address you registered. For details on how to do this, click here. TIP: If you have new Mail available to you the 'New Mail' icon will appear on the webpage. WebCT Help: Using Email in WebCT General Email Usage guidelines Netiquette Guide Forwarding Mail to an External Account in WebCT
	Quizzes
	Enables you to access computer-based quizzes in the unit (if they are provided; only some units will have active quizzes). WebCT Help: About Quizzes
	Whiteboard
	The whiteboard tools allows real time interactive drawing tool that can be used during an online chat/discussion. WebCT Help: About the Whiteboard
	Image Database
	The image database tool contains galleries of images that you can browse and view. This tool is only used in units where this function is needed. WebCT Help: Using the Image Database
	Student Homepages
	In some units you will have access to create and share a homepage. For information on using this tool select the link below. WebCT Help: About Student Homepages
	Student Presentations
	Student Presentations is a tool that allows virtual presentations where you can upload a presentation, view other student presentations and comment on each others work. WebCT Help: About Student Presentations
	Glossary
	Glossary tool contains important definitions that relate to the unit. WebCT Help: About the Glossary Tool

Student Area

The student area contains tools which help

	My Grades
	Allows you to view grades for the course such as quiz marks and assignment grades if your lecturer has added these onto the unit website. WebCT Help: My Grades
	My Progress
	Enables you to check how much of the site you have visited, how often, when, and - in particular - how much you have used the discussion group. WebCT Help: My Progress
	Content Compiler
	The content compiler is a very useful tool - it allows you to compile the notes contained in the Lecture section of the Study Area which you can then download and save as one, or print out as one so that you don't have to print each lecture out separately. For information on compiling notes, see the link below. WebCT Help: Using the Content Compiler
	Search
	The search tool allows you to search for content in the unit including lecture notes and discussion board postings and works the same way that most other search functions do on the web. WebCT Help: Using the Search Function

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