UBC Arts ISIT Blog

UBC is currently piloting WebCT Vista 4. I had a discussion with a professor who began using Vista in Jan 2007 for one of her courses. She has been using WebCT for a number of years now and well versed in technology and course management systems.

Overall, she has had a very positive view of WeBCT Vista although she has run into a few problems as well. It took her 2 weeks to become familiar navigating through Vista as a course builder. She compared the experience to shopping in an unfamiliar grocery store. She knew what she was looking for was somewhere there but it wasn't in the usual place so she had to dig around a couple times until she became accustomed to it.

She found the separate 'teach' and 'build' tabs frustrating as she had to switch back and forth at first. But, she loved the 'student' tab as it provided a great view of what students actually saw (different from the 'view' mode in WebCT CE 4.1).

Knowing that Vista 4 is at a pilot phase at UBC right now she did not try the more complicated tools like assignments, quizzes, or grade book. But, she did use the discussion tool and learning module tool. She thought the discussion tool was similar to the one in WebCT CE 4.1 and didn't have a hard time using it. Although, she said that some students said that they weren't able to upload attachments or weren't always sure their message was posted. She was sure what browser or computer such students were using.

She thought the learning module tool had improved and liked the ability to add weblinks or folders. She ran into problems when she was trying to upload a bunch of files (most pdf) at once as her browser would freeze. Uploading single files, however, didn't cause a problem for her.

She loved the 'who's online' and the 'tracking' functions as they were greatly improved since WebCT CE 4.1. She could track which pages particular students had visited and how many times. This tracking functionality provides enormous feedback to instructors as it shows which pages/tools students find useful.

And, what really shows the measure of whether the instructor likes Vista or not - she wants to move all her courses on to Vista in the fall and will start to use the other tools as well.