Faculty Resources for WebCT | University of Arkansas at Little Rock

The homepage address for WebCT Development server is http://webctdev.ualr.edu. The Development server is where faculty develop can a course without students being able to see the course. Note: There is no "www" in the address; this link can be found on the WebCT homepage.

What is my username and password for WebCT?

Your username is your UALR email username, before the "@ualr.edu" Example: If your UALR email address is urcool@ualr.edu, your WebCT username is urcool. Your password is your T number. REMEMBER to capitalize the T.

What if I cannot login to WebCT?

First, make sure you have capitalized the T in your T number. FOR FACULTY ONLY: If you still cannot login, please call the STaR office at 501.569.8954 to have your password reset. NOTE: STaR can only help faculty. Students will be referred to Computing Services at 501.569.8954.

What if my student cannot login to WebCT?

If the student shows up in your gradebook, it may be a login issue. Try printing out the WebCT Login & Support page (PDF) for your students. These instructions can be handed out in your face-to-face class.

Faculty can change their students' passwords. Go into your course, go to Manage Course > Manage Students, then click on the student's last name. Choose the "Change Password" button and type in the new password twice. If you change a student password for your particular course, you will change it for all courses in which the student is enrolled. Be sure to tell the student what his or her new password is!

Or, if the course is TOTALLY ONLINE, please have the student call Off-Campus Programs at 501.569.3003.

Or, if the course is WEB ENHANCED, please have the student call Computing Services at 501.589.8720.

How can I reset my own password in WebCT?

Login to WebCT. At the top of this "myWebCT" page, click on the "Password settings" button. Enter your old password and then your new password twice. It's a very good practice to change your password from your T number when you first log on.

What is the difference between live courses and development courses?

Live courses are automatically created and students are automatically loaded into them at beginning of each semester, based on information in BANNER. At the end of each semester, these courses are removed from user access.

Development courses can be created any time, no students are ever loaded into them, and faculty may keep these courses indefinitely.

Download the WebCT Live vs WebCT Dev chart (PDF) showing the differences between the two servers.

How do I get my course which I developed on the WebCT Development server into my Live course?

The process is:

Create a backup of your course on the Dev server at http://webctdev.ualr.edu Control Panel > Manage Course > Create Backup
Download the backup onto your computer: Select the radio button next to the backup you just made, and click the "Download" button on the right.
Upload your backup into your live course at http://webct.ualr.edu by clicking on your course's name then Control Panel > Manage Course > Upload Backup
When the backup has finished uploading, select the radio button next to the backup you just uploaded and click on "Keep Users" under the "Options: Restore" panel on the right.

If you are unsure how to do this please contact STaR to help you through the process to ensure students are not deleted in the process. Contact STaR at 501.569.8954 or email star@ualr.edu for assistance.

How do I know what my students are seeing in WebCT?

You can log in as your test student. In both your Live and Dev courses, your test student's username and password are the same. Simply put a "ts_" in front of your username. Use this as both your username and password. For example for the user "improfessor" the username and password for the test student would be:
username: ts_improfessor
password: ts_improfessor

How do I backup my course at the end of the semester?

For an overview of how WebCT processes work each semester here at UALR, please see the Backup Boogie PDF.

For an online interactive tutorial on backing up your course, go to: http://www.ualr.edu/star/faculty_folder/webct_tutorials.html

Or follow these written instructions:
After turning in your grades, back up and download the current semester's final day of your WebCT course; then reset, back up and download another copy for the next semester's starting day:

Go to Manage Course > Create a Back Up to back up your course. You could describe this backup as something like "Final Day Spring 2005 w/ student data" Click Create.
NOTE: You may have to delete previous back ups.
In the Back Up Course window, click the radio button next to the back up you just created. On the top right under "Options: Backup Files," select Download and click Go. Save this .zip file on your desktop to archive.
NOTE: This .zip file cannot be opened on your PC.
To reset the course: either manually remove students, any email and discussion messages, assignments, etc., that you won't be using again; or, you can go to Manage Course > Reset Course to click each item you'd like to reset, which automatically clears the student data so that you'll have a clean start for the next semester's use. This process does not delete course content.
Back up the course again and download this second copy to your hard drive also. Follow steps 1 and 2 above. You could call this second back up "Summer 2005 no student data" or "Semester start." This second back up is what you will use next semester.
Burn these backups onto a CD for safe keeping.

At the beginning of the semester:

Before the start of the semester, when you get the email telling you to upload your course, go into your "live" course that is listed with a section number in the title (that has your roster of student names in Manage Students). Go to Manage Course > Upload Back Up, and browse for the back up .zip file on your desktop or CD (the backup that was reset). Click Open, and then click Upload.
In the Back Up Course window, click on the radio button next to the newly uploaded file. On the top right under "Options: Restore," select Keep Users and click Go. Success! Click on Homepage and you'll see that your course has been restored.

If you have questions or need assistance with backing up, downloading and resetting your course, please contact Scholarly Technology and Resources (STaR) at 501.569.8954 or email at star@ualr.edu .

What do I do if my students are not loaded into my course?

Please contact STaR at 501.569.8954 or email at star@ualr.edu.

Where do I find and sign up for current workshops on WebCT training?

To view and sign up for the current workshop offerings, go to the Faculty Development Calendar on the Provost's website at:http://www.ualr.edu/provost/calendar/calendar.asp

To enroll in workshops, please go to the registration page at:http://star1.dh1.ualr.edu:8080/scripts/classes/signup.pl

How can I download my gradebook so that I can open it with Excel?

Under the "Options: Records" menu in the gradebook, choose "Download."
Leave the record separator as the default (comma).
When you download the file to your computer, change the file extension from ".txt" to ".csv" so that Excel will recognize it. (Right click on the file and choose "rename" then change the file name's extension to .csv)
To open your gradebook double-click on the file. When the Import Wizard window appears, simply click "comma delimited" in the 2nd window, and then finish.

Why can't I delete a column from my gradebook?

If a column is tied to an existing quiz or assignment, you will have to delete the quiz or assignment before you can remove the column from the gradebook. Go into the quiz or assignment tool and remove the quiz or assignment, and then you can go to the gradebook and remove the column.

To remove a column, go to Manage Course > Manage Students > Organize > Manage Columns. Select the check box above the column you want to delete and select the "Delete" button on the right.

Scholarly Technology and Resources
Faculty support for teaching and learning with technology
Dickinson Hall, Room 105
501.569.8954
star@ualr.edu