Ken Steele wrote:
>....What is important to note here is that a simple task like
>putting up a reference (only a text string) has been turned into
>this multi-step process. I have to go to a special add
>reference function, which is going to put my reference in a
>database, require me to give it a label to put in my resources
>list, and then I reference the label in the list. And if
>this were a link to an image or a sound file or url, then I
>need to go through separate menus to accomplish the same
>task.
>
>For me, it is much easier to type in my table "Check out the hot
>new article by Smith & Jones in the current issue of Psych
>Bulletin"
Yikes, Ken, I had forgotten it could be this bad. What you described sounds
a lot worse than anything I've had to do on WebCT in two years. I provide
links for my students all the time; I just use a bit of very basic html
code to add them to my pages, and WebCT displays them just fine. The
gyrations you describe bring to mind the old adage "Build something so
simple even a fool can use it, and only a fool will want to use it." For
the kinds of tasks I've wanted to use in an intro psych course, I just
really haven't had to worry much about complications like these.
I don't think most users will find WebCT nearly as scary as the manual
makes it sound; I would put the slope of its learning curve way below
PowerPoint, for example. And they do offer good support, maintain a good
users' listserv, and have a very competitively-priced licensing schedule.
Anyone who wants to compare the different programs for offering web courses
might check out http://www.ctt.bc.ca/landonline/ ; Bruce Landon teaches
Social Psychology at Douglas College in British Clumbia.
Larry Dickerson
Selkirk College
Castlegar, BC Canada
