WebCT How To

     The very first thing is to know what you need to do for your class.

     Humanities 1 and 2 students have the extra credit option of making an "Art Gallery". What is this? It is just a word meaning a personal little website of your own where you can put anything that is related to your class: links to websites you found interesting, a paragraph about you, a summary of something you learned from the class, etc. etc. (For a more indepth explanation, look in the course Syllabus.)

     Children's Lit. students have a mandatory blog assignment. What is this? You must have at least one entry per week with summaries of books you read for the class, something you found interesting that pertains to the class, etc. (For a more indepth explanation, look in the course Syllabus.)

     So where do you start? That is often the hardest part for students... trying to find a good place to start. I found that 'playing around' with the WebCT student homepage program was the best way to start.

1. Find the "Art Gallery" or "Student Blog" icon on the class homepage and click on it.

2. A list of the names of all the students in the class will appear and you must find and click on your name. I will be using my name as an example.

3. Your screen should now look like this.

4. At the top of your screen, there are various options. This is how you change, modify, and make your student homepage your own. Take a good look because you will become very familiar with this over the semester. I recommend that you do not mess with the items I have crossed out.

Please note that we will go into each option in subsequent tutorials. For right now, we are going to customize the page colors.

5. Select Customize page colors from the drop-down menu.

6. WebCT has only 4 sets of colors that you can choose from. Find which one you like the best, but do not worry if it is not 'perfect'. You will soon learn how to weave your way around the limited program and make your Art Gallery or Student Blog your own.

Now, at least, you have begun to experiment with the student homepages and it is not as difficult as you originally thought, is it? The trick is to play with the program, familiarize yourself with each option, and get comfortable using it... Then you will make a wonderful Art Gallery or Student Blog that will "wow" both your fellow classmates and your professor!

If you would like to continue, lets talk about adding a Banner.