Dramatic Performance Breakthrough in Newest Release WebCT’s of Campus Edition Softwar
Lynnfield, MA, March 4, 2002 – WebCT, the world’s leading provider of integrated
e-learning systems for higher education, today announced a new version of its
e-learning software, WebCT Campus Edition v 3.7. WebCT Campus Edition v. 3.7
offers higher education institutions a wider array of teaching and learning
tools, significant enhancements to overall performance and expanded support
for IMS standards. The additions create a robust new set of features and functionality
for WebCT 3.7 Campus Edition that will provide critical support to the Company’s
2,500 customers in over 80 countries worldwide as they scale their e-learning
systems to the enterprise level.
Enhanced Performance and Scalability
Another important new feature WebCT Campus Edition v. 3.7 offers is enhanced
performance and scalability, across all server platforms. It consistently out-performs
previous versions of WebCT by a significant margin. Testing in WebCT’s performance
lab has consistently shown performance gains of at least 50%. As WebCT’s customers
and the higher education community in general have greatly scaled their e-learning
systems, supporting this growth and the resulting increased system loads has
become critically important. WebCT Campus Edition v. 3.7 will help ensure institutions
are prepared to meet the increasing demand and usage of their e-learning programs.
Equation Editor
A significant new feature in WebCT Campus Edition v. 3.7 is the equation editor,
a tool for creating and editing mathematical equations in Web pages. Based on
MathML, the powerful language for Web-based math, the equation editor allows
WebCT users – faculty, course designers and students – to type, manipulate and
edit mathematical equations in their online courses. Now, teachers and students
in a broad range of disciplines, including mathematics, the sciences and social
sciences can communicate in mathematical terms in their WebCT courses. The equation
editor is an enormous time-saver for faculty and it is easy to use; both instructors
and students benefit from this powerful tool. Having the equation editor built
in will dramatically improve the quality of the interactions in math and science-based
courses. The ability to quickly and easily create equations for quizzes, content,
and in discussions allows faculty and students to express concepts and manipulate
the equations in a more dynamic way than has been possible before.
Enhanced IMS Support
As customers scale their deployments of WebCT enterprise-wide, their e-learning
systems become the central connective tissue for their campuses. So it is essential
that WebCT integrate with campus portals and student information systems, enabling
schools to easily move information and content from one place to another. For
this reason, WebCT continues its strong commitment to IMS standards for interoperability
and will continue to encourage the use of XML and the IMS Enterprise specification
for passing data between WebCT and third-party systems. With WebCT Campus Edition
v. 3.7’s extended IMS support, now institutions will also be able to manipulate
a broader set of information fields – for example, they will be able to assign
courses to a specific academic term and display that information in course listings.
"Our customers are leading the market with the breadth and depth of the
e-learning programs they are offering," said Carol A. Vallone, president
and chief executive officer of WebCT. "As a result, we have made these
enhancements to Campus Edition to meet the needs of the thousands of institutions
that are quickly scaling their offerings. WebCT Campus Edition v. 3.7 offers
an unbeatable combination of the best teaching and learning tools, enhanced
performance and scalability and extended IMS support — all critical components
of today’s enterprise-class e-learning system."
About WebCT
WebCT is the world’s leading provider of integrated e-learning systems for higher
education. Over 2,500 colleges and universities in over 80 countries worldwide
are using WebCT’s products and services to transform the educational experience
of their students. Consortia in 23 American states, four Canadian provinces,
two Australian territories, the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities,
and the Consortium of Distance Education have licensed WebCT for their member
institutions, making it the de facto standard in higher education. More information
about WebCT can be found at www.webct.com.
For more information, contact:
Karen Gage
WebCT
781-309-1147
Sandy Baird
Wheeler Baird Group
203-637-8614