WebCT Announces 2001 Product Advisory Board
Lynnfield, MA and Vancouver, BC – May 9,
2001 –– WebCT, the world’s leading provider of integrated e-learning
systems for higher education, has announced its 2001 Product Advisory Board.
The WebCT Product Advisory Boards primary mission is to shape the continuing
evolution of the WebCTs products and services, used in 2,172 institutions
worldwide.
The WebCT Product Advisory Board
will play an ongoing, consultative role for WebCT, which began as a partnership
with customers, and continues to be strongly allied with them. The Boards
activities complement the ongoing dialog WebCT maintains with its vast customer
base. As the market leader in e-learning systems, WebCT partners with the
largest, most diverse group of customers in higher education, and feeds their
input into product and services development, providing the company with a
major jump on industry trends and developments.
From its earliest days WebCT
has always been responsive to the needs of its users and that has continued
with the current Product Advisory Board, noted Brian Finnegan, new Product
Advisory Board member and Associate Director for Emerging Instructional Technologies,
Georgia Board of Regents. While the Company has very clear and exciting
plans for the future of the product, it has become obvious from our initial
meetings and interactions that the Board is not there to merely rubberstamp
decisions that have already been made, but to truly shape the product to the
needs of its users.
Way
back to Version 1, WebCT has always listened to and assisted its customers,
said Diane Oerly, Director of Information Resources at the University of Missouri
– Columbia and Product Advisory Board advisor. Perhaps the best thing about
WebCT is the terrific community of fellow-customers worldwide who support,
encourage and inspire each other. The University of Missouri – Columbia is
pleased to have this opportunity to continue work with WebCT so our faculty
are better supported and our students’ learning is enhanced.
The
Company selected the 2001 WebCT Product Advisory Board Members to reflect
the diversity of WebCTs global customer base, and their varied uses of its
integrated e-learning system. In an indication of how ubiquitous WebCT deployment
has become in higher education, the Board includes members from virtually
every kind of institution around the world, including: community college;
large, public four-year university; small, private four-year university —
even the virtual campus. The 2001 WebCT Product Advisory Board Members are:
INSTITUTION |
ADVISOR |
TITLE |
Blinn College |
Candace Schaefer |
Dean of Distance Education, Virtual College of Texas Curriculum Task Force Director |
California Virtual Campus @ Rio Hondo College |
Andy Howard |
Coordinator of the CVC Regional Center |
Georgia Board of Regents |
Brian Finnegan |
Associate Director for Emerging Instructional Technologies |
Macquarie University, Australia |
Peter Love |
Director of New Learning Technologies, Centre for Flexible Learning |
Purdue University |
John Campbell |
Director of Multimedia Instructional Development Center |
St. Petersburg Junior College |
Alan Shapiro |
Instructional Technologist |
University of Alberta, Canada |
Susan Stein |
Project Lead, Distributed Learning and WebCT Administrator, Computing & Network Services |
University of Idaho |
David Schlater |
Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI) Coordinator |
University of Missouri – Columbia |
Diane Oerly |
Director of Information Resources |
University of Turku, Finland |
Ari Leino |
Senior Expert |
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |
Mark Raby |
Associate Director for Program Support Services Institute for Distance & Distributed Learning |
We are pleased
and honored that the 2001 WebCT Product Advisory Board includes such a prestigious
group of thought leaders in the field of higher education, said David Rosenbaum,
Senior Director of Product Management for WebCT. WebCTs development program
is based on constant feedback from customers who are helping to shape the
next generation products.
WebCT
is the best-of-breed course management system that established and defines
the higher education e-learning market. The product is supported by an industry-first
coalition of senior company management, educator employees, and the worlds
largest network of customer partners, all working together to advance the
product, company and industry. The company has a laser-beam focus on the
core mission of higher education institutions: education, and the related
issues of teaching and learning; enrollments; accreditation; assessment; competitive
market position; and revenue. WebCTs sharp focus allows the company to deliver
the best combination of technology, customer service, and the strongest customer
network. The company has enjoyed dramatic growth in the past year, fueled
by the successful recent rollout of WebCT 3.5. The Campus Edition of WebCT
3.5 offers advanced scaling capabilities and enables seamless, real-time integration
with student information systems and campus portals.
About WebCT
WebCT has the
largest, most advanced, most diverse base of course management system users
in the world. The company is the preferred partner of educators at 2,172
institutions in 75 countries who are transforming the educational experience
of their students.
WebCTs academic
heritage and philosophy continue to be reflected in new versions of its flagship
course management system. Both the Standard and Campus Editions of WebCT
are user-friendly, give faculty members the pedagogical flexibility to teach
their own way, provide tools to enhance interaction between students and faculty,
and offer the broadest selection of quality course material and well-designed
content from all of the major college textbook publishers. The Campus Edition
of WebCT also gives institutions a robust, scaleable product suitable for
large-scale implementation across multiple servers as well as features for
enhanced scaling and integration with campus portals and student information
systems. The company also offers a wide range of related consulting services,
including implementation and technology planning, software training, faculty
and course development, integration and technical consulting, premium support,
all of which are customized to meet an institutions particular needs. For
more information, visit the WebCT site at http://www.webct.com.