Austria’s oldest and largest university selects WebCT Vista to improve education quality and flexibility
LYNNFIELD, Mass, June 29, 2004 – The 640-year-old University of Vienna, Austria’s oldest and largest university, has selected the WebCT Vista(tm) academic enterprise system to enhance the learning experience for students and streamline the delivery of education through the deployment of university-wide e-learning to the 63,000-student institution.
Founded in 1365, the university serves students from 130 countries and offers 135 bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate and diploma programs. It selected WebCT Vista over four other commercial course management systems, citing WebCT Vista’s market leadership, advanced functionality and track record in reliably serving large universities around the world. The institution was especially interested in WebCT Vista’s unique ability to promote content-sharing among courses.
“WebCT Vista will help us supplement and organize our instruction with a wide range of electronic content from a wide variety of sources including, eventually, our own digital library holdings,” said Dr. Herbert Stappler, head of the software and user support department at the University of Vienna Computer Center. “This approach will give students – including our many part-time workers and parents – flexible access to an entirely new approach to learning. At the same time, it will give lecturers tools to improve the organization of course content and administer assessments, assignments and grades. We anticipate significant educational benefits by adopting WebCT Vista-managed e-learning.”
The university will deploy WebCT Vista in October and make 100 courses available to 5,000 students, and will offer courses for up to 10,000 students by the end of the first year. Vienna’s IT center, the largest in the Austrian education world with 140 employees, plans to integrate WebCT Vista with the university’s homegrown student information system to eliminate time-consuming manual data exchange and enable online student self-registration.
“The University of Vienna is one of Europe’s oldest and most respected universities, with a spectacular student body and an illustrious alumni roster, including numerous Nobel laureates,” said Carol Vallone, WebCT’s president and CEO. “The institution’s educational opportunities are unsurpassed, and its enthusiastic adoption of enterprise e-learning will only expand and enhance its educational legacy. We look forward to being a partner in the university’s e-learning future.”
About the University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (Universität Wien) was founded in 1365 by Duke Rudolf IV and is therefore one of the oldest universities in Europe. The University is proud of having been the home of several Nobel Prize Laureates. Approximately 63,000 students from 130 countries are currently enrolled at the University, which offers more than 135 bachelor, master, diploma and doctoral programs in the fields of study covered by its Faculties. For more information, please visit www.univie.ac.at
About WebCT
WebCT has set the standard for e-learning systems in higher education. Based in Lynnfield, Mass., WebCT provides a highly flexible e-learning environment that empowers institutions across the educational spectrum with the ability to achieve their unique objectives. Thousands of colleges and universities around the world – from community colleges to large university consortia – are using WebCT to expand the boundaries of teaching and learning. For more information, please visit www.webct.com
