WebCT builds bridge between e-learning publishers and higher ed with ‘Best Practices Guide for E-Pack Creators’
LYNNFIELD, Mass., Nov. 12, 2002 – WebCT today released the Best Practices Guide for E-Pack Creators, a first-of-its kind “author’s manual” for publishers creating Web-based course material for higher education. The detailed but easy-to-use guide is intended to broaden and enrich content selection for colleges and universities that use WebCT e-learning software, and to help publishers thrive in the rapidly evolving marketplace for online course materials.
The 146-page best practices guide includes hundreds of tips for making online course materials more effective and more useful for faculty needs today, such as creating content in manageable chunks, avoiding clutter and making full use of the syllabus tool. WebCT has distributed the guide to publishing partners such as McGraw-Hill Higher Education; Pearson; Pearson Canada; Thomson Learning; ComputerPrep; Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishing; EMC Paradigm; Glencoe/McGraw-Hill; Houghton Mifflin; John Wiley and Sons; Jones & Bartlett; and W.B. Saunders Co.
“WebCT is giving our content experts the tools they need to become even more effective at serving our higher education customers,” said Steve Schoen, director of e-learning, The Wadsworth Group, a Thomson Learning Company. “WebCT understands that working closely with companies like Thomson helps us to deliver a product that exceeds our joint customers’ expectations.”
WebCT e-Packs are publisher course content packages that have been specifically designed for use with WebCT academic enterprise and course management systems. e-Packs make it easy for instructors to start teaching online without having to create a course from scratch. e-Packs provide instructors with fully customizable course materials around which to build their courses, including video animations, sample syllabi, lecture notes, quiz and test banks and glossaries.
“E-Packs are a great example of modularized content for course management systems, an online product category that has far outpaced digital textbooks for higher education and has exceeded forecasts in its rapid adoption,” according to Eduventures analyst Sean Gallagher. “Every institution should recognize the criticality of the strength of relationships between their content publishers and course management system providers.”
WebCT now offers over 1,400 e-Packs in more than 50 subject areas, more than any other higher-ed e-learning provider offers. “When our customers succeed we succeed, so everyone benefits when our partners offer great content,” said Carol Vallone, WebCT’s president and CEO. “Higher-ed e-learning is a community, and we hope our contributions will benefit everyone.”
About WebCT
WebCT is the world’s leading provider of integrated e-learning systems for higher education. More than 2,600 colleges and universities in more than 80 countries worldwide are using WebCT’s products and services to transform the educational experience of their students. Consortia in 24 American states, four Canadian provinces and two Australian territories as well as the Consortium of Distance Education have licensed WebCT for their member institutions, making it the de facto standard in higher education. For more information, please visit
Karen Gage
WebCT
(781) 309-1147
karen.gage@WebCT.com
Darby Johnson
Beaupre & Co. Public Relations, Inc.
(603) 559-5809
djohnson@beaupre.com
