WebCT selects courses in the fourth annual Exemplary Course Project
LYNNFIELD, Mass, Sept. 22, 2003 – WebCT, maker of the world’s most flexible and widely used higher education e-learning solutions, today recognized a new group of WebCT-powered higher-education courses that are expanding the possibilities of Internet-enhanced learning.
WebCT’s fourth annual 2003 Exemplary Course Project singled out six courses for excellence in the following award criteria: modeling best practices in course design; interaction and collaboration; assessment and evaluation; meaningful technology use; and learner support. The courses include a host of innovations, including bonus points that foster participation, “mind maps” to connect past students with the present, online portfolios and intensive collaboration among groups.
“These courses illustrate our ‘learning without limits’ philosophy by effectively conveying a wide variety of knowledge and abilities, from the power to be creative in an ‘opening thinking’ course to collaborating online in ‘linear systems and control,’ ” said Carol Vallone, WebCT president and CEO. “We applaud and thank the schools and faculty responsible for these achievements, which showcase the flexibility of our software in the most demanding learning contexts.”
The selected courses are:
GUI Building
Michael Danchak
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Linear Systems and Control
Cheryl Schrader
University of Texas at San Antonio
Living Belief: Introduction to the Bible
Rev. Dr. Susan Lochrie Graham
University of Exeter, U.K.
Opening Thinking
Ann Pollock
British Columbia Open University
Spanish 101
Robert Sanders
Portland State University
Web Site Development
Anita Philipp
Oklahoma City Community College
The evaluation was conducted for WebCT by Dr. David Graf, executive director of technology at the Fischler Graduate School of Education & Human Services at Nova Southeastern University; and Maisie Caines, WebCT faculty development specialist at the College of the North Atlantic’s Clarenville Campus. Representatives from the WebCT Institutes – colleges and universities which have a strategic relationship with WebCT and demonstrate best practices in their campus-wide implementations – worked with Graf and Caines to evaluate all entries.
“WebCT and the participants in this competition are making an important contribution to higher education,” said Karen Kaminski, a judge in the program and assistant director of Colorado State University’s office of instructional services. “They are helping establish the fact that e-learning can be far more than just an alternative delivery method that saves time and travel. Instead, the online medium fosters new and occasionally more fruitful learning opportunities than in the analog world.”
Working with Graf and Caines on the evaluation of the WebCT 2003 Exemplary Course applications were the following WebCT Institutes: California State – Chico, Colorado State University, Coventry University, Marshall University, Purdue University, Tennessee Technological University, The Ohio State University, University of Alberta, University of Central Florida, University of Georgia, University of Maryland, University of North Texas, Utah State University and Villanova University.
For more information and to view the winning courses, please visit: http://www.webct.com/exemplary
About WebCT
WebCT has set the standard for e-learning system 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
