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Project Staf18
Comparison and Analysis of the educational servers
WebCT and TopClass
 
Introduction
Comparison
Analysis
 
 
Introduction
        WebCT is a Web based set of Course Tools designed to deliver online learning. It facilitates the creation of sophisticated World Wide Web-based educational environments with student tools and instructor/designer tools that can be used to assist both the student in the act of communicating and learning, and the instructor in act of providing and maintaining an educational environment. WebCT allows the designer to conveniently alter the look of the course with many tools provided. It was developed in the Department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia. Now it has a widespread use. The WebCT page is available at TECFA. If you are interested in learning it systematically, you can also follow a real course created with WebCT on WebCT Learner Guide by creating an account or you can directly into it.
        While WBT Systems' TopClass Server provides a powerful virtual classroom environment to manage all aspects of content and class management and to deliver a flexible learning environment built entirely on the open, on-proprietary standards of the Web. It provides also student tools and instructor/designer tools. The designer in TopClass can also change the look of the course by using the tools quite similar to those of WebCT. It is being successfully used by academic institutions and corporations around the world such as the State University of New York (SUNY).

Comparison

Users' Rights
        Both of them have several classes of user each of the user classes operates differently.
 
WebCT TopClass
            The administrtor 
            The designer/instructor 
            Graders 
            Students		             The administrator 
            The designer/instructor 
            Students

Features and Tools

        The content of a course is provided by the course designer (or instructor - the terms are used interchangeably here). Both WebCT and TopClass provide structure, interactivity, and educational tools. These tools allow the designer to alter the look of the course by, for example, selecting from existing (or creating custom) color schemes, choosing buttons, incorporating custom or built-in banners, and more.

Student tools

Instructor/Designer Tools

The following are tools used by the course designer and marker in tracking and administering the course in WebCT and TopClass:

Analysis
WebCT: better for one course design
TopClass: better for muiltiple course design

        The appearances of the two :  The Course Homepage

Main Course Homepage and Tool Pages:
 
 
 

        Both of them are available now at TECFA servers:

        WebCT: 

        TopClass: 
        Of course you need to ask for the permission to use them since they are all password protected.

        And their documentations can be obtained in the following addresses:
        WebCT:  http://www.webct.com/docs/
        TopClass: http://www.wbtsystems.com/download/documentation.html

References: http://www.wbtsystems.com/guides/instruct_guide31/serverinstructor310.htm
                      http://www.wbtsystems.com/guides/student_guide31/serverstudent310.html


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