WebCT Good News/Bad News #5

These (sort of) daily “Good News/Bad News” messages are meant to inform you of what works and what doesn’t in CE 6.1.1. If you have comments, you’re invited to email me directly (jbacon@jccc.edu) or share on the dlfaculty@jccc.edu list.

CE 6.1.1 Good News: Miscellaneous Tools

1. (Discussions) A course instructor or teaching assistant can now lock and unlock a topic and still post in the Discussions tool.
2. (Glossary) When you create an export CE 4.1 file and then use that file to import an entire course into CE 6.1.1, 4.1 courses with a Glossary of 1000 or more items can now be imported properly (they didn’t in CE 6.0.2). However, with CE 6.1.1 the import will not work if the exported file is too large. The best work-around is to delete course backups before creating the 4.1 export file. With the export file "slimmed down" the import still appears to fail (the import progress bar never moves to the "finished state") but if you wait a few minutes and then jump to another tab, when you return you'll see that the Glossary entries have been imported and are available.
3. (File Manager) When uploading or downloading files the browser (Internet Explorer) does NOT freeze and require a reboot.
4. (File Manager) When using Safari 2.0.3, if you select the Get Files button in the File Manager, the My Computer icon appears and works.
5. (Folders) Any icon alignment changes made in folders does show correctly on the Build tab.
6. (Grade Book) The Histogram (under column statistics) displays all grade ranges.
7. (Grade Book) The default sort order (alphabetic) in the Grade Book is now correct.
8. (Grade Book) Rearranged columns (on the View All tab) are now reflected when viewing Column Settings for the Grade Book.
9. (HTML Creator) When loading the HTML Creator in Mail or Discussions, the tool does not grab control of the cursor, but leaves the cursor in the top field of the form.
10. (Course Import from 4.1) When importing a course from CE 4.1 to CE 6, the "Do not have permission to copy or move" error no longer appears.

CE 6.1.1 Bad News: Discussions

1. Discussion posts do not always update the Unread totals, so indicators of the number of Unread and Read messages may be incorrect.
   

If You Can't Post, Attach or Submit to CE 6

Students and faculty members continue to have problems:

• Posting messages in the Mail tool and the Discussions tool,
• Submitting files in the Assignments tool, and
• Attaching files to messages, postings and submissions, respectively, in the Mail, Discussions and Assignments tools in Campus Edition 6.

This document is meant to serve as a comprehensive guide to the steps we believe will cure most of these problems.

1. Run the browser check in WebCT to check for obvious errors. While not comprehensive, the Check Browser link checks for the obvious items (supported browser, cookies enabled, javascript enabled, pop-up window blocker for the Campus Edition server domain enabled, and Sun Microsystems Java installed and enabled).
2. You may have more than one pop-up blocker installed (Windows includes one as does the Google toolbar, MSN toolbar, Norton Security, Yahoo toolbar, Zone Alarm and others). Check to see if any of these extra pop-up blockers are installed and enabled on your computer. For details on how to disable pop-up blockers for webct.jccc.net, webct.jccc.edu and online.jccc.edu, read: http://students.jccc.net/documents/webct_common_issue.htm. Additional information on trusting pop-ups on the JCCC server sites is available at http://web.jccc.edu/edtech/notes/get.asp?DocumentID=126.
3. Until Blackboard certifies Internet Explorer 7, don't install it. It's not certified for use with JCCC's Campus Edition 6.0.2 (in use Fall 2006) but it is certified for use with CE 6.1.1 (anticipated version of Campus Edition for Spring 2007).
4. Make sure you have only one copy of Java 1.5.0_XX (on Windows systems) listed in the Control Panel (go to Start --> Control Panel --> Add-Remove Programs and look for listings that begin with "J2SE Runtime Environment"). There should only be a single entry. If you see multiple entries, follow the instructions at http://students.jccc.edu/documents/javauninstall.htm to uninstall all versions and then use the instructions at http://students.jccc.edu/documents/javainstall.htm to install a single version.
5. There are occasions when one of the Java applets used with Campus Edition becomes corrupt in cache (Windows will go to the cache to run the program, which speeds up the start-up, but that can also be a problem if the cache copy is corrupt). So if you've completed steps 1-4 and are still having problems, try clearing the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) Cache. Instructions are available at
   http://java.com/en/download/help/5000020300.xml.
6. Finally, if all else fails, try clearing your web browser's cache. Instructions are available at http://java.com/en/download/help/5000020400.xml.
   
   Note the following sites list top issues and possible resolutions (and other useful aids) to fixing Java problems: http://www.java.com/en/download/help/ and
   http://www.java.com/en/download/faq/top_issues.xml

If you have other tips on how to configure the end-user's workstation to cure Blackboard Campus Edition problems, please share them (jbacon@jccc.edu).

Addendum: One JCCC faculty member (George Belzer) offered the following comment: "The problem many of you are reporting with your students sounds very similar to the problem I was having myself. I tried most of the steps Jonathan mentions but the problem remained. Then Jeff Kosko suggested I uninstall Java version 9 (latest version) and install the older version 6, available through the JCCC Students Support website (see http://students.jccc.edu/documents/javainstall.htm). The problem was immediately solved and now adding attachments and uploading files works fast and correctly. I then went into the Java control console (accessed from the Windows Control Panel) and turned off the automatic upgrade feature to prevent version 9 from uploading again."

WebCT Good News/Bad News #4: The Media Library Tool Problems

One of the major problems we’ve encountered with CE 6.1.1 is related to Media Library collections. If you use the Media Library tool, by default, your course includes a glossary collection, but you can add other collections too. Media Library collections can include simple text entries (e.g. a text only glossary) or collections of other types of items such as text with images, images only, PDF files, audio and/or video files.

During our testing of CE 6.1.1 we discovered that Media Library collections are instantly broken if any item in a collection includes an attached image (JPEG, GIF, PNG or TIF file). Specifically, you can have a fully functional collection with images in 6.0.2 and as soon as the server is upgraded to CE 6.1.1 (in late December) the collection will be broken. Further, if a new item is added to a collection and you attach a JPEG, PNG, GIF or TIF image, the tool will be immediately broken. By broken we mean all or some of the items in a collection (which includes even a single image) will not be visible to either the student, instructor or course designer. Because you cannot see the item, you can’t detach the image or otherwise edit the collection.

Collections of other types of items (PDF files, audio or video files) do not cause the problem.

Blackboard is working on a solution; they’ve replicated the problem, and plan to provide a late January hot fix. However, once received we’ll need to test the hot fix on our test server and make a determination regarding whether it is safe to install mid-semester.

Here’s what’s happening to cause the problem:

1. When a media library collection is viewed, CE 6.1.1 inspects each entry to see if it has an image link. If it has a link, CE 6.1.1 checks for a thumbnail. If the thumbnail isn't present, CE 6.1.1 attempts to generate one. If thumbnail generation fails, CE 6.1.1 leaves the entry in its original state, and will try to generate a thumbnail again the next time the collection is accessed. All entries are in this state initially.
2. When a media library entry with an image link is added, CE 6.1.1 attempts to immediately generate a thumbnail. If thumbnail generation fails, the entry is still added, but the thumbnail is omitted. This leaves the entry in the same state as #1 above.

The error occurs when a “poorly designed SQL query” tries to generate a thumbnail for an attached image, which causes a database spike that severely effects server performance.

After applying the future hot fix (now in development by Blackboard) these issues will no longer occur. While the Media Library tool could be disabled system-wide (to prevent the problem), that action would mean that all collections (whether they included images or not) would be unavailable. So we plan to leave the Media Library tool enabled system-wide.

Here’s what you need to know and do:

1. If you have Media Library collections that do not include any images, do nothing. You and your students have dodged the bullet.
2. If all or some of your Media Library collections include images, then you have several (not very satisfactory) options. You’ll need to chose some combination of the following:

• Disable/Hide the Media library tool and don’t use it until the hot fix is installed (could be February or not until after Spring 2007 semester).
• Hide the Media Library collections with images (you can hide specific collections, but not specific entries).
• Convert all your images to PDF files, which don’t break the tool.
• Temporarily delete all images (might work if your collection is a glossary and you can temporarily do without the images—but you’ll need to re-add the images later).
• Create a series of web pages (HTML) that include the images and text from your collection(s) and create a Learning Module that serves as the repository for the collection.

We’re trying to produce a report of all Media Library collections that will be adversely effected by this bug, but you may need to just check your course(s) yourself and select a course of action. If you have questions or need help with any of the above solutions, contact your Ed Tech Center Designer.

WebCT Good News/Bad News #3: Announcements & Media Library

These daily “Good News/Bad News” messages after meant to inform you of what works and what doesn’t in CE 6.1.1. Even though you may not have time to test, this should give you a sense of what the upgrade will “do to your course.” If you have comments, you’re invited to email me directly (jbacon@jccc.edu) or share on the dlfaculty@jccc.edu list.

CE 6.1.1 Good News: Announcements

1. You can now change pages when viewing lists of announcements that span multiple pages. However, if you change the Paging Preferences (accessed by clicking the three dog-eared sheets icon in the bottom right corner of the WebCT Announcements window) to increase the “Number of records per page” setting (10 is the default) the increase in visible announcements may not display immediately. You may need to jump to another tool or tab and then return to the Announcements tool for it to take effect.
2. Images in announcements now correctly display.
3. The Delete button now deletes Announcements (but only if you were the instructor who created the announcement)

CE 6.1.1 Bad News: Announcements & Media Library

1. When you create an announcement by default it goes to all students, instructors, auditors and teaching assistants. There’s a bug that prevents you from sending an announcement to just one of these groups of course participants.
2. Media Library collections (such as the Glossary) are broken if the imported collection includes an attached JPEG, GIF or TIF file. Further if a new JPEG, GIF or TIF image is added to a new or existing Media Library collection, the tool is broken. The only work-around is to not use JPEG, GIF and TIF images in the Media Library. Blackboard is working on a solution; they’ve replicated the problem, and are trying to provide a late January hot fix to address the issue.

WebCT Good News/Bad News #2:

Here’s today’s installment of good news/bad news concerning CE 6.1.1:

CE 6.1.1 Good News – Assessments & Assignments

1. Assessments with embedded images copy satisfactorily from one CE 6.1.1 course shell (when you copy the entire course) to another CE 6.1.1 course shell.
2. The histogram (report) for statistics now displays all scores.
3. There is no longer a 1300 characters limit to comments in the Assignment tool…the limit is now 1333 characters. :-)
4. An error is no longer generated when the cutoff date for an assignment is left blank because it no longer defaults to “blank.” You must enter a cutoff date, so the error cannot occur.
5. Comments entered in Assignment Dropbox are automatically viewable in the student’s view of the Grade Book.
6. Files attached to the Assignment tool can be replaced by a file of the same name and the old version no longer is displayed. This fixes a bug in 6.0.2.

CE 6.1.1 Bad News –Importing and Exporting Assessments

1. When you export assessments from CE 6.1.1 with embedded images (using the HTML image tag, as opposed to the Browse button) and then try to import that assessment into another CE 6.1.1 course, the embedded images are not imported. In fact, the folder in which the images are stored in the source course shell is not copied to the target course shell.

WebCT Good News/Bad News #1: Assessments & Media Library

By the end of next week, we’ll know whether JCCC will upgrade to Blackboard Learning System CE 6.1.1 (e.g. the new name for WebCT) over the Holiday Break. The decision to proceed or not will be based on:

• Feedback from faculty and staff CE 6.1.1 testers
• Comments we receive over the next few days from the JCCC WebCT users list,
• Feedback from the Distance Learning Coordinating Council, and
• Input from two campus-wide committees: the Academic Technology Advisory Council (ATAC) that meets on Monday, December 4, 2006 and the Academic Information Management (AIM) Committee that meets on Friday, December 1, 2006.

This is a first of the daily “Good News/Bad News” messages I'll post to inform JCCC faculty of what works and what doesn’t in CE 6.1.1. Even though JCCC faculty may not have time to test, the daily posting will indicate what the upgrade will “do to your course.” If you have comments, you’re invited to email me directly (jbacon@jccc.edu) or share on the dlfaculty@jccc.edu list.

CE 6.1.1 Good News -- Assessments

1. The Assessments screen as viewed by students now lists start and due dates for all assessments (tests and quizzes).
2. The Item Statistics report for students in the lower 25% of a class now calculates correctly.
3. Performance reports can be generated even when an assessment has submissions that are not yet graded.
4. Calculated questions that do not require units of measure are graded correctly.
5. Courses imported from Campus Edition 4.1 to CE6 now properly display images referenced by inserting the HTML image tag in the General Feedback field.

CE 6.1.1 Bad News – Media Library

1. If you import Media Library collections that include JPEG images or you add JPEG images after a course is imported or copied, the Media Library tool becomes broken; e.g. after you select the View All Media Library entries option, existing and new entries cannot be viewed, deleted or edited by the designer/instructor and students cannot view the entries. We’re working with Blackboard support to get this fixed or find a work-around.

Perils of the Internet Explorer 7 Upgrade

JCCC currently has Campus Edition (CE) 6.0.2 in production. With that version, we've had sporadic problems with the new Microsoft Internet Explorer browser (Version 7) due out prior to November 1, 2006. The most common problem seems to be that the menu bar on the left side of the CE 6.0.2 interface collapses to the point where text and icons are not visible. This problem has been confirmed by other schools using CE 6.

Word from WebCT is that IE 7 is compatible with CE 6.1.1 (due to upgrades and hot fixes included by that version). Since we will not be at CE 6.1.1 until after the semester ends (at best), faculty members and students using WebCT are warned to not let your browser (IE) automatically upgrade to version 7.

Additional detail is available from Microsoft at the link above.

The easiest way to avoid the upgrade is to decline Internet Explorer 7 when Automatic Updates notifies you that the update is available to install. We suggest you inform your students to choose “Don’t Install” when prompted by the Internet Explorer 7 welcome screen. According to Microsoft, "Users will not need to take special action to receive notification, and all users will have the ability to decline installation."

We also understand that FireFox 2 may be released soon (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/2.0/releasenotes/). We have not tested the new version with CE 6.0.2 and cannot recommend an upgrade at this time.

There's also a toolkit available to block automatic delivery of IE7. For more information, check out the FAQ at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/updatemanagement/windowsupdate/ie7blockertoolfaq.mspx

WebCT Service Pack 3 Testing Results

At JCCC, we tested Service Pack 3 (SP3) released by Blackboard for Campus Edition 6 (CE 6) for several days in early October. Our hope was to install SP3 (pending successful testing) during the Fall Semester rather than waiting for the conclusion of the semester. While many issues are resolved by the service pack, after consultation with the Ed Tech Center staff, the unanimous decision was that none of the fixes have addressed the major problems we’ve encountered and continue to report; e.g. system exception errors, course copy (CE 6 to CE 6) and course import (CE 4.1 to CE 6) problems.

So we've decided to upgrade our test environment to CE 6.1.1 with all hotfixes released to date and begin testing. If testing provides satisfactory results, we hope to do a single upgrade at the conclusion of the Fall 2006 Semester (to CE 6.1.1).

The results of our SP3 testing are available online in a PDF version of the testing checklist spreadsheet. Please note the following :

• Items in column 2 in bold are supposedly fixed in SP3 based on the "WebCT Campus Edition 4.0 [they really mean 6.0] Service Pack 3 Release Notes" dated July 31, 2006.
• Items in column 2 in bold purple are supposedly fixed based on correspondence and spreadsheet reports exchanged with Blackboard technical support over the past several months.
• Items with a grey background are supposedly fixed in Application Pack 1; we listed the items on the spreadsheet but did not expect to find them fixed. However, they do identify additional issues that we hope will be resolved when we upgrade to 6.1.1.
• Items in the last column on the right with a yellow background are issues where conflicting results occurred and we spent additional time verifying the results (e.g. making sure we’re talking about the same feature or bug). The notes in these columns may be informative.
• Items with a pink background to the row are items that were supposedly fixed in SP3, but our testing does not confirm a fix.
• Items in column 2 with the text in italics are control items (e.g. features that were not broken but which we assume should work routinely or were fixed in earlier releases).
• The columns that are headed with initials identify the Ed Tech Center staff member who reported the results.

As you review the results, you’ll see that many of the items that were supposedly fixed, do not appear to be fixed (or testing shows mixed results).

In the discussions among Ed Tech Center staff members, we’ve asked ourselves "Are the available bug fixes in SP3 at a level of significance that we’re willing to risk a mid-semester upgrade and the possibility of introducing new bugs (which has occurred with each upgrade to CE 6)?" Our answer was "no."

My WebCT Page and Number of Courses Listed

I've been gathering bits of information that might be useful (and cannot be stored in my memory banks) so I'll include them here on the blog as time permits.

As the number of courses in which an instructor or designer is enrolled increases, the time the system takes to display the My WebCT page seems to exponentially increase. Sometimes the time lag is so great, users think the page has failed to load. An inquiry to our TSM at Blackboard resulted in this response: "I asked our engineers and they said there is no limit [to the number of courses in which a user can be enrolled]. We have some admins in over a 1000 courses. However, once you start getting above 100 courses the user will see performance problems because the database is querying for every course, every tool, every update, for every section. It is best to enroll in only what is necessary. "

Norton Internet Security Software and Zone Alarm Pro each have their own, behind-the-scenes pop-up blocker that does not seem to be detected by the WebCT CE6 Check Browser link. If WebCT users experience problems when posting to the Mail and Discussions tools, the problem may be that these products are blocking required pop-ups (in effect disabling portions of WebCT that use the HTML Creator, the Content Manager, and the File Manager). Students and instructors should be advised that they do not need to disable the entire application. Norton IS (Zone Alarm Pro too) actually proxy incoming traffic and remove a lot of JavaScript, such as is required for WebCT to function properly.

Information on enabling and disabling pop-up blockers with Norton Internet Security is available on their site.

Information on adding a trusted zone or site (e.g. not restricted by the firewall included in Norton Internet Security) is also available on the Symantec site.

A second reason that students and instructors may not be able to successfully use the Mail and Discussions tools is encountered on systems running Windows XP service pack 1 and using Microsoft's Internet Explorer. If you watch the bottom of the browser window, you may see an indication that there are "errors on the page." The solution is to upgrade to SP2 or try a different browser, the former solution is strongly recommended.

Additional solutions and suggestions for properly configuring a web browser to work with CE 6 are included at http://students.jccc.edu and at http://web.jccc.net/edtech/notes/get.asp?DocumentID=126 ("Trusting Pop-ups in WebCT 6") and http://web.jccc.net/edtech/notes/find.asp?words=java ("Installing Java on Your Computer for WebCT 6").

What We Know about Blackboard (WebCT) CE 6.1

(updated 8/15/2006)

JCCC Ed Tech Center staff members have tested Campus Edition (CE) 6.1 which is the current version of Campus Edition (formerly WebCT CE) after the installation of Service Pack 3 (SP3) & the Application Pack (AP). We have not tested SP3 without the concurrent install of the AP, so we cannot verify which fixes occur in which upgrade. The following is our best understanding of new features, fixes and remaining problem issues.

Items in red are still problematic, black are fixed items and blue require additional testing on JCCC’s part to verify the behavior or problem.

Notes are listed alphabetically by CE 6.1 tool so you can quickly explore these notes to determine the status of a specific tool.

Announcements

1. You can now change pages when viewing lists of announcements that span multiple pages


2. Images in announcements now seem to correctly display


3. The Delete button now correctly deletes Announcements, but you can only delete announcements you’ve created, e.g. if other faculty have created announcements in a co-taught course, one instructor cannot delete announcements posted by another instructor. Further the warning message refers to one announcement no matter how many you have selected to delete.

Assessments

1. Calculated questions with a large number as the maximum value are now graded correctly


2. There are still problems with embedded images being properly imported from 6.0 or from CE 4.1.


3. If the orientation of questions being imported is not set (in CE 4.1) the default setting in CE 6.1 is horizontal, not vertical.


4. Assessments screen now lists start and due dates for students.


5. The Item Statistics report for students in lower 25% of class is now calculated correctly.


6. Performance reports can be generated even when an assessment has ungraded submissions.


7. Students can submit assessments after the time allowed has expired (but they’re not marked as past the time limit). Of course, if the properties setting to ‘Disallow answer submission if time has expired’ is not checked they can be submitted. However, it appears that even when that is checked assessments are still accepted because they get a grade in the grade book and I find no notice to the instructor, other than the time spent on the assessment, that too much time was taken. E.g. The student can submit, the time taken is displayed but there is no warning as was the case in CE 4.1 that the assignment was submitted late.


8. When editing question sets, reordering questions no longer changes number of questions specified in the Select field.


9. Layout of multiple choice questions with horizontal answer setting is slightly improved (more spacing).


10. Use of HTML option persists when editing questions, e.g. doesn’t have to be reset each time.


11. Calculated questions not requiring units of measure are graded correctly.


12. Jumbled questions generated by Respondus now import and grade correctly.


13. The end date as well as the start date for assessments is now displayed for students.


14. The histogram for statistics now displays all scores.


15. Courses imported from Campus Edition 4.1 to CE6 now properly display images referenced by inserting the <img src=> tag in the General Feedback field.


16. Proctor password can now include # sign and special characters except for the plus (+) sign.


17. Assessments with embedded images in the question, feedback or answer text boxes do not copy from CE6 to CE6 but there is a work-around for the issue.

Assignments

1. On the Teach tab, can generate printable view of assignment submissions.


2. When Assignments are deleted the corresponding columns remain in the (Instructor) Grade Book as well as the student’s My Grades tool.


3. When adding comments, a system exception sometimes occurs when over 1301 characters are entered.


4. When attempting to view submissions from an assignment and selecting the View All tab no longer generates an error message.


5. From the Assignments tool on the Teach tab, if you use the ActionLinks for a specific assignment (View Submissions option) the results now default to showing all submissions for that specific assignment.


6. The tab you last selected in the Assignment Dropbox (Submitted, Not Submitted, and so on) is the default tab when you next access the Assignment Dropbox in the current or another course.


7. When you select a specific assignment you will see the results for the selected assignment relevant to the active tab. There is no longer a switch to the All tab or away from the tab you had active before selecting a specific assignment.


8. From the Assignments tool (Teach tab) if you select the ActionLinks and then select the View Submissions option, the default is for the All tab to be selected.


9. When you switch from the Assignment tool to the Assignment Dropbox the same view (tab) is selected, e.g. if you were viewing the Graded tab of an assignment with the Assignment Tool you will see the Graded tab view of the same assignment when you switch to the Assignment Dropbox.


10. If you use the ActionLinks icon that follows a specific assignment to View Submissions, you’ll see only the submissions for the selected assignment. However, as soon as you select the Published tab and then select the All tab, the view switches from the original specified assignment to an indeterminable blend of multiple assignments on its own; despite any desire you may have to the contrary.


11. The Submitted tab shows Missed assignments while the Not Submitted tab doesn’t?


12. Assignments for groups of students created using Add Content Link from a folder are now added to the folder.


13. Error generated when cutoff date is left blank no longer occurs because the setting can no longer be left blank.


14. Assignment grades for individual students now appear the same in both Grade Book and Assignment Drop Box.


15. If grade is edited in Grade Book, it updates Assignment Drop Box.


16. Sort order now sticks properly when grading assignments, but clicking on the table headers doesn’t seem to reorder the sort order.


17. Student view of Assignments now includes end date of assessment.


18. Instructor can now download multiple assignments at one time by creating a printable view, saving the file (stored in the Content Manager), and then copying or moving the file from the Content Manager to your computer. It creates a zip file that includes the attachments.


19. If you have attached a file to an assignment in the Assignment tool and need to replace it, the replacement file shows correctly on the Build tab but the older (replaced) file still persists in the Student View.

Browser Issues

1. The Check Browser link now returns Safari 2.0.3 and 2.0.4 as supported browsers.


2. User no longer prompted to enable Java applets, such as Chat and the Equation Editor, before using them.

Calendar Tool

1. If an assessment start time is set to 12:00 a.m. in the Create a corresponding event in the Calendar setting, the event now appears in the Calendar.

Chat Tool

1. Students signing on using MyJCCC (Pipeline/Luminus) can now access the Chat tool.


2. Chat Hand Raise mode can now be invoked by Section Instructors, Section Designers and Teaching Assistants.


3. The Whiteboard Select and Move features have been improved,

Class Blogs

1. Instructor can chose to not use the new Class Blog feature. The blog tool is a subset of the Discussions tool and won’t appear unless the Instructor creates a Topic that is a Blog.

Discussions Tool

1. The search of discussion postings still has lag time while materials are indexed.


2. A topic can be locked and the instructor or TA can still post to the topic.


3. Safari 2.0.3 users can get/attach files in Discussions tool using the My Computer applet.


4. After message threads are moved or copied, breadcrumbs now appear correctly appear.


5. After editing and reposting a message with equations, the equations now display properly rather than displaying the equation’s properties.


6. When grading topics, grades can no longer be assigned to unenrolled students unless a grade was assigned before the unenrollment, in which case the grade can be edited.


7. Messages will now sort by Subject properly.


8. Discussion postings in Unthreaded or All order now sort properly.

Equation Editor

1. In the WebEQ Equation Editor, the Save button now functions properly for Safari users.

File Manager

1. You can now upload a file and overwrite an existing file with the same filename.


2. Users who are section designers/section instructors will now be able to re-expand the course menu after it collapses automatically when File manager is clicked.

Folders

1. Icon alignment changes made in folders will now show correctly on the Build tab.

Grade Book

1. Using the View All tab, you can reorder columns and visibility for both instructor and the Student View


2. If two or more enrolled members have the same last name, their first names are now sorted properly, e.g. sorted first by last name, second by first name and third by Student ID.


3. Names with international characters should display properly.


4. When using Firefox, long column titles are truncated if titles are longer than 30 characters (both IE and Firefox ).


5. The Histogram in column statistics now displays all grade ranges.


6. Grade Book data exported to Excel Workbook format now includes User IDs in the .xls file.


7. Default sort order (alphabetic) in Grade Book is now correct.

HTML Creator

1. International Characters entered in HTML Creator will no longer be converted to HTML entities but will be correctly saved as UTF-8 data.


2. Images inserted in document using HTML Creator appear/display in HTML Creator window?

Import and Copy Functions

1. When importing a course from CE 4.1 to CE 6 the "Do not have permission to copy or move" error message no longer is displayed.


2. Import from CE 4.1 works for users who are concurrently Auditors (in one or more course) as well as Section Designers/Section Instructors.


3. Can copy WebCT 6 to 6 course content. Sporadic problems experienced but may have been related to corrupt course shells.

Journals

1. Journals can be enabled or disable by instructor. The journals tool is a subset of Discussions. It won’t appear unless the Instructor creates a Topic that is a Journal.

Learning Modules

1. When using Firefox, students can add notes to learning modules. When enabled the feature does not show up in any view when looking at a Learning Module.


2. Breadcrumbs now reflect learning module title.


3. When Learning Module is configured to display table of contents as first page of module, clicking the learning module’s title in breadcrumbs now correctly returns user to TOC. May not work with Safari.


4. When adding a heading, the heading is no longer automatically duplicated.

Mail Tool

1. Clicking on Unread button shows the correct messages, but the button doesn’t look like it has been pressed. The All button remains depressed, so the only way to get back to All messages is to press the Refresh button.


2. Move, Copy and Delete functions in Mail tool, leave the user in the same folder instead of bouncing back to top level folder (Inbox).


3. Rearranged columns are now reflected in Column Settings for the Grade Book, if the View All tab is used.


4. When the Select Message Recipients screen contains multiple pages of members, the sender’s selections will now persist when the sender navigates to a different page.


5. Replies in Mail tool (using HTML Creator) no longer include extra blank line spaces.

Media Library

1. When you delete a Glossary entry, the hyperlinks disappear, but you must delete the link not just from the Glossary but from the entire Media Library.


2. You can change the default settings under Manage Media Library Links from initial to all to manual.


3. The Student Contributions feature can be disabled or hidden by the instructor. May need to be enabled through Admin settings. From the Help file: “Depending on administrator settings, you may also be able to set Student permissions to create entries for the collection. If you remove these permissions after Students have created content, the content remains, but further Student entries are not allowed.”


4. Media Library collections with over 1000 objects sporadically do not import correctly from CE 4.1 to CE6. This may be related to the size of the export file (often with several unnecessary backups included)

Multimedia

1. PDF files can now be embedded and viewed in CE 6.x.

My WebCT Page

1. When selecting the unread Mail messages or unread Discussions or unread Calendar entries icon on the My WebCT page, the screen no longer (sporadically) displays the student tools instead of the instructor/designer tools.

Peer Review

1. The Peer Review features in the Discussions tool be enabled or disabled in the Edit Properties dialogue for a Topic.

Search tool

1. Search results still return hidden and/or unavailable content (based on Release Criteria).


2. Auditors can now search Assignments with the Search tool.

Tracking

1. Total times reported in the Student Tracking Report and Individual Student Tracking Reports should now match. However, we found that the date range is not sticky and sporadically received a “tracking data has not yet been generated error.” Sporadically found total user sessions not accurate (e.g. “SummaryOfActivityReport_webcetera.csv” and “SummaryOfActivityReport_webceterastudent.csv” -- the files created when exporting the Student versus Individual activity report show different figures for Total User Sessions).

WebLinks Tool

1. Can create, delete and move categories in the Weblinks tool.


2. The Student Contributions feature can be disabled or hidden (on a course by course basis) by the instructor.


3. There is no button for students to create a web link, even when the feature is supposedly enabled.

Who’s Online

1. A course is visible in the Global Who's Online only if the tool has been enabled for the particular section of the course.

Other

1. The Course list and Who's Online fields are now sorted alphabetically.


2. In the Learning Modules, Discussions and in other tools with paging options, the page setting (# of items to be shown) can now be set and “sticks” without changing each time the user goes back to the page.


3. Instructor/Student names are editable for display in Grade Book, Mail and course-wide using the My Profile (or My Tools) tool. However, there is some lag in the display changing after it’s been edited.


4. Based on release notes, the Course Tools menu bar should not collapse to just icons when opening the Mail tool or Learning Modules tool, but that’s not the case. The menu collapses when using the Mail, My Files, Grade Book, and File Manager tools.


5. Files with commas in their filenames can now be added to Course Content.


6. All students dropped or withdrawn from course(s) in Banner, have status set to unenrolled rather than access denied.


7. Whenever courses are listed throughout WebCT (Calendar, imports, and so on) they should by default appear in alphabetical order. However, the course list for the Calendar is not alphabetical. Other non-alphabetical listings include the course list in Respondus, StudyMate and when choosing a course from which to copy content.

JCCC is not proceeding with the upgrade from 6.0.2 to CE 6.1 for the following reasons :

• First, I wish we could proceed with the upgrade but I am just not confident enough to support that route. To add another factor to the mix, Blackboard is closing down their Vancouver offices (where WebCT support exists) and moving employees (who wish to move) to Washington DC. I know that many staff members are going but some are not, including our primary tech support person with WebCT, he leaves as of the end of August. So I have some concern for the quality and responsiveness of support during the upcoming transition. Putting all the factors together, I think my staff and I would rather tackle the problems we know about rather than the ones that are unknown.
• We're getting reports from other schools having problems with the Application Pack install process (25+ hour installs that are still incomplete, courses appearing and disappearing from the My WebCT page, log-in screens recycling back to the log-in screen so users cannot log-in).
• We have unresolved issues regarding copying from CE 6.1 to CE 6.1 course shells.
• We have unresolved issues regarding copying from CE 4.1 to CE 6.1 course shells.
• We have identified for Blackboard a bug when importing courses from CE 4.1 to CE 6.1 (that doesn't exist with CE 6.0.2) when assessments include embedded images.
• We have identified problems copying from CE 6.1 to 6.1 with assessments that include embedded images (a work-around exists that requires the copying of folders and replicating the folder structure in the source course shell).
• We have only tested Service Pack 3 in conjunction with the Application pack. While SP3 has numerous bug fixes we need, we have not tested it alone to see what it breaks.
• We know that CE 6.1 (which includes SP3 and the Application Pack) adds new features and fixes desired by our faculty but none appear to be of universal benefit.

We'll continue testing and watching for hotfixes and service packs and move forward when advisable.

Campus Edition (CE) 6.x doesn't include semesters (or terms) like CE 4.1 did. We've requested this new feature enhancement from WebCT months ago but there's been no projected implementation date set. The dilemma is all courses for multiple semesters (terms) are grouped together alphabetically and the default course name on the My WebCT screen doesn't include the CRN (course number) nor any notation indicating the semester (term) for the course.

At JCCC, we run a script nightly to change the course name to include the CRN and semester offered (that information is sent over from Banner when a new course is added--we're integrated with Banner and Luminus). Even with the course renaming process, the list of courses on each instructor's My WebCT page can be very long (e.g. it currently can include up to three semesters of credit courses, two years of staff development offerings and up to three semesters of non-credit offerings--depending on the courses the individual is teaching or taking). To help solve the problem (partially) we've administratively enabled the capability for faculty to hide courses (e.g. those taught in past semesters).

Once enabled , faculty can hide courses (and shorten the My WebCT course list) so selected courses will not show. To do so we tell the instructor to:

1. Go to your My WebCT page,
2. Select the Edit Course List icon (square button with a pencil icon) that appears on the right end of the Course List banner,
3. On the screen that appears, select the check box in front of each course you want to hide.
4. When done, click the Hide button that appears at the top and bottom of the page.
5. To return to your My WebCT page, select the My WebCT tab at the top of the page.

The only indication that courses are hidden is a note under the Course List banner. It'll indicate the "Number of Hidden Course Links:" followed by a number.
You can always unhide (show) hidden courses using the same process...just select the Show button.

As we've been testing CE 6.1 on a test server, we've discovered the following:

1. There’s a bug in the import of assessments from CE 4.1 to 6.1 that adds an extra text string to the path for embedded images in assessment questions (see below). The bug does not exist in the import to CE 6.0.2, only in the import routine for 6.1. A CR has been filed with Blackboard support.
   
   If you look at the "img src=" tag for an embedded image in an Answer or Feedback text field, you'll see a path such as
   
   "/webct/RelativeResourceManager/Template/
   urw/lc5647584011.tp6372184011/
   RelativeResourceManager/Template/
   Math115_Exam1_SP1/test_images/q_1_dis_2_1.png"
   
   The link won't work unless the highlighted portion (in red) is deleted. That's easy to say but hard to do when a typical question may include 4-5 answers (each with an image) and a Question Database of dozens if not hundreds of questions.
   
2. The Assessment export function in CE 6.x was never designed to export images that were embedded using HTML code (the "img src=" tag) from one CE course shell to another, per Blackboard Development. There's a work-around for this. You simply copy the folders with images from the source course shell to the target course shell, while being sure to maintain the same folder structure.
3. When creating assessments in CE 6.x if you attach images in the Question text box (using the Image text box/Browse button combo), those images are exported and imported properly. The images that are not imported are ones that are embedded using the HTML tags placed in the Question text box, the Answer text box or the Feedback text box (obviously when the Use HTML checkbox is selected and HTML codes are used).

If you want more detail, let me know.

Background:
Johnson County Community College (JCCC) has been using WebCT (now Blackboard) Campus Edition for several years (at least back to Fall 2002). The Educational Technology Center (Ed Tech Center or ETC for short) has provided faculty support for the product as we've gone from CE 3.8 to CE 4.1 to CE 6 and now testing CE 6.1.

We've developed our own face-to-face (F2F) training materials and offered faculty workshops such as Quick 'N Dirty WebCT (back in the early days) for faculty who wanted to use just a few tools and capabilities (e.g. post a course syllabus, class notes, include a calendar and discussions) and Xtreme WebCT for faculty who intended to teach fully online.

Starting in Fall 2004, we developed WebCeTera: Learning and Teaching Online, a five-week fully online course for faculty who wish to teach a course online or place course materials on the web for a F2F or on-site class.

WebCeTera (rhymes with etcetera) is not a self-paced course. Participants have online assignments and go through an online student experience. We tell faculty, "If you've never taken a course online, this is your chance." Faculty from non-JCCC institutions (members of the Colleague to Colleague organization) are also enrolled in the course which enables interaction with new and experienced online faculty from multiple colleges and universities.

The entire course is held online except for an optional one-hour introductory meeting. During the course of the online class participants will:

• Use all the major WebCT tools,
• Experience a live chat and a virtual classroom experience,
• Have assignments due using the Assignment Drop Box,
• Participate in online discussions,
• Receive a free textbook (147 Practical Tips for Teaching Online Groups) and
• Receive a WebCeTera t-shirt after successful completion of the course.

Previous students in WebCeTera have estimated that it takes from 4-10 hours per week to successfully complete the 5-week course.

That's the background that brings us to this blog.

Our Purpose:
Recently I've received questions from JCCC faculty and other institutions regarding CE 6.x problems, issues, bugs and fixes. When I've searched Dr. C, I've found little on CE 6 and lots of postings on CE 4.1 (two very different products). So for lack of a better, impartial site to post and locate information on CE 6.x, I'm starting to blog.

It's a good challenge for me (someone who constantly advocates faculty technology literacy). Starting with the next post I'll list issues, bugs and fixes of which I'm aware. You're invited to do the same. You're also invited to check out my blog roll which includes links to FAQs and Tips posted at JCCC's web site. Those may disappear as we attempt to move more of that information to this (CE Annotations) blog.