How this book evolved

Since WebCT first came to Georgia State University, our faculty had been asking for more detailed documentation about the courseware. The first things we wrote for our faculty were handouts that they could give to their students at the beginning of each semester. After that we were often asked to give presentations for the students with more handouts on particular tools and how to use them. Later, as the faculty became more experienced, we were asked to teach advanced workshops that focused not only on particular tools like the Quizzing Module, but also on Advanced Tips and Instructional Design. The CD-ROM Tool (one of WebCT's most advanced tools) was one of our first significant set of instructions for professors. As we provided support to our faculty, more and more documents came into being.

To help meet the growing demand for training, we began formal training sessions for our staff. Once a week a staff member was asked to present a tool or feature of WebCT to several staff members (always with at least one of our two Certified Trainers present). At these training sessions, the presenting trainer was expected to supply his/her own handouts. These trainings occurred frequently, and our cache of handouts continued to improve. In the Spring of 2001, we developed a standard format for these handouts and then compiled them into our first, humble effort, "The WebCT Handbook of Tools, Tips and Techniques, Or Almost Everything You Wanted to Know About WebCT.", which was 231-pages.Quickly following this publication the authors revised our approach to a handbook, added many more chapters on pedagogy and even more on the examination of each and every tool. By the summer of 2001 we were already on track with, "The Ultimate WebCT Handbook." This revision was so substantial in length, the new handbook is 420 pages, formatting and design that we altered the title to reflect this more comprehensive approach. We wanted this handbook to assist faculty and particularly faculty who had limited support.

The handbook provides concise overviews of all the tools in WebCT, complete with common uses and advanced uses, so professors can quickly locate and implement tools that work for them. The handbook also details any limitations of the courseware. When a limitation is encountered we give workarounds that we've been compiling from our own experience and that of other users around the world.

The many thank you's and praise we have have received from the purchasers of our book have encouraged us to continue our efforts to document the ongoing changes in WebCT. Thank you all for making our handbook a success, and hopefully you will see your suggestions employed in the new edition for 4.x.