For Better or Worse: WebCT Vista

Beginning in summer 2006, UWG online courses will begin migrating to WebCT Vista, hosted on a centralized USG server. The initial migration will only include a handful of courses (not yet identified), but full migration is expected by Spring 2007. Because of concerns about reliability and support with earlier versions of Vista, UWG is among the last of USG institutions to make this change. During recent semesters, many of the earlier technical issues with Vista seem to have been significantly reduced, says Janet Gubbins, UWG WebCT administrator. In addition, the Vista product offers enhancements such consolidated toolbars, quick-start pages for course setup, and enhanced grading, presentation, and private mail functions. Faculty training for Vista will be offered by the DDEC beginning in May.