Announcements

Sept 2009

"Can I use WebCT instead of ELM?"

Many people have been inquiring about the possibility of using WebCT as an alternative to ELM.

WebCT is not a viable alternative as it has reached end-of-life status. It is not fit to sustain the current ELM population. The performance and security issues that WebCT was experiencing in the last semesters will only be exacerbated by the influx of the larger ELM population.

As mentioned in previous communications, the vendor is no longer providing support for WebCT. Many of the problems experienced in the last semesters required a substantial amount of vendor co-operation. Without vendor support, using WebCT in this stage will render your course materials and participant information vulnerable.

WebCT courses for the 2008/2009 academic year are still available on WebCT until the annually scheduled removal dates (see below) for activities such as course information retrieval for appeals. However, to ensure that WebCT will remain "healthy" enough to provide this last service, new students can no longer be added to an existing WebCT course.

We are aware that many ELM users were hopeful that WebCT would be an effective alternative so please know that your disappointment with this news is not lost on us. We truly are sorry that we could not provide this as an option.

The CLL staff continue to work with the vendor to resolve outstanding issues. After the current system is deemed to be stable, the full ELM will become available.

I can't upload students anymore!"

On Sept 19, 2009 the ability to upload students had to be disabled immediately to preserve what little "strength" WebCT has left for post-service purposes such as making 2008/2009 course info available for appeals. Normally, when we make such changes, we like to ensure that notification is sent out prior to the changes. Unfortunately, at the time of removing the student upload function (which is a much quicker process than uploading students) we did not have the luxury of time, nor the means to send an announcement to the ELM community.

Please know that we truly regret this circumstance and had we had the ability, a notification would most certainly have been sent out with the same immediacy.

We now have communications in place to distribute so you should soon be receiving more information about WebCT and its issues.

ELM update - Sept 22

As you may be aware, there have been some technical issues with ELM. You can still log in and access your course materials and communications.

Staff in the CLL continue to work with the vendor to resolve outstanding issues. After the current system is deemed to be stable, the full ELM will become available.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. A summary of responses to commonly asked questions from the Sept 18th Instructor Information Session have been posted in an FAQ format on the CLL website.

Please continue to check The Daily News and cll.mcmaster.ca for updates.

June 2009

<<Posted: June 26, 2009: WebCT Off Campus Access Affected by Internet Outage

UTS has informed us that Internet and ORION networks will be intermittently inaccessible due to ORION (Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network) network maintenance. During this timeframe WebCT may be intermittently inaccessible via Internet from anywhere outside of McMaster; however, access to WebCT from within McMaster will remain unaffected.

Timeline

Start Date: Friday June 26, 2009
Start Time: 10:00 PM

End Date: Saturday June 27, 2009
End Time: 5:00 AM

May 2009

<<Posted: May 13, 2009: Important Information Regarding the Launch of E-Learn@Mac (ELM)

On April 8th, 2009, McMaster announced the launch of ELM (E-Learn@Mac), McMaster's new centrally supported Learning Management System. It is anticipated that the majority, if not all, WebCT courses will run on ELM this September. From now until mid-June, a limited number of faculty and staff are participating in a spring/summer course pilot. If you are interested in offering your summer course on ELM (June 22, T2 start), please read through the ELM course pilot program information and fill out the sign-up form. In mid-June, the system will be generally available for the McMaster Community to explore ELM and begin course development for delivery in September 2009.

April 2009

<<Posted: April 27, 2009: Now is a great time to send in your summer WebCT course requests

The following message applies to instructors only:

The Spring Term is beginning once again which means that now is a great time to send in your WebCT course requests. A course request should be sent in any time you’re beginning a new term with a new class of students. Requests are filled out in the order that they are received and are currently responded to within 24-48 hours. If the volume of requests is high it could take up to several days to respond.

To submit a request you can visit the Designer Resources section of this website or proceed directly to the WebCT Course Request page. Courses can be started from a blank shell or they can be copied from a previous course.

To learn about how to add additional designers or perform basic course management visit our Manage Your Course page.

For additional help or to contact one of our support analysts please visit our Get Help page.

Note: The Beta Testing and Course Pilot program for the next generation E-Learn@Mac learning management system has begun. More information about ELM and how you're WebCT course can be moved to the new system will be available later in the summer. For now please visit our ELM Launch site for more information.

<<Posted: April 14, 2009: Network issues causing WebCT connectivity problem

The WebCT server is currently experiencing a network issue that is causing the server to appear unresponsive. Server not responding or timeout errors may appear on your screen when trying to login or use tools within the WebCT system.

We are currently working to resolve this issue and apologise for any inconvenience. The server will be restored to full functionality as soon as possible.

Update at 3:35 pm EDT: Access to WebCT is currently more reliable, however, there may still be some lingering issues. We are making every effort to ensure full access is available.

February 2009

<<Posted: February 10, 2009: High Server Load is Causing Performance Issues

WebCT has been experiencing very high usage and as a result the traffic on the server has reduced performance of the system significantly. Our staff is working diligently to ensure the server remains as accessible as possible.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

December 2008

<<Posted: December 18, 2008: Instructors - Remember to send in your WebCT course requests

Reminder to instructors: If you're planning to have a WebCT course on the system and want to guarantee that the course is available at the beginning of the new semester on January 5th you must send in your course requests by the end of tomorrow (December 19th). Courses submitted after the 19th will be worked on in order of reception but may not be ready for January 5th.

All requests sent in up to December 18th has been completed. Requests received today are currently being processed. If you have not yet heard back from us please contact our support staff or resend your request.

Have a great holiday and we look forward to working with everyone in 2009!

<<Posted: December 5, 2008: High WebCT usage causing some performance issues

Users accessing WebCT today may experience slow performance, timeout issues, or rare gateway errors. The cause of these issues is the unprecedented levels of usage we've been monitoring since the beginning of the exam period.

Users are advised to plan ahead where possible and attempt to access WebCT during different times of the day. Peak usage of the system tends to occur during the afternoon and early evening.

We apologise for any disruptions this may cause during this important time of the year.

November 2008

<<Posted: November 18, 2008: Instructors - Send in your WebCT Course Requests!

Note: This message is relevant to instructors only

If you are the instructor of a course coming up in the winter 2009 term then now is a great time to start sending in your WebCT course requests. Many instructors have already sent in their requests for their winter courses and we're processing them as quickly as possible. If you have not yet submitted a course request for the coming semester we encourage you to do that as soon as possible.

Courses are requested via the McMaster WebCT website in the Designer Resources section. Select 'Request a WebCT Course' to get started.

Requests received by December 19th will be completed and ready before the beginning of the new semester. Any requests made after the 19th may not be ready for the start of term depending on the volume of requests.

October 2008

<<Posted: October 30, 2008: WebCT Off Campus Affected on November 2nd

IMPORTANT: During this downtime you will not be able to access your WebCT account from off campus and from Maconline (residence network traffic) or McMaster Wireless Access.

University Technology Services (UTS) has informed us that network maintenance to a McMaster network border router will be occuring on November 2nd from 7:00 am until 9:00 am. During this maintenance period access to the McMaster network from off campus will not be possible. Access will also not be possible using Maconline or wireless access on campus. Although the WebCT server will be fully functional between these times, access to WebCT will be affected.

Start Date: Sunday November 2, 2008
Start Time: 7:00 a.m.
End Date: Sunday November 2, 2008
End Time: 9:00 a.m.
Audience: All WebCT users

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

<<Posted: October 29, 2008: WebCT Service Restored

WebCT service has been restored after an unplanned power outage to the A.N. Bourns Building on campus. WebCT services were temporarily inaccessible from approximately 8:20 am until approximately 9:30 am. Full service has been restored.

<<Posted: October 24, 2008: L TRC Continues Successful One-On-One WebCT Help Sessions for Supporting Faculty and Staff Members

The Learning Technologies Resource Centre is contuining our successful One-On-One WebCT help session program. These sessions can help you learn how to make grades available to students, build self-marking quizzes, refresh your knowledge on how to add content to your course, or gather advice on how to customize the look-and-feel of your WebCT course.

One-On-One sessions are available for both new and experienced users. To schedule a session with one of our LTRC WebCT support staff please visit the Training and Workshops page and select ‘One-On-One Sessions’ to get started.

September 2008

<<Posted: September 24, 2008: Tentative: Power shutdown will affect WebCT access on Sunday September 28th

IMPORTANT: During this downtime you will not be able to access your WebCT account.

A required power upgrade in the ABB server room will affect WebCT access. During the power disruption the WebCT system will NOT be accessible anywhere on or off campus. Note: This shutdown is tentative and will be confirmed as soon as possible.

Start Date: Sunday September 28, 2008
Start Time: 2:00 p.m.
End Date: Sunday September 28, 2008
End Time: 4:00 p.m.
Audience: All WebCT users

Service will be restored as soon as the electricians restore power to the system.

<<Posted: September 23, 2008: WebCT UP

WebCT service has resumed as normal today. Staff will continue to monitor the situation.

<<Posted: September 22, 2008: WebCT DOWN

WebCT is experiencing intermittent connections problems today. The staff are trying to resolve the issues. Your patience is appreciated and we apologize for any inconvenience.

<<Posted: September 16, 2008: Emergency Patch Update will Disrupt Access to WebCT

IMPORTANT: During this downtime you will not be able to access your WebCT account.

Access will be affected by an emergecy patch update for the WebCT system. Downtime is expected to be short and the system will resume operations as quickly as possible.

Start Date: Wednesday September 17, 2008
Start Time: 8:00 a.m.
End Date: Wednesday September 17, 2008
End Time: 8:10 a.m.
Audience: All WebCT users

The LTRC apologises for any inconvenience during this short outage.

<<Posted: September 3, 2008: *CONFIRMED* Access Disruption to WebCT

IMPORTANT: During this downtime you will not be able to access your WebCT account.

WebCT access will be affected by a network outage due to ongoing rennovations in the Thode Library. The current times have been confirmed and will be confirmed as soon as possible. Take any appropriate preparations to prepare for the outage. UTS has estimated the outage will last upto 4 hours in length. See times below for an estimated time that the system will be affected.

Start Date: Wednesday September 3, 2008
Start Time: 4:30 p.m.
End Date: Wednesday September 3, 2008
End Time: 8:30 p.m.
Audience: All WebCT users

During this time the WebCT server will continue to function, however, it will be inaccessible until network services are restored. We apologise for any inconvenience.

<<Posted: September 2, 2008: Tentative Access Disruption to WebCT

IMPORTANT: During this downtime you will not be able to access your WebCT account.

WebCT access will be affected by a network outage due to ongoing rennovations in the Thode Library. The current times are tentative and will be confirmed as soon as possible. Take any appropriate preparations to prepare for the outage.

Start Date: Wednesday September 3, 2008
Start Time: 4:30 p.m.
End Date: Wednesday September 3, 2008
End Time: 8:30 p.m.
Audience: All WebCT users

During this time the WebCT server will continue to function, however, it will be inaccessible.

August 2008

<<Posted: August 6, 2008: WebCT access will be affected by McMaster Network maintenance

IMPORTANT: During this downtime you will not be able to access your WebCT account.

Summary: Internet and ORION network interruption

Internet and ORION networks will be inaccessible due to ORION (Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network) network maintenance. During this timeframe McMaster will be completely inaccessible via Internet from anywhere outside of McMaster; however, access to McMaster resources, including DTC and MIP, from within McMaster will remain unaffected.

This maintenance is being initiated by ORION and can not be rescheduled. UTS will be monitoring and assisting with testing after the maintenance to ensure all services have been re-established.

Start Date: Friday August 8, 2008
Start Time: 11:00 p.m.
End Date: Saturday August 9, 2008
End Time: 5:00 a.m.
Audience: McMaster Community, including residences

University Technology Services thanks you for your cooperation and understanding.

July 2008

<<Posted: July 22, 2008: WebCT access will be affected by McMaster Network maintenance

IMPORTANT: During this downtime you will not be able to access your WebCT account.

Summary: Internet and ORION network interruption

Internet and ORION networks will be inaccessible due to ORION (Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network) network maintenance. During this timeframe McMaster will be completely inaccessible via Internet from anywhere outside of McMaster; however, access to McMaster resources, including DTC and MIP, from within McMaster will remain unaffected.

This maintenance is being initiated by ORION and can not be rescheduled. UTS will be monitoring and assisting with testing after the maintenance to ensure all services have been re-established.

Start Date:                 Friday July 25, 2008
Start Time:                 11:00 p.m.
End Date:                   Saturday July 26, 2008
End Time:                   5:00 a.m.
Audience:                   McMaster Community, including residences

University Technology Services thanks you for your cooperation and understanding.

<<Posted: July 8, 2008: Technology Notice
Summary: Fraudulent Grade Report Web site

Fraudulent MUGSI Grade report web site was found on the Internet purporting to be from McMaster.

This is an example of phishing scam that is asking the recipient to enter personal information.

The only valid MUGSI web site is https://adweb.cis.mcmaster.ca/cis/ahtml/login.htm or https://mugsi.mcmaster.ca/

Please do not attempt using any websites other than the official MUGSI site:
https://adweb.cis.mcmaster.ca/cis/ahtml/login.htm or https://mugsi.mcmaster.ca

If you happened to login to the fraudulent web site and provided information requested please change your password immediately. For assistance please contact the UTS Service Desk at extension 24357.

UTS is working around the clock trying to help prevent, detect, and investigate instances of electronic fraud. Please do your part by reporting any phishing scams to UTS Service Desk at uts@mcmaster.ca or ext. 24357.

University Technology Services thanks you for your cooperation and understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, or experience any problems re-connecting later, please contact the UTS Service Desk at uts@mcmaster.ca or ext. 2-HELP (24357).

May 2008

<<Posted: May 23rd, 2008: Scheduled power outage will affect WebCT access

Regular maintenance on the power systems in ABB on June 1st, 2008 will require a power shut down that affects the WebCT server. During the shut down period WebCT will be unavailable. See below for specific details:

Date: June 1, 2008
Start of shut down: 6:30 AM
End of shut down: 1:00 PM

Services will return once the power has been restored.

<<Posted: May 1st, 2008: Short network outage may affect WebCT access

On Sunday, May 4th, two network outages will affect WebCT access. All internet access to and from campus will be disrupted between 7:00 am and 8:00 am. The service may not be down during the full duration of this time period but access may be disrupted. All MacConnect Wireless and Wired connections will also be unavailable from 8:00 am until 11:00 am.

Please take appropriate measures to avoid any inconvenience.

April 2008

<<Posted: April 17th, 2008: Previous Firefox issue resolved with new 2.0.0.14 version

The latest patch to the Firefox 2.0 browser has resolved the previous crashing issue in WebCT. Users who had previously upgraded to the 2.0.0.13 version are strongly recommended to upgrade to the 2.0.0.14 version. Note: This affects users on Windows only. Firefox on other platforms when using WebCT were not affected.

March 2008

<<Posted: March 28th, 2008: Course Instructors: Now is a great time to send in your Summer WebCT Course Requests

Note: The following message pertains to course instructors

With the winter semester winding down and exams starting up in a few weeks it may seem a little early to be thinking of the spring and summer semesters, however, if you are considering a WebCT course component for your spring and summer courses now is an ideal time to send in your WebCT course request. We recommend having ready the following:

Your MAC ID (this is not your employee number)
Course title
Course code
Subject code

If applicable, the following information will also be useful:

Cross listing of the course with other courses/subjects
Sectioning information

As last years spring and summer courses are preserved and archived it is required that you request new courses for the new semester. See the WebCT Course Request page for information on how to copy content from a previous semester.

Notable links:

WebCT Course Request page (located in Designer Resources)
Manage Your WebCT Course tutorials and resources
Online WebCT reference guides
Need additional support? Use our Help Request form (located in Get Help)

<<Posted: March 27th, 2008: Firefox 2.0.0.13 update causes crash while using WebCT

A recent update to the popular Firefox 2.0 browser for Windows has been identified as causing crashes while using WebCT. The update version is numbered 2.0.0.13. You can check to see which version you have by following the steps below:

Open Firefox
Along the top toolbar click on 'Help'
Click 'About Mozilla Firefox'
Check to see which version number you have:

Firefox20013

If you have version 2.0.0.13 as in the screen capture above you have the affected version. Crashing has been observed when sending messages using the Discussion and Mail tools within WebCT. When the crash occurs Firefox and all open tabs/windows will close with an error message. Other tools such as Quizzing, at this time, do not appear to be affected.

If you are currently running version 2.0.0.12 you may be asked to update your browser. If this happens we recommend that you cancel the upgrade for now and wait for a further update. If you have already installed the 2.0.0.13 update, which was first made available yesterday, you can elect to wait for an update and/or use an alternate browser in the interim.

So far the application crash has been noted on both Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems. It is unknown if Mac OS or other operating systems are affected.

Further updates on this issue will be forthcoming.

February 2008

<<Posted: February 28th, 2008: A note about WebCT and Java performance in quizzes

A recent support investigation has highlighted some issues with WebCT and the use of Java applets that may cause some issues for users taking quizzes. Most WebCT quizzes do not use enough Java technology to cause an issue, however, in cases where quizzes contain large numbers of formula generated by WebCT performance issues can arrise.

Performance issues include:

Browser or computer OS locks up
Scrolling down the screen is choppy and may take several seconds to refresh
Windows CPU meter goes to 100% and memory usage increases significantly

If you are an instructor that uses WebCT formula in your quizzes you may want to consider changing your quiz settings to one question at a time to prevent the loading of large numbers of Java applets.

If you are a student who has run into this problem the solution we've been able to find is to use an alternative browser to Internet Explorer such as Mozilla Firefox which does not appear to have the same kinds of memory and CPU usage problems when confronted with large numbers of Java applets. At this time there is no remedy for IE users. MAC OS X Safari and Camino users are not affected by this issue.

For more information on the Firefox browser please visit www.mozilla.com.

For more information on Java please visit www.java.com.

<<Posted: February 13th, 2008: Network interruption

The LTRC has been notified by University Technology Services of a scheduled network interruption. On Sunday Februrary 17, 2008, there will be an interruption of network traffic on the McMaster network from 7:00 am to 11:00 am. We've been told that the interruption will affect e-mail, Internet, ORION, and the off campus locations such as Downtown Centre (DTC). As a result WebCT will be unavailable.

Start Time: 7:00 am on Sunday Februrary 17

End Time: 11:00 am on Sunday Februrary 17

Please take appropriate action to avoid any inconvenience.

January 2008

<<Posted: January 21th, 2008: New Designer Drop-in Sessions

New drop-in sessions have been scheduled for designers. Please see the drop-in schedule (there is no need to register - just drop in)

<<Posted: January 21th, 2008: WebCT Patch and Blackboard re-branding

On Saturday January 19th, a server patch from the WebCT vendor was applied. You will now notice that all signs of "WebCT" have been replaced with "Blackboard". For example, when you are in a "WebCT" course, to move back to the course listings page, you will now have to click on "MyBlackboard" instead of "MyWebCT". These changes are a result of the Blackboard merger with WebCT. The functionality of WebCT has not changed as a result of the re-branding by the company.

<<Posted: January 11th, 2008: WebCT Shutdown after Network Outage

On Saturday January 19th, from 6:00 am to 7:00 am, the WebCT server will shut down for minor maintenance.

<<Posted: January 10th, 2008: WebCT Affected by Network Outage

On Friday, January 18 an upgrade to the ORION (Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network) network will affect internet access to the McMaster University campus. This outage is expected to make access to McMaster network resources inaccessible during the outage. During this time WebCT will not be available to users outside of the campus network. Access within the McMaster campus network is not expected to be affected.

Timeline

Start Date: Friday, January 18, 2008
Start Time: Midnight

End Date: Saturday January 19, 2008
End Time: 6:00 AM

November 2007

<<Posted: November 30th, 2007: Warning when backing up/restoring your WebCT Course

As the January semester approaches some instructors may be taking a backup from an old course and restoring that backup into a new course for the coming semester. LTRC staff in conjunction with members of the community have uncovered a potential source for corruption of a WebCT course when this process is not completed.

When completing a restore of a WebCT course from a backup file we encourage all users to ensure that they:

Allow the progress bar to fully complete and wait for the process to report a success. In some cases the bar may stop or appear to be finished but no success screen is reported. In the majority of cases allow the process to complete even if it appears to be frozen.
Connect from a stable network/internet connection. In some cases where the connection to the WebCT server is not stable or consistent a connection "hiccup" can cause a break in the restore process and cause an error. Wireless connections tend to be less stable than wired connections, however, users are encouraged to use their own judgement. If at all possible use of the McMaster network is the most prefered method but not required.

For more information on the backup and restore process of a WebCT course please visit our Course Request information page.

October 2007

<<Posted: October 12th, 2007: Off Campus Network Availability

It has been reported that the McMaster network is experiencing some technical difficulties and may be disrupted for some users who are attempting to connect to McMaster websites from off campus internet providers (such as Rogers, Cogeco, Sympatico, etc.).

WebCT access may be disrupted for users attempting to connect from home while this issue is resolved. The WebCT system itself is still running normally and is available from any campus computer. Please take appropriate precautions.

UPDATE: We have reports from some users that they are now able to connect to services.

<<Posted: October 5th, 2007: WebCT Training Sessions

A new round of WebCT Training Sessions has begun. New "Introduction to WebCT" and "Getting Started with WebCT" sessions will take place on October 23rd and November 1st while "Managing Student Records and Grades" and "Creating Quizzes" will take place on October 25th.

September 2007

<<Posted: September 21st, 2007: WebCT Drop In Sessions

The final WebCT drop in session for September is here. We have revised the drop in time for Wednesday 26th of September to a new time of 9:00 am until 12 noon. If you were planning to drop by during our previously announced time please contact us at campus extension 27492 to make alternate arrangements.

August 2007

<<Posted: August 23rd, 2007: WebCT Drop In Sessions

New WebCT Drop In Sessions have been announced starting on Wednesday August 29th and continuing on to every Wednesday in September from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. See the WebCT Workshops page for detailed information the the drop in sessions.

Locaton: LTRC Classroom located in the basement of Thode Library (TL-B117A)

Note: You do not need to schedule time at the drop in session.

<<Posted: August 21st, 2007: Request your WebCT Course

September is once again upon us and students will be returning to class very soon. If you have not yet requested a WebCT course shell for the coming semester we recommend that you do so as soon as possible.

Proceed to the Designer Resources page for more information on requesting your WebCT course. Click the 'Request a WebCT Course' link in Designer Resources to request your course.

July 2007

<<Posted: July 27th, 2007: WebCT unavailable due to campuswide network service interruption

McMaster Daily News notes that on Sunday July 29th 2007 between the hours of 7:00 am and 9:00 am network service may be disrupted during a scheduled upgrade. As this affects all campus network systems the WebCT system will also be affected and may not be available . Please schedule your WebCT use accordingly.

<<Posted: July 9th, 2007: New Series of WebCT Training Sessions

A new series of WebCT Training sessions is now scheduled to take place on July 18, 19, and 24th. The sessions running include our popular Introduction to WebCT, Getting Started with WebCT, Managing Student Records and Grades in WebCT and Creating Quizzes in WebCT.

Please visit the Training & Workshops page to sign up!

June 2007

<<Posted: June 18th, 2007: Network Outage Sunday June 24th 7:00 am - 9:00 am: SERVER UNAVAILABLE

Network service on the McMaster campus will be disrupted by University Technology Services (UTS) which is conducting further software updates on a border router . The outage is expected to last two hours on Sunday morning from 7:00 am to 9:00 am. As the McMaster network will be unavailable during this period, access to the WebCT server will be unavailable. Access will resume when network access is restored.

<<Posted: June 18th, 2007: Network Outage Tuesday June 19th 6:30 am - 7:00 am: SERVER UNAVAILABLE

University Technology Services (UTS) is conducting a sechedule software update on a border router which will disrupt network service on the McMaster campus. The outage is expected to last 30 minutes early Tuesday morning. During this scheduled period, access to the WebCT server will be unavailable. Once network service resumes full access will be restored to WebCT.

May 2007

<<Posted: May 25th, 2007: Network Outage Sunday May 27th 7 am - 8:30 am: SERVER UNAVAILABLE

University Technology Services (UTS) has notified us of a network outage taking place on Sunday May 27th from 7 - 8:30 am. During this scheduled period, access to the WebCT server may be intermittent or unavailable. Uninterrupted access to the WebCT server is expected to resume after the outage.

<<Posted: May 4th, 2007: Power Outage Saturday May 26th, 6 pm - Sunday May 27th, 2:00 am: SERVER UNAVAILABLE

McMaster Physical Plant has scheduled an electrical power outage Arthur Bourns Building (ABB) for:
Saturday May 26th, 2007 6:00PM until Sunday May 27th 2:00AM for follow-up maintenance from the March 31st power shutdown. During the shut down period WebCT access will be unavailable to all users.

April 2007

<<Posted: April 23rd, 2007: New survey links are being distributed today

All students, faculty and staff who have not filled out the Learning Management System (LMS: e.g. WebCT) survey will be emailed a new survey link today. We hope the University community will take the time to let us know what is important to teaching and learning in the context of a new LMS.

<<Posted: April 9th, 2007: New Course Request Procedures: Summer Pilot

Effective April 16 th , 2007 and affecting summer courses only, LTRC will not create WebCT Course copies. Instead, LTRC will create blank course shells only. Designers of WebCT courses can easily use the built in functions of WebCT to create course copies. Various scenarios and associated help can be found at: http://www.ltrc.mcmaster.ca/webct/designer/request_webct_course_2007.shtml

Rationale:

We have periodically run into Intellectual Property Rights issues. It is not the role of LTRC to mediate such conflicts. Removal of course copy services will mitigate these issues and allow only those that have designer access to create a copy of a WebCT course.
In the summer of 2005 and fall of 2006, some instructors were shown how to create their own course copies. The feedback we received was that the process of creating copies was not difficult and was quicker than waiting for their turn in the queue (which could take 7 – 8 days during peak times).
An extensive process study conducted in the fall of 2006 revealed that WebCT course copies take over 4 times longer to process than WebCT new course requests (requests for blank course shells). Much of the time spent making course copies stem from verifying course information and course ownership. Resultant long queues take away from one-to-one course design consultation, training and other support faculty and teaching support staff request.

Intended Outcome and Goals:

Reduction of wait times for faculty and teaching support staff
One goal is to move towards automatic creation of blank course shells based on available data from the Registrar's office (currently each WebCT course is created manually). This would further reduce wait times for WebCT course creation. The results of the pilot will provide a framework to further consider the logistics and the user experience
Less time spent manually creating courses means more time spent in one-to-one consultations and training.

Exceptions:

About two percent of the WebCT courses are very large. These designers may not be able to make their own course copies. In this case, LTRC will assist.

Training

Detailed instructions are outlined in http://www.ltrc.mcmaster.ca/webct/designer/request_webct_course_2007.shtml
The LTRC has scheduled drop-in sessions where faculty/staff can receive one-to-one help

Friday April 20th, 2007

10:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Tuesday April 24th, 2007

10:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

If faculty/staff cannot make any of the scheduled drop-in sessions, please contact webcthelp@mcmaster.ca and a personal appointment will be scheduled.

<<Posted: April 4th, 2007: Drop In Sessions

WebCT Drop In Sessions have now been scheduled for April 20th and April 24th. WebCT Drop In Sessions are designed to answer any of your questions about your WebCT course or future WebCT course plans.

Please visit the WebCT Workshops page for specific times

<<Posted: April 2nd, 2007: April Training Times

The WebCT Workshops page has been updated with new dates and times for all four of our WebCT Training sessions including Introduction to WebCT, Getting Started with WebCT, Managing Student Records and Grades in WebCT and Creating Quizzes in WebCT.

To sign up for one of these sessions please visit the WebCT Workshops page.

March 2007

<<Posted: March 27th, 2007: Power Outage Saturday March 31st, 8 am - 5 pm: SERVER UNAVAILABLE

We have just been informed that there will be a building wide power outage on Saturday March 31st from 8 am - 5 pm in the building that the WebCT Server is housed. WebCT will be unavailable during this time. This shutdown is required by physical plant for installation of new electrical services for new air plume system. They will also be carrying out necessary repairs on High Voltage main switchgear in an attempt to prevent future unplanned shutdowns.

We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

<<Posted: March 15th, 2007: New Training Times

The WebCT Workshops page has been updated with new dates and times for our popular 'Introduction to WebCT' and 'Getting Started with WebCT' workshop sessions.

To sign up for one of these sessions please visit the WebCT Workshops page.

Additional training dates and times will be announced soon.

February 2007

<<Posted: Februrary 1st, 2007: Shutdown Scheduled for Monday Februrary 19th

The WebCT server will be unavailable on Monday February 19th from 8:00 am to 10:00 am. The server will undergo routine maintenance. Please ensure that you do not require students to perform critical activities during this time.

January 2007

<<Posted: January 30, 2007: Shutdown Successful

On Friday January 26th, our team shut down the WebCT server to fix a potentially serious hardware problem. The disk drive in question was replaced successfully and we have implemented additional redundancy into the storage subsystem of the WebCT server. This will mitigate the impact of any future hardware issues. To our knowledge no WebCT data was lost and we were back in action 02:20 January 27th.

<<Posted: January 23, 2007: Emergency Shutdown (Updated January 26)

EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN NOTICE

Our team has uncovered a potentially serious hardware problem that could affect WebCT services. Please be assured that this problem, if it surfaced, would only affect WebCT access, not any of the data stored in WebCT courses. In order to rectify this problem, we will require an Emergency shut down period of 4 - 10 hours.

Summary:

Server: http://webct.mcmaster.ca
Date: Friday January 26th, 2007
Off-line: 7:00 pm
On-Line: 3:00 am
Effect: All WebCT accounts will be inaccessible to all WebCT users. LearnLink *will not* be affected by this shutdown.

October 2006

<<Posted: October 18, 2006: Internet Explorer Release

Microsoft has begun its release of Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). The new browser will be part of a critical update for Windows XP users. This upgrade may happen automatically depending on your configuration for Windows Update. Microsoft has indicated that the new browser has a number of new features and changes to the way that the browser works. Some of these changes may affect access to WebCT or LearnLink Browser Access. Although the LTRC does not expect that IE7 will seriously impair the use of WebCT or LearnLink browser access (the LearnLink client software is not affected) there may be unanticipated issues in using the new browser on our currently supported systems.

We encourage users who are interested in more information on the browser itself to visit the Microsoft IE7 information page located at the following URL:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/

Users who experience difficulty accessing WebCT or LearnLink Browser Access using IE7 should report difficulties through the appropriate Support form.

WebCT Support (http://www.ltrc.mcmaster.ca/webct/forms/helpform_student.html)

LearnLink Support (http://www.ltrc.mcmaster.ca/learnlink/form_tech_support.htm)

<<Posted: October 12, 2006: Quiz Tool Update - Quizzes in Progress

On October 7th WebCT@McMaster installed a patch from the vendor to fix a
vulnerability found in the Quiz Tool
(http://www.ltrc.mcmaster.ca/webct/announcements/webctAdvisories/informationDisclosure_quiz.html).

Unbeknownst to the vendor and ourselves, the patch unfortunately affected the ability for designers to force the completion/grading of a quiz in progress. We have been assured that the quiz data has not been lost and that the developers are working on a hotfix to this issue.

WebCT@McMaster will post a follow up announcement as soon as we receivefurther information from the vendor.

We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience this issue has caused.

Designers will need to remove the link to the quiz so that those students who have started but not submitted a quiz by the deadline cannot continue to work on the quiz:

From the Homepage or an Organizer Page, select the quiz link you want to modify.
Under Options: Links, click Edit. The Update Link to WebCT Tool screen appears.
To display the quizzes available through your quiz link, under Quiz
listing, click Select. The Select Quizzes screen appears.

Under Status, select the quizzes to be available through your quiz
link. *** Make sure the quiz in question is not selected ***

Click Continue. A refreshed Update Link to WebCT Tool screen
appears. The Quiz Listing displays your selected quizzes.
Click Update.

<<REMINDER - Server Shutdown for Follow-up Maintenance: Saturday, October 7th, 2006 6:00am to 10:00am

Thanks to the expertise of our technical staff, the emergency maintenance necessary for the WebCT system was completed on Saturday September 16 at 10:00am, three hours ahead of schedule with the actual server down-time being only one-hour.

While these WebCT server adjustments were successfully implemented, additional follow-up maintenance is necessary to maximize WebCT performance.

On Saturday October 7, 2006, the the WebCT server is scheduled to be off-line from 6:00am to 10:00am for follow-up maintenance.

Summary:

Server: http://webct.mcmaster.ca
Date: Saturday October 7th, 2006
Off-line: 6:00am
On-Line: 10:00am
Effect: All WebCT accounts will be inaccessible to all WebCT users. LearnLink *will not* be affected by this shutdown.

To minimize disruption to your WebCT work flow, please ensure that the necessary arrangements to work around this shutdown are made. Please distribute this message to all concerned faculty, staff and students as may be appropriate.

We appreciate your patience while we work to optimize your WebCT system.

September 2006

<<Sept. 26: Server Shutdown for Follow-up Maintenance: Saturday, October 7th, 2006 6:00am to 10:00am

While these WebCT server adjustments were successfully implemented, additional follow-up maintenance is necessary to maximize WebCT performance.

On Saturday October 7, 2006, the the WebCT server is scheduled to be off-line from 6:00am to 10:00am for follow-up maintenance.

Summary:

Server: http://webct.mcmaster.ca
Date: Saturday October 7th, 2006
Off-line: 6:00am
On-Line: 10:00am
Effect: All WebCT accounts will be inaccessible to all WebCT users. LearnLink *will not* be affected by this shutdown.

We appreciate your patience while we work to optimize your WebCT system.

<<Sept. 13: Emergency Server Shutdown -- Saturday, September 16th

An emergency server shutdown has been scheduled for Saturday, September 16th from 9 am to 1pm. This shutdown will allow for necessary adjustments to the WebCT server system.

The chronology for this shutdown again is:

Date: Saturday September 16th, 2006 *CORRECTED from "October 20, 2005*
Off-line: 9:00 am
On-Line: 1:00 pm

You will not be able to access your WebCT accounts when the system is Off-line.

The LTRC regrets any inconvenience and hopes you will make the necessary arrangements to work around this shutdown. Please distribute this message to all concerned faculty, staff and students as may be appropriate.

<<STUDENTS: Can't see your course?

Make sure that your course offers a WebCT component. Check the WebCT Course List.
To ensure that you appear in the Registrar's files, your registration process (including the paper work for any drop/adds) must be properly completed.

If you have just registered, please allow 24-48 hours for your course enrollment information to pass onto the WebCT database.
Since you can log into the MyWebCT area, you can ask your course instructor to manually "Add" you to his/her WebCT Course List.

*As a student, you cannot add a course to your WebCT account. You will have to ask your instructor to manually add you to their course.

<< September 8, 2006: Campus-Wide Network Problems Persists

Due to the technical problems of the McMaster Network, access to WebCT and LearnLink continue to be intermittent.

Daily News, Worth Mentioning: Sept 8, 2006

August 2006

<< August 31, 2006: Campus-Wide Network Problems

We are currently experiencing some campus-wide network problems causing access to both WebCT and LearnLink to be intermittent. These issues will be resolved as soon as possible.

June 2006

<< June, 2006: Scheduled Power Shutdown - McMaster Physical Plant

We would like to remind you that WebCT services will not be available on Saturday June 10, 2006 from 6:30am to approx. 3:00pm.

For more details about the shutdown, please see the original message posted on May 29, 2006.

WebCT @ McMaster apologizes for the interruption to services and encourages WebCT users to make the appropriate arrangements to avoid further inconvenience.

May 2006

<< May 29, 2006: Scheduled Power Shutdown - McMaster Physical Plant

On Saturday June 10, 2006, McMaster physical plant is scheduled to install equipment to the 600V distribution in ABB for the new Microscopy facility. In order to complete the installation, a power shutdown to the following areas is necessary:

All building Fume hoods
All supply and return fans
All Elevators
All of Thode Library
Sharcnet
All areas in ABB Annex coordinated by McMaster's Physical plant.

WebCT servicecs will be affected by this shutdown and will be unavailable on Saturday June 10th from 6:30 am to approximately 3:00 pm.

The chronology for this shutdown is:

* Date: Saturday June 10, 2006
* Off-line: 6:30 am
* On-Line: approximately 3:00 pm

You will not be able to access your WebCT accounts when the system is Off-line.

April 2006

<< April 13, 2006: Faculty of Science Survey

Science Students: The Faculty of Science is reviewing its undergraduate curriculum and would like your opinions about your current undergraduate program. We have created an on-line survey for this purpose, which you can access at http://iserv.mcmaster.ca/science/survey.htm. We will be awarding $150 Titles gift certificates to two (maybe three) students who complete the survey. I know this is a busy time for you, but the survey will only take a few minutes to complete - a nice short break from all your exam preparations! Thanks in advance for your help: Your input will help us ensure that the quality of undergraduate education in the Faculty of Science is as high as we can make it.

Dick Day
Associate Dean of Science (Studies)

February 2006

<< February 13, 2006 - Scheduled Shutdown for Monday February 20, 2006

The tentative date of Monday February 20, 2006 has been confirmed.

WebCT will be shut down for system hardware changes at 6:30 am on Monday February 20, 2006 and will resume services at 10:30 am.

<< February 10, 2006 - Tentative WebCT Shutdown for Monday February 20, 2006

Please be advised that WebCT has tentatively been scheduled for shut down on Monday February 20th, for approximately four hours in the morning. At this time new hardware will be installed. This new hardware is being implemented to enhance the security of the WebCT system.

The chronology for this tentative shutdown on February 20th shutdown is:
Systems Offline: 6:30 am
System Online: 10:30 am

During this time you will not be able to access your WebCT account and courses.

Due to the short notice of this message, We realize that that this shutdown may disrupt your course schedule. If this tentative date and time conflict with any time-sensitive WebCT activity in your course, please notify us immediately via an Online Help Request form

A finalized date will be posted in the Announcements area of http://webct.mcmaster.ca by the end of Monday February 13, 2006.

We appreciate all patience and understanding.

<< February 7 , 2006 - Designers: New WebCT Training Sessions are now available!

<< February 7 , 2006 - September - April 2005 (T3), January - April 2005 (T2) WebCT Course Removal

As scheduled in the WebCT Course Management Policies all WebCT courses offered in the September - April 2005 (T3), January - April 2005 (T2) Semesters will be removed from the WebCT server on Tuesday February 28, 2006. As a result, you will no longer have access to these courses from your "myWebCT" pages.

It is highly recommended that you backup materials you may need from these courses.

<< February 3 , 2006

Due to urgent circumstances, there has been an unscheduled network change to the WebCT system at approximately 4:00 pm this afternoon. This change may result in difficulties logging into your WebCT account as the propagation of the new network configurations must pass through your Internet provider's network as well.

The duration of login difficulty will vary depending on your Internet Provider's network configurations. While it may take as long as one day for resolutions of off-campus networks, it is expected that most McMaster subnetworks will resolve these issues quite quickly.

We apologize for the short notice and inconvenience of this matter.

January 2006

Jan 3 , 2006 - STUDENTS: Can't see your course?

Make sure that your course offers a WebCT component. Check the WebCT Course List.
To ensure that you appear in the Registrar's files, your registration process (including the paper work for any drop/adds) must be properly completed.

If you have just registered, please allow 24-48 hours for your course enrollment information to pass onto the WebCT database.
Since you can log into the MyWebCT area, you can ask your course instructor to manually "Add" you to his/her WebCT Course List.

*As a student, you cannot add a course to your WebCT account. You will have to ask your instructor to manually add you to their course.

December 2005

Dec 1 , 2005: Year-End WebCT Server Maintenance,, Monday December 19th, 2005

In preparation for the upcoming year, the WebCT server is scheduled for it's year-end maintenance. On Monday December 19th, WebCT will go offline at 7:00 am and will be back online by 10:00 am. As you will not be able to access your course during this period of time, we recommend that you make arrangements to access your course ahead of time to avoid any inconvenience. We appreciate your co-operation and patience while we optimize the WebCT system.

November 2005

Nov 1 , 2005: Removal of Sept-Dec. 2004 WebCT courses

In accordance with the new WebCT Course Policies released on September 12, 2005, all WebCT courses offered in September-December 2004 have been removed from the WebCT Server.

Please note that while these course have been removed from the server they will still be available for appeals processes if necessary.

For more details, please review the WebCT Course Management Policies.

October 2005

October 26 , 2005: Unexpected Power Loss

Due to an unexpected loss of power, network services to WebCT were briefly unavailable early this afternoon. This issue has since been rectified and WebCT services are back online. We offer our apologies for any inconvenience.

October 24 , 2005: Brief shutdown concluded on October 22

On October 12, 2005, an announcement of a possible shutdown was posted. We had hope to maintain full services for the morning of Saturday October 22, 2005, however, for maintenance purposes, WebCT was unavailable between 06:30 am and 08:00 am. We hope that the previous announcement gave ample time to prepare for this shut down and we apologize for any disturbance and inconvenience.

October 12 , 2005: Notice for Saturday October 22

We have just confirmed that Physical Plant will be shutting off power to selected areas in the Arthur Bourns Building (ABB) and Thode Library on Saturday Oct 22 from approx. 6 a.m. to 10 a.m . for construction purposes.

"How will this affect my WebCT course?"

Although we do not expect WebCT to be affected there is a possibility that it may go off-line during the shutdown. LTRC staff will be standing by to monitor both learning management systems and bring them back up as soon as possible should they be affected. We regret any inconvenience this may cause and ask that you take this into consideration if you have planned any WebCT activity during that time.

October 3 , 2005: Brief Server Shutdown

A brief server shutdown has been scheduled for Thursday, October 20th at 7 am. This shutdown will allow for some minor adjustments to the server system and will last approximately one half-hour.

The chronology for this shutdown again is:

Date: Thursday, October 20th, 2005
Off-line: 7:00 am
On-Line: 7:30 am

You will not be able to access your WebCT accounts when the system is Off-line.

September 2005

Sept 29, 2005: "Why do I see Old WebCT courses when I login to WebCT?"

In accordance with the new WebCT Course Policies released on September 12, 2005, all WebCT users (faculty, support staff and students) will now have access to previous WebCT courses beginning with the 2004-2005 academic year.

For further details regarding this matter please visit: http://www.ltrc.mcmaster.ca/webct/help/instructions_stud_removeCourses.shtml

August 2005

August 29, 2005: A Thank you from the LTRC staff.

Shutdown: Friday August 26th, 8:00 am - Sunday August 28th, 8:00 am, 2005

There was an extended shutdown on Friday August 26th to Sunday August 28th to allow for necessary hardware, connectivity upgrades and maintenance on our servers. We wish to thank you for your patience during this recent system shutdown. Our staff worked around the clock installing new hardware, reconfiguring and upgrading software and ensuring that our LMS systems are rock solid and capable of handling the growth we have already experienced and anticipate over the next year.

REMINDER - WebCT EXTENDED Shutdown: Friday August 26th, 8:00 am - Sunday August 28th, 8:00 am, 2005

An extended shutdown has been scheduled from August 26th, 2005, 8:00 am to August 28th, 2005 8:00 am.

The shutdown will last approximately 48 hours and allow for hardware and connectivity upgrades and maintenance.You will not be able to login to your WebCT account while this work is in progress. If all goes well, our team will bring up services as quickly as 24 hours after the start of shut down. Otherwise, all services will resume Sunday August 28th, 8:00 am.

We apologize in advance for any inconvenience and hope that you will take appropriate steps to work around this shutdown.

>> Posted August 22, 2005 - WebCT is back online!

Thanks to the expertise of our technical staff, WebCT is up and running! Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding.

>> Posted August 22, 2005 - WebCT TECHNICAL ISSUES

We are currently working on technical issues that may be preventing you from logging into your WebCT account. Rest assured that we will remedy this issue as quickly as we can. Should any new developments arise, we will be posting them in this announcement section of the web site. We apologize for the disturbance and inconvenience.

>> Posted July 29, 2005 - New Dates for WebCT Designer Training Sessions have been posted!

WebCT Shutdown: Friday August 26th, 8:00 am - Sunday August 28th, 8:00 am, 2005

An extended shutdown has been scheduled from August 26th, 2005, 8:00 am to August 28th, 2005 8:00 am.

The shutdown will last approximately 48 hours and allow for hardware and connectivity upgrades and maintenance. If all goes well, our team will bring up services as quickly as 24 hours after the start of shut down. Otherwise, all services will resume Sunday August 28th, 8:00 am.

We apologize in advance for any inconvenience and hope that you will take appropriate steps to work around this shutdown.

May 2005

Planned Power Outage - June 26, 2005

There is a planned power outage scheduled for Sunday, June 26 from 5:00 am to approximately 5:00 pm. During this time there will be no electrical power to A.N. Bourns and Thode. WebCT will not be available for the duration of the Power Outage.

This outage is necessary to service the 13,800 volt distribution equipment. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Dave Brown by e-mail at brownd@ppims.mcmaster.ca or at ext. 23135.

Tentative Shutdown on August 24th, 2005

An extended shutdown has been tentatively scheduled for August 24th, 2005.

The shutdown will last approximately 48 hours and allow for hardware and connectivity upgrades and maintenance. A notice to confirm this date will be made available in the coming weeks

We apologize in advance for any inconvenience and hope that you will take appropriate steps to work around this shutdown.

June 5 th, 2005 - Campus Network downtime

The campus network will not be available on Sunday, June 5, 2005 from 7-11 a.m.

University Technology Services has scheduled a network service interruption to carry out maintenance on the campus network core switches and central server subnet. This is necessary to add additional equipment that will ultimately enhance the reliability and security of McMaster networked systems in general, and the central server subnet in particular. A second interruption will be required Sunday, June 12 to bring this equipment into its final configuration. More info...

May 27th, 2005 - Server Shutdown
The WebCT Server will be unavailable on Friday May 27th from 7:00 am to 7:30 am due to minor server maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

May 19th, 2005 - Congratulations to Joan Schindler, winner of the WebCT Student Survey draw!

We would like to extend our thanks to all participants in the WebCT Student Survey. Your participation and feedback is very much appreciated and will be a great contribution to WebCT at McMaster.

May 19th, 2005 - Server Shutdown
The WebCT Server will be unavailable on Thursday May 19th from 7:30 am to 8:30 am due to minor network and server maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

May 5, 2005 - STUDENTS: Can't see your course?

Make sure that your course offers a WebCT component. Check the WebCT Course List.
To ensure that you appear in the Registrar's files, your registration process (including the paper work for any drop/adds) must be properly completed.

If you have just registered, please allow 24-48 hours for your course enrollment information to pass onto the WebCT database.
Since you can log into the MyWebCT area, you can ask your course instructor to manually "Add" you to his/her WebCT Course List.

*As a student, you cannot add a course to your WebCT account. You will have to ask your instructor to manually add you to their course.

April 30, 2005 - Welcome to the new WebCT web site!

The WebCT Support Team has been working hard to update the site to use the University templates as well as to bring the content and navigation up to date.

We will continue to minor changes and fixes over the next few days.

Please update all bookmarks as the web addresses to all WebCT web pages have been updated as well.

Last updated: September 2009