Both the university and the mathematics department provide various web-based resources that may be useful to instructors. Within the department, in addition to our core infrastructure of providing network accounts within which instructors can publish webpages, we maintain the current semester course listing, which can link each course to both university-hosted and instructor-hosted course-related webpages.
Below are brief descriptions of a few of the university-provided online instructional support systems. All of these systems are software, run by the university on dedicated university systems, that provide a web-based environment for instructors and students to share information relevant to a course. Some systems support discussion boards or blogs, and some even allow you to give quizzes online as well as maintain your grades online. A complete list of available systems appears on the LTC Instructional Support webpage.
For many of the university-provided systems (certainly for D2L and WebCT), a link to your course site will automatically appear in your students' class schedules inside Student Link (which is the website students use to register for classes, pay tuition, view their course schedule, and see their grades).
D2L was launched Spring 2005 and is intended to replace WebCT (see below). The feature set is similar. Many math department instructors are using D2L. To learn more, or to get started creating your course site, please consult the information on the D2L Website.
Less fancy than D2L or WebCT (for example, no support for a gradebook), the one big feature of POLIS is that it can be connected to the UA library Reserves. A couple math department instructors are using POLIS. For more information, see the POLIS Website and the POLIS FAQs.
WebCT was used extensively until Spring 2005. Many math department instructors used WebCT in the past, and some are still using it. CCIT wants to phase out use of WebCT and move instructors to D2L instead.
To learn more about WebCT, please take a look at the sample WebCT sites available at webct.arizona.edu. Your best bet on getting the most out of WebCT is to find a fellow instructor in the math department who has used WebCT in the past and is enthusiastic about helping you learn to use it.
To get started, you must create your course website. Go to webct.arizona.edu, click the button “Request a Course Site”, and complete the form. (You will need a UA NetID.)
To get help, please contact the University WebCT Support Staff: their contact information appears at the bottom of webct.arizona.edu.