Wherefore Art Thou, WebCT?

Well, that explains a lot. WebCT, an “online proprietary virtual learning environment system,” according to Wikipedia, was purchased by its competitor, Blackboard, in February 2006, and I didn’t hear about it. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebCT. ) I wondered why WebCT was looking so much like Blackboard last Spring.

During the past eight years, I’ve used both to take online courses, and found them easy to navigate. Neither went down much, at least, not within the past four years.

If you haven’t taken online courses, these are the classrooms for your course. When you go to the school’s site, you log into one of these programs – only one now, I guess. You’ll find your course materials and assignments. Under “discussions,” you attend class, posting your comments, usually for the week, and get some back. It’s fun. And the navigation, design and power are provided by companies like WebCT, now Blackboard.

The real problem lies with colleges who don’t use either. If you take online courses, you’ll find that some colleges still use their own systems.

My experience is that they are too often slow and difficult to navigate. They have too many users for their aging capabilities. And their administrators aren’t about to admit it. It’s much like the Emperor’s New Clothes. Everyone knows the system is sluggish, and whispers it among the class, but no one really says it out loud.

I ran into this recently with one college in my consortium. (My program is entirely online, and I take courses from all of the universities in the program. It’s way cool.) Throughout the semester, the system was so slow, I had to choose my readings. I missed a lot, although not anything that would hinder my grade.

Still, I complained in class throughout the semester, as did others. At semester’s end, the prof kindly forwarded my remarks to the distance ed people, who predictably defended their system. They hadn’t heard a word all semester, they said. Of course they didn’t, not from me. I had correctly guessed their reactions. They would defend it and fall back on that fine art developed by systems people – blaming the user.

Since I had no intention of sitting on the phone with distance ed, tinkering with my computer to make it run faster on an overloaded system, I blew it off. Next semester, talking to a help desk person at that same university, I heard that, “We have that problem, too.” People there, the help desk person told me, like the system and so the college won’t switch to Blackboard. Meantime, the help desk person said to try to find a time on the system that wasn’t busy. So maybe I just will mind it less at midnight, when it’s likely to have fewer users.

Text Talk

We’re back. The winter break is over and colleges are revving up again. Non-traditional students, though, know that calling the holidays a "break" is like calling a two-day blizzard a "possibility for precipitation." We’re still recuperating from our break.

In any case, just a word here about textbooks. Regardless of your outlook – you’re "paying for R&D" or you’re "paying highly inflated prices for no apparent reason" – it’s time to buy. If you haven’t already, check online.

Amazon.com may have used copies of the same text and edition (watch that edition and make sure you get the right one) for half the price or less. These copies come from private parties, bookstores, libraries and other sources. I’ve found many textbooks this way. They may not come shrink-wrapped or with the proper CDs or addendums, but I’ve also found that I don’t usually need those. Generally, a prof will tell you to make sure you get the one with the CD, if it’s needed.

Barnes and Noble also sells textbooks and you may find a deal, or try Craigslist.org or eBay.

And if you absolutely need a particular book, and need it now and new (for example, you waited too long, and the college bookstore and online sources are out), go to the publisher’s website. I’ve found books that way, but they aren’t cheap.

If you want to sell your textbooks, now may be your moment. Right after a semester, when everyone sells back, your market is flooded. Put them online right now, when everyone's buying, and see what happens. Amazon offers an opportunity to do this, and of course, so does Craigslist.org or eBay.

But two things about selling textbooks. I’ve often found myself wishing I’d kept my texts, since they’ve often had information I could use in future courses. I’ve started to keep mine. But if you do want to sell, don’t limit yourself to recent editions. Somewhere, someone may want that text your college bookstore won’t buy back. I’ve sold 10-year-old textbooks for $40 to $70, depending on the subject. Can’t hurt to try.

Good luck on your textbook purchases and may we all use this semester to relax from winter break.