Course Websites
Course Websites
The university provides two primary online environments for hosting our courses, WolfWare and Vista (WebCT). It is recommended that these environments be utilized for the hosting of NC State courses whenever possible. For courses hosted within the ncsu.edu domain but outside of the context of WolfWare or Vista, the faculty member responsible for the course must ensure that the software and servers hosting the course are compliant with all applicable laws and policies. The laws and policies pertaining to the electronic provision of NC State courses are as follows:
* Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
* Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
* Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
* North Carolina General Statute § 168A-7
* NCSU REG 04.25.05 - Web Page Accessibility
* NCSU REG 02.20.1 - Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
* NCSU POL 08.00.1 - Computer Use Regulations
* NCSU REG 11.00.1 - Family Educational Rights and Privacy (FERPA or Buckley Amendment)
NC State course websites may link to and utilize electronic resources and materials hosted outside of the ncsu.edu domain as relevant to the course. However, all websites must comply with FERPA, which means that personally identifiable “education records” may not be accessible to anyone other than the instructor, other NC State officials with a need to know, and their agents (e.g., third party contractors like WebAssign). “Education records” are almost every type of record (1) about a student or former student, and (2) maintained by someone acting on behalf of NC State. Examples include
- student test scores or grades;
- assignment submissions, class discussions or comments (where recorded), or other materials produced by students in which the student can be identified; and
- names of students or other identifying information that is linked to non-directory information such as the course(s) the student is taking
Education records may be shared with others pursuant to voluntary written consent from the student, or to a limited extent among the students enrolled in an online class (see http://www.ncsu.edu/legal/legal_topics/student_privacy.php).
The faculty member in charge of the course is also responsible for making a good faith effort to ensure that any external links from an NC State course meet the accessibility requirements specified by the NC State Web Page Accessibility Regulation.
Course Materials
See http://delta.ncsu.edu/learning-technology/learning-management-systems/ for current options
WolfWare
WolfWare is a system of organizing course materials used by many departments across the NC State campus and available to all those who teach a course at NC State. WolfWare is used to host individual websites for specific courses at NC State. Teachers can upload notes, homework, grades, and many other resources for students to access.
WebAssign
WebAssign is a online homework system used by many courses throughout NC State. For a $10 fee, students can access homework problems posted by professors and submit them online for grading.
Moodle
On Monday, March 18, Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA) will upgrade the campus learning management system (LMS) to Moodle 2.3. The current version, Moodle 1.9, will be available for use through the spring 2013 semester.
Instructors can request “Moodle 2” courses through WolfWare for the summer and fall semesters on Monday. For those who are interested, DELTA is also offering training seminars to provide an overview of new features in Moodle 2 and to provide hands-on experience with the learning management system.
If you have questions about Moodle 2, visit Moodle 2 Upgrade FAQs. You can also check the WolfWare News section of DELTAwire to stay current on the latest LMS news.
Distance Education
Stub for future DE section of the site?
Mediasite Mobile: Viewing Presentations On-the-go – http://mediasite.online.
Lastly, trying to determine if your platform meets the minimum requirements to play a Mediasite presentation? See, http://www.sonicfoundry.com/
Educational Grants
Educational grants are a source of funding for faculty and staff looking for innovative new ways to reach students. More information on Educational Grants.
WolfWare
If you have been around NC State at all in the past three years, you are sure to know what WolfWare is by now. Developed and built by the Department of Computer Science, COE Information Technology and Engineering Computer Services, and PAMS, this handy tool allows for teachers and students to get the most out of their classes.
What WolfWare offers is a web-based environment used to manage and simplify the delivery of course material to students from teachers. The entire system is based on making the most efficient system with as little technical knowledge required as possible. This allows for the emphasis to be placed entirely upon the content of the course, with as few distractions as possible.
The common, everyday web browser is the interface by which both faculty and students will access and submit content. WolfWare looks to Registration and Records and automatically composes a standard template for each and every course. Administration of these facilities is then given to the instructors. Instructors are able to create and edit content with any web authoring tool. This is due to WolfWare being both browser and system independent.
Communications
An e-mail list of class roles is automatically generated from Registration and Records. Instructors can quickly and easily contact all the students in his or her class. Another feature of WolfWare is the ability to create a message board–giving students and faculty an arena to discuss class topics outside of the typical classroom environment. Teachers may also integrate homework submission and solutions into their website. In general, WolfWare alleviates students needs to hunt around the NC State website for some tidbit of information. WolfWare is a focal point for out of class interaction between students and instructors.
Requesting a WolfWare locker
To request a wolfware locker, simply fill out the online request form, located here: https://wolfware.ncsu.edu/wrap-bin/admintool. Only faculty requests for locker space may be granted. All faculty are expected to request their own lockers every semester. If teaching a Summer Session, faculty must indicate the duration of the class (ie. 6 week, vs. 10 week). Requests are received and processed at 7am and 3pm daily. Those granted locker space will receive a confirmation email, indicating the creation of the new locker.
Course Workspace
In addition to faculty locker space, instructors in the College of Engineering may request additional quota for their students when a course’s file-storage requirements exceed what students have in their Unity file space. This augmented quota is provided free of charge in a separate “workspace” locker for each student in the course (user IDs supplied by Wofware rolls). It is not added to the student’s individual account quota. For more information on course workspace locker requests, see the workspace request page.
For additional information and answers to frequently asked questions pertaining to Wolfware, please visit http://wolfware.ncsu.edu/help/. Any additional questions may be directed to the Wolfware helpdesk by sending an email to help@wolfware.ncsu.edu. Any questions pertaining to ECE Wolfware locker approval only, please contact the ece-webmaster.
WebAssign
This highly praised and effective online educational tool was developed here at NC State. Instructors may choose to receive assignments through WebAssign, which makes collection and grading easier. Answer format can range anywhere from multiple choice, short answer and fill in the blank, to graphing. WebAssign includes a personalized calendar, tests and quizzes, automatic grading and analysis of scores, and much more. Numerous textbooks from various disciplines are used by WebAssign as well. For more information on WebAssign, feel free to visit NC State’s online WebAssign FAQ.
Please be aware that, due to a restructuring of NC State’s WebAssign license agreement, students will be required to pay an additional $8.00 to access any courses using WebAssign resources.
MediaSite
DELTA completed three “how to videos” I wanted to make you aware of in your support of users viewing Mediasite presentations. If you would like to use them on your websites or in support calls, the links are below.
Playing a Mediasite Presentation – http://mediasite.online.
How to Download a Mediasite Presentation – http://mediasite.online.
Mediasite Mobile: Viewing Presentations On-the-go – http://mediasite.online.
Lastly, trying to determine if your platform meets the minimum requirements to play a Mediasite presentation? See, http://www.sonicfoundry.com/