Experiences of online teaching using WebCT: an institutional evaluation

This paper presents findings from a institutional survey investigating the use of WebCT by academic staff and students in their learning and teaching at a large Australian University. The survey was designed to ascertain how WebCT was being used, what support services were being utilized, and to determine what areas, if any, needed improvement. It was expected that most student comments would relate to technical and infrastructure issues, but instead, the survey elicited responses primarily on how WebCT was used in teaching and learning, indicating that quality control is a major issue for the University. Students are generally positive about the use of WebCT and appear to have little trouble in using the technology. Student opinions appear to reflect more the use of the technology made by teaching staff – students who have experienced a well-designed unit rich with resources, timely feedback and good interaction with staff reporting a positive experience with the technology. However, many students reported poorly designed sites, little or no feedback from staff, outdated information and broken links. Staff responses are more focused on the technical and administrative aspects of using WebCT rather than teaching issues, such as the level of local IT support and the lack of ease of use of many of the features within WebCT. Many staff are also concerned about increased workload, but this is generally associated with the technical and administrative aspects of learning about WebCT, developing and maintaining their site rather than time spent in online teaching. The findings in this paper have implications for teaching and learning with technology and the way in which tertiary institutions support academic staff and students using such technology.