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WEB-COURSE-IN-A-BOX

Andy Nguyen,M.D./ UT-Medical School at Houston, Pathology/ Last Revision on: 3/6/99

Web Course in a Box (WCB) is a course creation and management tool for Web-based or Web-assisted delivery of instruction. It enables creation of basic course pages such as syllabus, class schedule, personal home pages, as well as interactive Web functions such as discussion forums and self-correcting exercises. Authoring is done using a Web browser and does not require any knowledge of HTML or other technical skills.

WCB was developed at Virginia Commonwealth University (by Bob Godwin-Jones and Sue Polyson) and was marketed by Madduck Company. Web Course in a Box consists of three components:

WCB SERVER (for systems administrators)
Creation of Web pages using Web Course in a Box is done entirely over the Web using a Web browser such as Netscape Navigator. In order to gain access to the WCB AUTHORING TOOLS instructors connect to the WCB Server. The WCB SERVER is an add-on (in the form of a set of CGI scripts) to Web servers. The WCB SERVER needs to be installed and administered by the regular administrator (webmaster) of a Web server.
WCB AUTHORING TOOLS (for faculty)
The WCB AUTHORING TOOLS consist of an integrated series of Web forms which enable instructors to create and update Web pages for classes, manage course and student information, create discussion forums, and upload and organize course content files. Access to the WCB AUTHORING TOOLS is limited to instructors.
WCB COURSE PAGES (for students)
Students have access to the WCB COURSE PAGES which the instructor creates using the WCB AUTHORING TOOLS. Normally, only registered students will have access to the WCB COURSE PAGES, but instructors may also enable guest access. Using the WCB COURSE PAGES students can create their own personal home pages, participate in discussion forums, and view all pages and files created, uploaded or linked by the instructor. More information on the WCB COURSE PAGES is available through the WCB Student's Guide (in the Help/Utilities module of each course's homepage).