New digital usage dashboard for WebCT

http://careo.elearning.ubc.ca/weblogs/michelle/
archives/000593.html

ATTENTION WEBCT ADMINISTRATORS!

I’ve been waiting a few weeks to tell people about this one since I saw it demo’d at the BC Ed Tech Users Group meetings, but promised Michelle that I wouldn’t post on it before her (since she’s the one that works at UBC, and not me.)

The folks at UBC (the original home of WebCT) have developed a set of scripts that mine the usage data and a few other variables in the WebCT database and give a system-wide picture of how the system is being used, and more importantly, allows you to anticipate the kind of usage coming down the pipe by looking at the scheduled tests and quizzes across the board. This is invaluable – for the first time within this system one can get a heads-up if 5,000 users are about to crash your server at the same time to take their Chem 101 test, while another 3,000 happen to be scheduled to take a Biology exam the same morning. And as you’d expect from a place that’s obviously in the know, there’s an RSS feed for this data!

Don’t be put off by the Flintbox site Michelle points to – the scripts are being offered for free, even though there appears to be a small registration process (and ominous talk of ‘patents’ and ‘licensing’) to wade through before you can grab it. – SWL