Getting Started: a guide to online learning at Wright State

How do I navigate?

This page is the longest page in the learning guide, and may take a while to load, but it contains important information about navigating in WebCT. If you want to print this page for future reference, you can do it by selecting the option in your browser menu. To compile a few pages together to print, use the Compile Pages option on the homepage.

Home Page Icons

Selecting an icon on the homepage can link to a :

• learning pathway or contents page (learning materials, module guide)
• WebCT tool (email,bulletin board, chat)
• toolpage (student support tools - similar design to a homepage)
• a URL (links to a page outside the WebCT course)
• a single page (assessment)

Each of these options presents a slightly different way of navigating.

Course Menu

On the left hand side of the Home Page you may see a menu of available items. You can click on these links to go to different parts of your course. You will note that these links may be the same as the icons on the home page. The difference is that the menu can be visible throughout the course.

If you want to see more of your course content, you can temporarily hide the Course Menu by clicking on Hide Navigation, Expand Content.

Breadcrumbs

Underneath the course title you will see a trail of links showing where you have come from. These are called 'breadcrumbs'. Here is an example -

  Home  Learner's Guide  How do I navigate?

This 'trail of breadcrumbs' shows that you are currently looking at the "How do I navigate?" page. You got to this page from the Learner Guide which you got to from the home page. You can click on any of the links to go back.

Linking to an Organiser Page from the Home Page opens a new page with a similar concept to the homepage. It allows the designer to put more WebCT tools on a separate page rather than crowd the homepage. This may include tools to change the password, search the learning materials, check results or check progress. If a separate Organiser Page is implemented in the design you will be able to return to the Home Page using the breadcrumbs..

Linking to a URL may open a new window in your browser, in which case it will have to be closed. If it uses the same browser window, you will need to use the back button on your browser as you will be outside WebCT.

Linking to a single page opens a new browser window but has a built-in close button because it is still under the control of WebCT.

Navigating Learning Materials

Action Menu

The Action Menu appears above each page in a Course Content Module (learning pathway). The action menu lets you navigate forwards and backwards through the pages (the Previous and Next buttons). Contents is a listing of all pages. The Retrace button 'takes you back the way you came' if you looked at the pages out of order. The Refresh button reloads the last page you were looking at if you are temporalily taken away from the page.

When you click on the Contents link in the Action menu you will see a listing of all the files. A sample learning pathway is displayed below:

The files are organised in different levels. Note the small triangles next to some items. This means that the item can be expanded.

For example, clicking on the triangle next to item 9 will expand the section to show sub-sections.

Clicking on any of the links will take you directly to the page.

The Table of Contents will sometimes be displayed at the start of your learning materials, and can be accessed from every page. In some courses, you will find the table of contents displayed in a frame on the left side of every screen.

More about the Action Menu

The Action Menu shown above contains extra links to the right of the navigation links. There are links to Glossary | Search | Discussions. These items can vary depending on the support tools provided by your instructor for each page.

Hints

• Use WebCT's course menu to navigate where possible.
• Use the 'breadcrumbs' to return to a previous section.
• Use the Action Menu when you are working in a learning pathway.
• If the above fails and you get lost, use the back button on your browser.
• If you are still lost after trying the above, go back to homepage or contents and reselect the page