Student Authentication

Significant changes were made to the Virtual Course Kit (ViCKi) in September 2003, to allow ViCKi site owners to configure the security settings of their sites.

Thanks to these changes, site owners can specify whether their sites should be publicly accessible, or whether they require a "login" with a username and password in order to enter the site. Furthermore, owners can specify specific course offerings (by course number and section), so that only students registered in specific sections will be able to enter the site.

This is a radical improvement in two senses. Site owners no longer need to rely upon the ViCKi administrative staff to manage security on their behalf, removing a bottleneck from the workflow. Also, the changes encourage site owners to use student-specific security. This type of security clearly identifies each student user within a site, and increases student accountability for their activities within the site. For example, posts to discussion areas within sites are clearly identified as being posted by a specific student, removing any incentive to post inappropriate messages under the guise of anonymity.

Synchronous Chat

The Distributed Learning group requested support in integrating a synchronous ("real-time") chat tool into ViCKi, to improve communication between distance students and their instructors. The “SameTime” messaging system was used, a commercial product from IBM Lotus, which is designed to integrate well with Lotus Notes applications (such as ViCKi).

Unfortunately, the experiment was unsuccessful. The instructor and students reported numerous problems with the "chat" interface. Setting up a student computer to use the chat interface was not intuitive and was prone to failure for any of a number of reasons. In short, the technical obstacles were too great to overcome, and “SameTime” was ruled out as a chat option for use with ViCKi.

Until a long-term solution is available, the Distributed Learning group is using the chat feature in the Desire2Learn course management software, while we are still under license to use it.

Second Level Support

Terry Collins provides second level support for Virtual Courses (ViCKi). First level support was handed over to ITS Helpdesk September 2004.  After a short transition period, the number and nature of calls has drastically reduced.  The protocol for client support is that they are to contact the helpdesk first.  If the Helpdesk finds that they are unable to resolve the client inquiry, they are to then contact Terry Collins for second level support.  There are numerous members from both faculty and staff that continue to phone or email the ViCKi Administrator (Terry) directly.  A continuous effort is made to change this habit and some progress is being made.   Approximately 25% of Terry’s time is spent on ViCKi support.  The bulk of the misdirected calls and emails occur at the beginning of each semester.  These times of the school year are inherently problematic for managers and users of ViCKi Kits.  There are problems with class-lists, enrolments, and basic kit usage areas.  The following table displays the types of support requests received into 24 categories.