DSU Desire2Learn (D2L) User Portal

Save WebCT Course Content & Student Data

DSU's license for WebCT expires on June 30, 2008 and the WebCT service will be unavailable thereafter. To save your WebCT course content and student data, for import into D2L or for record keeping and future reference, please perform all or some of the tasks below.
 
Scenario I: You need to save your WebCT courses for future import into Desire2Learn. Option A, B, and/or C.

Please note: The zip packages exported can be used only for import into a standard course management system such as Desire2Learn. You won't be able to open the zip files. The exported zip does not include student data. If you need to save student data, consider Options E, F, G, and H.
  1. Export Quizzes and Questions
     
    1. Select Control Panel > Manage Course > Export Content
    2. Select the radio button for "Quizzes, Surveys and Question Database"
    3. Check the box for "Download the content package to my computer after export"
    4. Click the Continue button to proceed.
    5. Download and save the zip file.
    6. If your browser has a popup blocker in use, you may not see the popup window for you to save the file. In that case, select Control Panel > Manage Files and find the zip file under "My-Files". Once you find the file, check the box next to it and click the Download button in the Actions panel to download the zip file.
       
  2. Export Course Content Module
     
    1. Select Control Panel > Manage Course > Export Content
    2. Select the radio button for "Content Module". If you don't any content module, the radio button will be grayed out.
    3. Follow Step 3 through 6 of Option A.
       
  3. Export a Whole Course -- This option will include quizzes and content modules. Therefore, if you select Option C, you don't need Option A & B.
     
    1. Select Control Panel > Manage Course > Export Content
    2. Select the radio button for "Export Course (Export entire course for import into WebCT CE 6.0)"
    3. Follow Step 3 through 6 of Option A.

Scenario II:  You need to save your WebCT course files for future use or plan to import some or all of them manually into your D2L course as needed. But you don't want to import the whole course. Option D
  1. Download Course Files
     
    1. Select Control Panel > Manage Files
    2. Select files (by checking the boxes) to download. You can select multiple files.
    3. Click the Zip button in the Actions panel.
    4. In the next confirmation page, select a destination folder (default is My-Files) and give a file name, say "myarchive1"
    5. Click the Zip button and all the selected files will be packed into "myarchive1.zip" file.
    6. Check the box next to the newly packed zip file and click the Download button in the Actions panel to save the zip file to your local storage.

Scenario III: You need to save student grades, their assignment submissions and/or discussion messages for record keeping and future reference.  Option E, F, and/or G
  1. Archive Student Grades -- The data will be saved as a text file and can be easily loaded in Excel spreadsheet.
     
    1. Select Control Panel > Manage Course > Manage Students
    2. Select Download from the first dropdown box
    3. Select Comma as Record Separator
    4. Download and save the data file (with .txt file extension)
       
  2. Archive Assignment Submissions -- You'll need to download the submissions one assignment at a time. The saved zip files can be unzipped as individual files.
     
    1. Open the submissions of an assignment
    2. Select all students by checking the checkboxes next to their names
    3. Click the Download button in the Actions panel on the right.
    4. Save the zip file.
       
  3. Save Discussion Messages -- The messages will be saved as plain text files.
     
    1. Open a discussion topic.
    2. Make sure that all messages are displayed. The "All" option is selected for Display near top left.
    3. Check the box next to "Subject" near top left so that all messages are selected.
    4. Click the Compile button near bottom left of the page.
    5. All messages will be displayed in a new window, with a Download button at top left.
    6. Click the Download button in the new window to save the messages as a text file.

Scenario IV: You need to save your WebCT courses for possible reuse in WebCT. Please note that the backup zip file can only be used for restoring the course back to WebCT. It cannot be used for import into other course management system such as D2L. The backup file includes student data. Option H.
  1. Back Up a Course -- as a special zip file that can be restored back into WebCT, but cannot be unzipped with a regular Windows zip tool, and cannot be imported into D2L. The backup zip file includes student data.
     
    1. Select Control Panel > Manage Course > Backup Course
    2. Only two backups per course are allowed. If you have two existing backups, you'll need to delete one or both to make room for the new backup.
    3. Click the Create Backup button in the Actions panel.
    4. The next page will ask you to enter a short description, which is optional. Click the Create button to move forward.
    5. It may a few seconds to several minutes for the server to pack up the course as a zip file, depending on how large your course is.
    6. Click the Continue button if the operation is successful.
    7. Select the radio button next to the zip file, and click the Download button in the Actions panel to save the zip file to your local storage.

Questions and comments? Email DSU-WebCT@dsu.edu