Course Management Services

The OIT currently provides a variety of options for faculty to deliver courseware materials and to communicate with the students in each class.

Concourse (formerly WebCT Vista)
Courseware in AFS
Request Activation of Courseware Folders
Course Mailing Lists
Automatic Updates

Concourse (formerly WebCT Vista)

Notre Dame has invested significant resources to provide a premium course management service, using Concourse.  Concourse is a web-based system that you can use to enhance your classes, which can be accessed from any location via the Internet.  You provide the content and Concourse provides tools for structure, interactivity, and management.  Some of the features of Concourse (formerly WebCT Vista) include:

• Publish your syllabi
• Manage and post grades
• Provide a list of web links
• Distribute files (PowerPoint, PDF, etc.)
• Create online quizzes
• Carry on discussions
• Conduct a survey
• Enable students to submit assignments electronically

Your courses already exist in Concourse (formerly WebCT Vista). To use the course, several items need to be considered and your students granted access. Please visit the Concourse web site for additional information.

Concourse can be accessed from the Academic & Student Academic tabs in InsideND, or from http://oit.nd.edu/concourse. Documentation for Concourse can be found here. 

Training is also available by registering for scheduled classes by visiting endeavor.nd.edu.

Courseware in AFS (e.g. I: drive)

Notre Dame’s Courseware Service provides a means for sharing files between faculty and students. By using the service, instructors can place files into directories and regulate how students access the files.

Features of the Courseware Service include:

• Placement of files for access by the students in your course. Your course folder will store 1GB of files.
• Access from Windows, Macintosh, or Unix computers.
• Access only by the faculty member teaching the class, the students officially enrolled in the class, and other Notre Dame faculty, staff, or students designated by the instructor.
• A dropbox where students may submit assignments.

As of the Fall 2006 semester, faculty need to request that the courseware folder for each class and section be activated and provided with a 1GB quota in order to use the service. Please complete the request form here. Activation will be completed within 2 business days. You will be notified when your Courseware space is ready for use.

The Courseware space can be accessed via WebFile from any web browser with an Internet connection. Alternatively, a drive can be mapped to the I: drive using a special utility. Information for accessing Courseware can be found here.

Documentation for using the Courseware Service can be found here.

Course Mailing Lists

Electronic mailing lists using Listserv are automatically created and populated for every class and section. These lists can be utilized for discussions, announcements and communication. Course-related lists are updated automatically by adding or removing students based on add and drop records. In addition, the list owner can add subscribers who are not registered in the course (e.g. teaching assistants). Additional information and tools for course mailing lists is available here.

You can post messages to the list from any email client when you know the full name of the list, and you post messages from the email address which is subscribed to the respective list. Additionally, listserv posts can be initiated by selecting the links within respective Concourse (formerly WebCT Vista) classes or Online Photo. To determine the listserv address for your course, visit http://learning.nd.edu/list/.

Automatic Updates

Concourse (formerly WebCT Vista) access is updated automatically based on Registrar records. Courseware and Course Mailing Lists for classes are automatically updated via a nightly process to provide access to students registered in each class based on Registrar records.