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(This page under development and is not complete. Please note
that the WebCT poll has not yet been created. Thanks for your understanding.
If you have any suggestions for the poll, please post them in the Forum.)
Capella University's decision to implement WebCT, an online course
room, is what led to the creation of this site. Only two of Capella's "schools" were
subjected to the initial rollout of this horrendous program - the "School
of Technology" and the "School of Business." Large
numbers of students have howled about the onslaught of problems
that they have been besieged with and Capella University has, for
all practical purposes, ignored their complaints. In addition,
WebCT has significant problems regarding accessibility to those
with disabilities (and a very long track record for not being compliant
with many of the standard guidelines that have been published).
As a direct result of WebCT's horrendous design, at least one student
has filed a complaint against Capella University on allegations
that their implementation of WebCT is not complaint with the American's
with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 (Section 504).
As noted on the home page for this site, Capella President, Michael
Offerman "apologized" for the horrendous problems just
a few days into the quarter but has not responded been heard from
since - He has ignored Capella's students.
Michael Offerman's "Apology" to Capella Students,
dated April 9, 2004
Dear *****,
Since the start of the new quarter on April 5, some learners
from the School of Technology and the School of Business
have been experiencing difficulty gaining access to our
new Courseroom. The difficulty has ranged from learners
experiencing slower-than-desired load times to those who
have been temporarily unable to access their courses. On
behalf of Capella University, please accept my apology
for any inconvenience this situation may have caused. Also,
please note that we are extending the 100% drop deadline
from April 9, 2004 to April 16, 2004 to remove the time
pressure should you decide to change your enrollment decision.
I'd like to bring you up-to-date on the source of this
problem, the action we have taken to prevent recurrence,
and the steps we have taken to ensure that your education
at Capella University continues without delay or inconvenience.
The situation arose unexpectedly as we implemented a planned,
phased migration of learners to the new Courseroom from
our current learning platform, LearningSpace. The new learning
platform is a software product called Vista from WebCT,
one of the nation's leading providers of premier e-learning
solutions. We conducted several months of testing and analysis
of Vista, including a pilot in March with more than 250
learners and faculty. During testing and pilot periods,
we encountered no technical issues. In fact, learners and
faculty in our pilot universally praised Vista for being
exceptionally user-friendly and intuitive, and providing
new and useful online learning tools.
However, as we continued to phase new learners onto Vista,
we began experiencing issues related to the learner profile
tool. We immediately began working with WebCT to resolve
this problem and have temporarily removed the profile tool
until this situation is remedied. In the interim, faculty
members have advised learners to temporarily post their
biographical information in the discussion area of each
Courseroom.
We are committed to ensuring the successful continuation
of your education at Capella University. Any learners who
have experienced difficulties as a result of these technical
issues will not be penalized as a result or experience
any negative effect on their grades—a directive that
I have also shared with our faculty. Bottom line, we want
to be sure that your learning experience with Capella University
is all that you have been promised and deserve.
If you have any questions about this issue, please contact
University Services at
1-888-CAPELLA (227-3552) option 7. Thank you for your
patience and consideration as we work to resolve this issue.
Sincerely,
Michael Offerman, President
Capella University |
Many students have expressed disgust at the absurd statements
made in Offerman's message; particularly:
- "We conducted several months of testing and analysis of
Vista, including a pilot in March with more than 250 learners
and faculty. During testing and pilot periods, we encountered
no technical issues." - WebCT has been fraught with problems
many of these "technical issues" remain. Students have
consistently complained about the incredible slowness of the
application, inability to log on (often for extended periods
of time), inability to post assignments, etc.
- "In fact, learners and faculty in our pilot universally
praised Vista for being exceptionally user-friendly and intuitive,
and providing new and useful online learning tools." While
Capella University has refused to disclose just who these "learners
and faculty" are, Offerman's statement that WebCT Vista
is "exceptionally user-friendly and intuitive" is absolutely
hilarious (and extremely pathetic)! The Internet is filled with examples
to the contrary with many claiming that WebCT is anything
but "user-friendly and intuitive."
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