Penn State's most comprehensive source for free training has gotten even better. Web-Based Training (WBT), a service of Information Technology Services Training Services, now has a seamlessly integrated interface and plenty of new user-friendly features.
New courses are constantly being added to the WBT repertoire, which now incorporates over 1,200 technology and business and professional development courses–free to Penn State faculty, staff, and students all the time. Now users can log in to their WBT Training Plans without losing access to all of the menus and navigational features within the WBT site. By the spring semester, faculty will be able to assign WBT courses, as required or recommended learning activities, and students will be able to access and run the WBT courses through Penn State's Course Management System, ANGEL.
Shorter targeted courses have been developed to save time and help the user learn only the skills necessary to perform specific tasks. Customized curricula focus learning toward specific skill sets for personal or professional development, and for added convenience, new animated tutorials can help users learn how to use WBT quickly and efficiently.
Most of the additions and updates to the Web site came as the result of requests by WBT users, according to Web-Based Training specialist, April Sheninger, who said, "The entire redesign was based on user feedback and a desire to make the site more friendly."
Improved Accessibility--One important enhancement noted by Sheninger is the increased accessibility of both the WBT Web site and courses. "Accessibility is an important concern for the WBT team," said Sheninger, who was excited to announce WBT's increased compliance with accessibility guidelines. The courses now offer a more accommodating design for screen readers, text to speech feature to enhance course navigation, and keyboard shortcuts for easy access to menus and screen options.
Integrated Interface--Now users have access to the menus and features of the entire WBT site even after they have logged in to their Training Plans. Personal profiles are more customizable and easy to access once the user has logged in to WBT. The navigational menus remain available from the user profile page.
User-Specific Sections--The WBT Web site incorporates sections, which target specific users, including separate pages for faculty, staff, and students. These sections are conveniently accessible via navigational buttons at the top of all pages within the site. Each section has been expanded, focusing on the information that is appropriate for the specified audience.
Help Menu Relocation--The help menu has been relocated for easier access, and all the pages in the site have been redesigned for simplicity and enhanced usability.
Enhanced Search Features--The "Modify My Training Plan" section has been enhanced to expand and improve search functionality. Now users can search for courses alphabetically or within specified subsets of courses and curricula, such as Information Technology, Business and Professional Development, Quick Skills, Certification Exams, and Custom Tracks. Added to the traditional keyword and course and curricula searches, these new methods ease the search process and, like many of the other enhancements, came as the direct result of requests by WBT users.
Custom Tracks--A Custom Track is a group of related courses that have been combined to form a targeted curriculum. The purpose of a Custom Track is to target a learner's development on a certain skill set. Custom Tracks may consist of business and professional development skills courses, technology skills courses, or a combination of both. They have been developed for specific job titles for staff and for various subsets of students. Custom Tracks for students were created to assist and guide students' development during their time at Penn State and to enhance their skills in preparation for their chosen careers. Some examples of Custom Tracks include Administrative Assistants, Skills for Undergraduates, and IT Managers.
Viewlets--Viewlets are animated demonstrations or interactive tutorials, which show the user how to perform certain tasks. Currently, there are several Viewlets available that can help people use the WBT system effectively and efficiently.
Quick Skills--A Quick Skills course is a targeted WBT course that is custom-designed to teach a specific skill or skill set in a shorter time period than that of the traditional course. A Quick Skills course may be ten minutes to one hour in length and typically will focus on only the skill that is necessary to complete a specific task. For example, a Quick Skills course would be appropriate for a user who needs to learn how to use Excel to write a macro for a spreadsheet-not to perform a function that would require more encompassing knowledge of the software program. Quick Skills courses function in exactly the same manner as the regular WBT courses, and they can be customized to meet specific requirements for faculty. Some examples of Quick Skills courses include Saving a Word Document as HTML, Adding Links to a Web Page Using Dreamweaver, and Creating a Simple Web Page Using Dreamweaver.
Additions to Traditional Courses--There have been some exciting new additions to the WBT course roster this fall, including Dreamweaver MX® series, Digital Photography, Home Networking with Windows® XP, and many more. For a full list of new courses, visit http://wbt.psu.edu/NewCourses.asp
ANGEL Integration--WBT and ANGEL have combined to create a simpler and more efficient process for faculty and students to take advantage of WBT courses. The integration of the two systems is currently under development, and by the spring semester, faculty will be able to assign appropriate WBT courses to their students through ANGEL. Students will then be able to run the assigned WBT courses seamlessly within their ANGEL courses, without switching between systems, launching a separate browser window, or logging in a second time.
Initially, instructors will work with a WBT specialist to set up the desired WBT courses within ANGEL. They will then inform students of their assigned WBT courses. Sheninger hopes that by summer, faculty will be able to customize their own curricula and assign courses as appropriate. Students will then be able to e-mail their scores directly to their instructors, if required.
According to Sheninger, this method of integrating WBT with ANGEL will make it easier for faculty to target and enhance necessary skills for their students through WBT courses. "For students, this method will eliminate many of the steps involved in launching a WBT course, saving time and frustration," said Sheninger, who added that "the less time it takes for students to run their training programs, the more time and effort they will be able to spend on actually learning the topic."
Sheninger is excited to launch the new ANGEL integration, which is currently being tested by faculty members. She hopes that WBT will help to take some of the pressure off of faculty by providing the supplemental training that is sometimes necessary to complement any given course topic. "A student in a chemistry course, for example, may need to create a spreadsheet to report results, but they may not have the skills to do that," she said. "WBT can provide the fundamental skills that many students need when completing college-level course work," said Sheninger.
Web-Based Training is constantly being updated, and new features and services are always under development. Information on updates and developments will be available at the WBT Web site.
To learn more about the features and functions of WBT, or to start using WBT today, visit the WBT Web site at http://wbt.psu.edu/.
If you are interested in assisting with WBT and ANGEL integration testing during spring semester, please contact April Sheninger at azs2@psu.edu.