More and more applications are moving to the Web for easy access from any platform, on campus or off. Email (WebMail) was one of the first applications to move to the Web browser so that people could check mail any place any time. Other applications are moving to the Web for the same reason. WolfWare is NCSU's course management system that provides courses over the Web. The campus also uses WebAssign and WebCT extensively in courses, as well as a number of Web-based services, such as WRAP, NCSU Web authentication mecahnism.

Web Mail (http://webmail.ncsu.edu) is the principal electronic mail program on Eos/Unity. Using it requires logging in with your Unity ID and password to a secure Web page via any browser on any computer. WebMail uses the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), which stores email messages on university IMAP servers so that they can be accessed from any Web browser or compatible mail client on the Web.

Your mail is not downloaded to your AFS space but stored on the mail servers in a special IMAP account space for your use. IMAP accounts are 50MB of file space for mail storage, which is in addition to your Eos/Unity file space quota of 50MB. With the Quota Manager, you can allocate more than 50MB to mail storage, if you want. Information on using and configuring WebMail is at http://www.ncsu.edu/imap/

WolfWare (http://courses.ncsu.edu) is a course-management system developed at NCSU. When an instructor requests a course locker, WolfWare automatically configures 100MB of file space to house the course, creates special folders (directories) for specific content and uses, downloads information specific to the course from campus databases, and provides tools to assist instructors in developing and managing their courses.

WolfWare lockers are constructed with a common directory and file hierarchy in AFS, which facilitates automatic placement of information into the locker and its delivery out through the Web. The Web browser is the interface both to the backend that instructors use to manage the locker, and the front end that students use to access the content.

Consistent Web addressing makes it easy for faculty and students to locate their courses online. WolfWare uses course-catalog and Registration and Records data to create a boilerplate home page for every course. It automatically generates rolls, class mailing lists, discussion lists (Message Board), assignment submission/return (Submit), and a secure (WRAP) directory for materials requiring restricted access. Information on using WolfWare is at http://wolfware.ncsu.edu/

WebAssign (http://www.webassign.net) is a homework service developed at NCSU that collects and grades homework. WebAssign allows students to submit homework, quizzes, and tests—whatever the teacher chooses—at any time of day or night. Grades on assignments and the correct answers can be made available immediately after the work is submitted. The entire process is done through a Web browser.

WebAssign uses many textbooks from different disciplines. If instructors use one of the textbooks supported by WebAssign, they can offer exercises from those books. They can also request a textbook to be added to the expanding WebAssign collection or for specific questions to be coded and added. WebAssign problems include textbook questions from leading publishers in the subjects of Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Mathematics, Physical Science, and Physics.

WRAP (http://www.ncsu.edu/wrap/) Web Realm Authentication Protocol is a Web-based authentication mechanism developed at NCSU that provides a reliable means of verifying identity without requiring users to log in to each individual, potentially insecure server. When users log in to WRAP, their usernames and password are sent to an SSL-secured server where they are verified. Once verified, they are issued a cookie that contains their user and connection information that has been encrypted by the WRAP authentication server. Whenever the user visits a WRAP-protected Web site, the browser automatically sends the cookie to that Web server, where it verifies that the cookie is genuine and recognizes the user.

WebCT (http://vista.ncsu.edu) is commercial software for creating and delivering online courses. It works compatibly with WolfWare but supplies additional tools that WolfWare does not have. When instructors request a WebCT course, they are given access to a WebCT site with a set of educational and adminstrative tools to assist them in developing and managing their courses. WebCT supports:

• store grades and view student performance statistics
• allow students to view their grades online securely
• post or create links for course-related material
• communicate using bulletin board, mail tool, or real-time chat
• display class events with the calendar tool
• create online self-grading quizzes and assignments
• set up online dropbox for students to submit assignments electronically
• display images in an image database

Related Resources

Publishing Your Web Pages

Learning Technology Service and Tools

NCSU Web Tools

Electronic Mail (from Guide, PDF)

Wolfware (from Guide, PDF)

Information Technology and Engineering Computer Services (ITECS)
College of Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695
Comments to eoshelp@ncsu.edu. URL: http://www.eos.ncsu.edu/

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