Selecting communication tools in WebCT was relatively easy since I could just go into build and choose which tools to activate in the course manager. The tools I chose were the voice board, discussion forums and chat rooms. After their activation so they showed up in the left navigation bar, implementing these tools proved to be a bit more of a challenge after I created the specific elements. The problems were not so much in editing the properties of each tool but with organizing them. For instance, in creating the category “Discussion Activity #1” and a sequence of topics underneath, say Group Discussions from Group 1 to Group 5, I thought I would have to start backwards with Group 5 and work towards 1 to have the topics show up in ascending order like one would have to do with discussion message creation. Turns out my backwards thinking was wrong for creating topics. The same thing happened with creation of the chat rooms where the organization completely messed me up. What threw me off with organization was trying to move chat rooms up and down to get them in the right spot. The “Move Selection Above” and “Move Selection Below” options were confusing and it took me a while to figure that out. Other than that issue, setting the properties for the discussion and chat rooms were quite straightforward. I like how there is an option for the discussion forums to be graded and a log option for the chat rooms.

Another tool I had considered for this assignment was Google Docs since it provides asynchronous editing of documents between team members. However, I did not really feel it should be categorized as a communication tool. I tend to associate communication as developing dialogue and conversation, whereas Google Docs is more of a productivity tool rather than a communication tool. Google chat may have been more of a relevant option but I felt that it was important to keep the communicating within Vista, especially for students without much experience with instant messaging.