Large File Size Project
From CTLpedia
Project Summary: Instructors of art and some computer classes often have assignments that result in files greater than 5MB (and up to 75MB). This project will focus on creating a drop box for large files outside of WebCT.
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Project Goals
- Create an external drop box, outside of WebCT, for instructors whose students have large attachments (> 5MB)
Relation to CTL Department Plan Initiatives
2007-8 #1 Evaluate, promote, and support innovative and appropriate use of new instructional and multimedia technologies (especially those that integrate with WebCT and MCC Online).
Project Staff
- Melanie Kroening
- Jeffrey Anderson
- Martin Lehner
- Donna Gaudet
- Collaboration with IT (Wade Harris)
Initial Design Requirements
- Electronic Submission tool - not an Electronic Storage Tool (i.e. no backups)
- URL for instructors to add to their assignments in WebCT
- Authentication, not single signon for pilot release
- Time stamp confirmation for students and progress bar for upload
- Zip files only
- Open drop box
- One week from student upload the file will be deleted
- username_project#.zip
Project Timeline
- Spring 2007 - Instructor data gathering and initial design planning
- Summer 2007 - Design and testing (CTL will write and host)
- Fall 2007 - Pilot with 4 instructors from a variety of disciplines and CTL will provide server space
- Fall 2007 - Request feedback from pilot instructors. If feedback is positive add new requirements to simplify the tool (integrate it with WebCT, provide single signon, make it available to more instructors).
- Spring 2008 - If pilot and adjustments to this tool are successful, work with IT on moving the hosting to a production server.
Current Status
- Fall 2006
- WebCT has a limit on the attachments size available within the Mail tool, eventually all areas of WebCT will have a limit. The limit will be 5 MB per discussions about possible issues with course size and the speed of database growth.
- Several instructors with student assignments that are large (>5MB) ran into the limit while using the Mail Tool.
- Consultation done with several instructors dealing with large file size issues. They are working around the current issues currently
- Spring 2007
- Collected of names of affected instructors and sent them the following questions to respond to:
- What is usually the maximum size of the file attachments that your students submit? 30MB, 75MB, 38MB, 9MB
- What is usually the average/typical size for the file attachments that your students submit? 5 - 10MB, 30MB, 7MB, 3-5MB
- What is usually the maximum number of students you would have submitting large files in a given semester? 20, 20, 20 students per section (3 - 5 sections), 15 - 25 students
- How many assignments do you typically have your students submit online, in a given semester, where attachments may be greater than 5MB? once a week, 5, 3 - 5, 5
- How do you teach/train your students to become aware of file sizes in items they submit online? check site in explorer and reduce if possible, teach techniques to reduce file size, zipping and other techniques, zipping
- Do you teach/train your students to utilize a specific naming structure for the files they submit as attachments? If so, what is that structure? username_week#.zip, lastnameinfilename, projectname_studentname.zip
- Spring 2007 (Continued)
- Project Team met several times to discuss initial design considerations
Future Directions
- Summer 2007 - Design work will be done by CTL
- Fall 2007 - Pilot project (Beta Version) with instructors - server space hosted by CTL
- Future...continue to collect feedback from users and improve tools...look at adding users who need such a tool...look at transitioning to IT
Project Resources
- Programming time (CTL)
- Programming time (IT)
- Server space (CTL)
- Server maintenance (CTL)
Project Outcomes
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