Tutorial

Using MathType with WebCT

This tutorial explains the steps required to upload a MathPage document to WebCT using zip files. The use of WebCT accounts, courses, and other features, is beyond the scope of this document. If you need more information about WebCT, contact your school's WebCT administrator, refer to the WebCT web site, or contact WebCT's technical support staff.

If are unfamiliar with zipping files, you may need to refer to your zip utility's help files, contact the vendor's technical support staff, or ask your WebCT administrator for assistance. This notice covers WinZip and the archive utility included in Windows XP. Although this tutorial is also appropriate for Macintosh users, we don't cover StuffIt or other Macintosh compression utilities here. If you need assistance zipping files into an archive, please contact the manufacturer of your zip utility.

Solution

This notice addresses the following topics:

1. Getting started

2. Creating a MathPage Document

3. Using GIFs: Determining which files to include in your zip archive

4. Creating a zip file of the MathPage Document with Windows XP

5. Creating a zip file of the MathPage Document with WinZip

6. Uploading the zip file into a WebCT course

7. Using MathML with WebCT

Getting started

This document assumes you already have a WebCT account. If you have an account, but are new to WebCT, refer to WebCT's Community Resources for help in getting started, and for additional resources that may prove helpful.

Creating a MathPage Document

Use MathType 5 with MathPage™ technology and Microsoft Word 2000 or newer (Word 2001 or newer on the Mac) to create your HTML course documents. See Tutorial 14 of the MathType 5 User Manual if you are unfamiliar with the process. If you downloaded MathType 5, you can access the electronic version of your MathType 5 User Manual by choosing Start>Programs>MathType>MathType User Manual (Windows) or Macintosh>Applications>MathType 5>MathType 5 Manual.pdf (Macintosh).

When you create your MathPage, you have a choice of whether to use GIF images or MathML to display the math. If you are not familiar with MathML, refer to our article MathML for Math and Science Communication.

Using GIFs: Determining which files to include in your zip archive

The following discussion assumes you have chosen to display the math with GIF images. The procedure is much easier if you will be using MathML.

The files you need to upload will vary, depending on the target that you choose when exporting your document to MathPage. By default, when creating web pages, Microsoft Word creates a folder with the same name as your Word document. When you target Images (GIFs), this folder contains all your GIF images. Be sure to include this folder in your zip archive, as well as the HTML file (with the .htm extension) and the JavaScript file mathpage.js. For a more complete discussion of which files to include under different circumstances (such as using MathML instead of GIFs), refer to TechNote 91: Copying and Moving MathPage Documents.

After identifying the files you need to upload to WebCT, you need a zip utility such as WinZip, OnTrack's ZipMagic, or Aladdin StuffIt to create a zip file for each web document that you want to upload. A zip compression utility is built into Windows XP and the Macintosh OS. This article covers WinZip and Windows XP, since those are the utilities used most frequently. If you are using another utility, you will need to refer to your help files for assistance, but the process should be similar.

Creating a zip file of the MathPage Document with Windows XP

All files generated by MathPage will be located in the same folder as your original Word document (unless you change MathPage's default and specify a different destination). When creating the zip file, you need to use relative pathnames, which is automatic in Windows XP's compression utility.

To create a zip file in Windows XP (process is similar for Macintosh OS):

1. Open Windows Explorer or double-click on My Computer.
2. Navigate to the folder containing the MathPage document files that you need to zip up.
3. Select all the files you need to include by holding down the CTRL key and clicking on each of them.
4. Right-click on one of your files and choose Send To>Compressed (zipped) Folder.
5. The default name of the zip file will be the same as the name of the file you right-clicked. If you would like the archive to have a different name, you can change it by right-clicking the file and selecting Rename from the menu.

Creating a zip file of the MathPage Document with WinZip

All files generated by MathPage will be located in the same folder as your original Word document (unless you change MathPage's default and specify a different destination). When creating the zip file, make sure you are using relative pathnames, not absolute pathnames, and that relative paths are maintained. See WinZip's help files for more information about relative and absolute pathnames.

To create a zip file:

1. Open Windows Explorer or double-click on My Computer.
2. Navigate to the folder containing the MathPage document files that you need to zip up.
3. Select all the files you need to include by holding down the CTRL key and clicking on each of them.
4. Right-click on one of your selected files and choose "Add to zip".
5. The Add dialog will open.

6. Click the New button. The New dialog will open.
7. Type in a name for your archive and click OK. You will be returned to the Add dialog.
8. Click the Add button. WinZip will show the complete contents of the archive.

WinZip will display the contents of , which contains multiple GIF files for each equation. All these GIFs must be included. Do not delete or rename any files. Below is what you should see in WinZip, if you had created a webpage from a Word document named filename.doc that contained only one equation:

9.  Quit WinZip. Your zip archive will be saved in the same directory as your original files.

Uploading the zip file into a WebCT course

After creating a zip file containing your MathPage documents and its required support files, you can do the following to upload it to a WebCT course:

1. Obtain the URL for the Entry Page from your school's WebCT administrator.
2. Create a myWebCT if you haven't already done so.

Note: There is a link on the Entry Page titled "Need help deciding what to do?" if you need some additional assistance. This discussion assumes you have a myWebCT, have logged on, have created a course on myWebCT, and are ready to upload your MathPage document.

3. In Designer Tools/File Manager, click the Get Files button. If you need to create a folder for a new unit or new topic, create the new folder before you get the files.
4. Upload your zip file. After selecting Get Files, click on My Computer, navigate to the zip file, and click Open.
5. The file now appears in File Manager.
6. Click on the ActionLinks button next to your file name (see screen shot below).
7. Choose Extract from the ActionLinks drop-down list. WebCT will extract the contents of the compressed file, and will create a new folder with the same name.

Creating a Learning Module

Once the zip file is uploaded, you should link the HTML file (in this case, Course1a.htm) from some other place in your course, so it will be available to your students. In this example, we'll create a Learning Module.

1. From Course Tools/Learning Modules, click on Create Learning Module.
2. After filling out the form on the Create Learning Module page, link it to the zip file by clicking on its ActionLinks button and selecting Go to Learning Module.
3. Click Add File/Browse for Files. Navigate to the folder where you unzipped the file in Step 7 above. Choose the HTM file, and click OK.
4. The file will now appear to your students in their Learning Modules section, as shown below.

Using MathML with WebCT

When you create the MathPage from Word, if you choose the option to use MathML for your equations, you have three choices of "targets": XHTML + MathML, MathPlayer (IE behavior), and Multi-browser (UMSS). You should use the third option: Multi-browser (UMSS). "XHTML+MathML" is normally the best choice, but documents of this type won't work with WebCT.

In the File Name: box of the Export to MathPage dialog, name the file whatever you want, but make sure it ends in XML. In our example, we'll name the file filename.xml.

To give your students access to the MathPage you just created, you need to create a Learning Module as described above, as well as a ZIP (or Stuffit) archive containing your document. In addition to your XML file (filename.xml in this case), you also need to include the files pmathml.xsl and pmathmlcss.xsl in the ZIP. Link the XML file to your learning module.

Feedback

If you find the WebCT tutorial useful, and would like to see better integration with MathType 5, please send us your comments at feedback@dessci.com.