What is the WBLS?
The WBLS is a set of services framed as a UW System utility. It provides support and access to each UW institution for web-based or web-augmented course delivery. These services include: system-wide licensing of web-based course development software; hardware to support that software; sophisticated 7 x 24 hardware backup; and 7 x 24 help-desk technical support. After the two-year, subsidized pilot program, it will provide this service to institutions in the UWS at a charge-for-service, which is independent of the institution. How did the concept arise? Over the past year or more, a number of groups and individuals from the UWS have been engaged in a good deal of discussion as to how to support the development and online delivery of web-based courses. A CIO working group in 1997 did a study that examined licensing and other issues relating to the implementation of online course development tools. Several institutions, both within and without the UW System, have researched and experiment
