After more than a decade, Eastern will be severing its ties with WebCT in January 2013, when its contract with the software company expires.

John Henderson, the assistant vice president for academic affairs, said when WebCT was bought by Blackboard Inc. a few years prior, the changes made to the program were too significant.

Henderson said he expects to hear from other companies that will want Eastern to use their system.

“There are probably 10 to 12 companies that I figure are going to respond, given our parameters and features that our faculty committee specified after a lot of hard work,” Henderson said.

Melissa Johnson, a freshman special education major, said she would rather not have to deal with technology at all.

“Things can get lost and systems crash; I like the old-school books and worksheets,” Johnson said.

But it is unfortunate because students are just figuring out how to use the system, Johnson said.

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Kaylee Rogers, a freshman undecided major, said she is excited at the prospect of getting a new system.

“(WebCT) shuts down a lot and I couldn’t even log in on anything,” Rogers said.

Hopefully the new system will run smoother, she said.

Jeremy Kappel, a senior English major, said he really liked using WebCT in his major classes.

“WebCT is really helpful and at least in English, they would post reading assignments and texts,” Kappel said. “It helped me understand a lot more.”

Nike Ogunbodede can be reached at 581-2812 or ovogunbodede@eiu.edu.