| Communication Tools |
|---|
| Discussion Forum | Discussion forum is a threaded online text conversation between participants. |
| Discussion Management | Discussion Management includes all of the accessing and scheduling associated with running a discussion forum. |
| File Exchange | File exchange tools allow learners to upload files from their local computers and share these files with instructors or other students in an online course. Note: File attachments to messages are part of Internal Email and Discussion Forums. |
| Internal Email | Internal email is electronic mail that can be read or sent from inside an online course. |
| Online Journal/Notes | Online Notes/Journal enable students to make notes in a personal or private journal. Students can share personal journal entries with their instructor or other students but cannot share private journal entries. |
| Real-time Chat | Real-time chat is a conversation between people over the Internet that involves exchanging messages back and forth at virtually the same time. |
| Whiteboard | Whiteboard tools include an electronic version of a dry-erase board used by instructors and learners in a virtual classroom (also called a smartboard or electronic whiteboard) and other synchronous services such as application sharing, group browsing, and |
| Productivity Tools |
|---|
| Bookmarks | Bookmarks allow students to easily return to important pages within their course or outside their course on the web. In some cases bookmarks are for an individual students private use, and in others can be shared with an instructor or amongst a group. |
| Calendar/Progress Review | Calendar/Progress Review tools enable students to document their plans for a course and the associated assignments in a course. |
| Searching Within Course | Searching within a course is a tool that allows users to find course material based on key words. |
| Work Offline/Synchronize | Work offline/synchronize is a set of tools that enable students to work offline in their online course and for their work to be synchronized into the course the next time they log-in. Sometimes students can download course content to their local computers and work offline. |
| Orientation/Help | Orientation/Help tools are designed to help students learn how to use the course management system. Typically, these tools are self-paced tutorials, user manuals, and email or telephone helpdesk support. |
| Student Involvement Tools |
|---|
| Groupwork | Group Work is the capacity to organize a class into groups and provide group work space that enables the instructor to assign specific tasks or projects. |
| Community Networking | Community Networking tools allow students to create social ties, study groups, clubs, or collaborative teams without instructor intervention. |
| Student Portfolios | Student Portfolios are areas where students can showcase their work in a course, display their personal photo, and list demographic information. |
| Administration Tools |
|---|
| Authentication | Authentication is a procedure that works like a lock and key by providing access to software by a user who enters the appropriate user name (login) and password. Authentication also refers to the procedure by which user names and passwords are created and maintained. |
| Course Authorization | Course authorization tools are used to assign specific access privileges to course content and tools based on specific user roles, e.g. students, instructors, teaching assistants. For example, students can view pages and instructors can author pages.
|
| Registration Integration | Registration tools are used to add students to and drop students from an online course. Administrators and/or instructors use registration tools but students also use them when self-registration is available. Students can also be added to or dropped from the course. |
| Hosted Services | Hosted Services means that the product provider offers the course management system on a server at their location so the institution does not provide any hardware. |
| Course Delivery Tools |
|---|
| Test Types | Test types indicate which types of questions the software supports. |
| Automated Testing Management | Automated testing management includes the control of when and where tests may be taken and under what conditions. |
| Automated Testing Support | Automated testing support includes system services for importing and exporting tests and test banks as well as statistical analysis of test results. |
| Online Marking Tools | Online marking tools enable instructors and assistants to evaluated and mark student work while online. |
| Online Gradebook | Online gradebook includes supports for keeping track of student porgress and work online in support of assigning course grades. |
| Course Management | Course management tools allow instructors to control the progression of an online class through the course material. |
| Student Tracking | Student Tracking is the ability to track the usage of course materials by students, and to perform additional analysis and reporting both of aggregate and individual usage. |
| Content Development Tools |
|---|
| Accessibility Compliance | Accessibility compliance means meeting the standards that allow people with disabilities to access information online. For example, the blind use a device called a screen reader to read the screen but Web pages need to be designed so that screen readers can navigate it easily. |
| Content Sharing/Reuse | The product provider self-reports that the software complies with the WAI WCAG 1.0 AAA guidelines. |
| Course Templates | Course templates are tools that help instructors create the initial structure for an online course. |
| Customized Look and Feel | Customized Look and Feel is the ability to change the graphics and how a course looks. This also includes the ability to institutionally brand courses. |
| Instructional Design Tools | Instructional design tools help instructors creating learning sequences, for example, with lesson templates or wizards. |
| Instructional Standards Compliance | Instructional standards compliance concerns how well a product conforms to standards for sharing instructional materials with other online learning systems and other factors that may affect the decision whether to switch from this product to another. |
| Hardware/Software |
|---|
| Client Browser Required | Client Browser Required is the type and version number of the Web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer 3.0, Netscape 4.0) that works effectively with the course management system. |
| Database Requirements | Database Requirements are technical specifications for the database management software (e.g. Oracle or SQL) required by the course management system. |
| UNIX Server | Unix Server means the course management system runs on a server using some variant of the Unix operating system. The Unix Server feature includes general information about hardware requirements such as disk space, memory (RAM), and CPU speed and model. |
| Windows Server | Windows Server means the course management system runs on a server that uses some version of the Microsoft Windows operating system. |
| Company Details/Licensing |
|---|
| Company Profile | The company profile includes public information about the company or organization that provides the course management software. |
| Costs / Licensing | Costs include information on licenses and other startup expenses. |
| Open Source | Open Source means the software is delivered with the source code and the license agreement gives the licensee the right to modify and redistribute the software. |
| Optional Extras | Optional extras are features or extras added to the product that may or may not add to the cost. |
