ATutor 1.5.3.3 review

ATutor project is an Open Source Web-based Learning Content Management System (LCMS) designed with accessibility and adaptability in

License: GPL (GNU General Public License) File size: 0K Developer: Greg Gay

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ATutor project is an Open Source Web-based Learning Content Management System (LCMS) designed with accessibility and adaptability in mind.

Administrators can install or update ATutor in minutes, and develop custom templates to give ATutor a new look. Educators can quickly assemble, package, and redistribute Web-based instructional content, easily retrieve and import prepackaged content, and conduct their courses online. Students learn in an adaptive learning environment.

ATutor is the first fully inclusive LCMS, complying with the W3C WCAG 1.0 accessibility specifications at the AA+ level, allowing access to all potential learners, instructors, and administrators, including those with disabilities who may be accessing the system using assistive technologies. Conformance with W3C XHTML 1.0 specifications ensures that ATutor is presented consistently in any standards compliant technology.

ATutor has also adopted the IMS/SCORM Content Packaging specifications, allowing content developers to create reusable content that can be swapped between different e-learning systems. Content created in other IMS or SCORM comformant systems can be imported into ATutor, and visa versa. ATutor also includes a SCORM 1.2 Runtime Environment (LMS RTE3) for playing and managing SCORM based Sharable Content Objects (SCOs).

ATutor's base in Open Source technology makes it a cost effective tool for both small and large organizations presenting their instructional materials on the Web, or delivering fully independent online courses. Comprehensive help is available through the ATutor HowTo documentation, through a number of support services, or through the public forums, and full language support is available through the ATutor Translation Site.

Here are some key features of "ATutor":
Forum Upgrades: Shared forums for communication across courses. Create communities around groups of course forums, or around an entire ATutor course server. Alumi participation in course forums. Subscribe to shared forums or course forums, or subscribe to specific topic threads to receive messages by email. Quickly access current forum messages through the Forum Posts menu module.
File Manager Upgrades: Create new text and html files, move individual files or batches of files, and use the file manager while editing ATutor content pages. Use the Insert function to create links to files within course content pages and test questions.
Enrollment Manager Overhaul: Create, import, and export course enrollment lists, and manage enrolled students or alumni. New tabbed display for managing student information, managing course lists, managing roles and privileges, as well as creating and managing groups.
Language Overhaul: Language management has been completely re-designed. Translate, import, and export language from within an ATutor installation. Support for the UTF-8 character set. ATutor is avalable in more than 30 languages.
Backup Manager: Administrator and Instructor Backup Manager. Create master copies of courses. Manage multiple backups per course and restore only material you specify into existing and newly created courses.
Question Bank: Create tests by adding questions to, and retrieving questions from, a test item respository.
Test/Survey Manager Upgrade: New ability to create image based test items, arrange multiple choice questions vertically or horizontally, assign tests to a class, to groups, or to individual students.
Theme Manager: Easily copy, import, and export ATutor themes.
RSS Feeds: Syndicate course announcements with RSS 1.0, or RSS 2.0 feeds, to display them on remote Web sites.
New Feedback and Error Handling: Redesigned, modular, user feedback system. Improved logging, tracking, and presentation of system errors for debugging and troubleshooting ATutor installations.
Embed ACollab: Embed ACollab into ATutor, or open it in a new window to participate in group activities.
System Announcements: Administrators can send email announcements to all instructors and/or students registered on an ATutor system.
Easy Enrollment: Students can now enroll in courses through the Browse Courses screen.