ATutor would not make a useful tool for a corporate environment, based on several factors. Many corporate/enterprise projects and systems for collaborative tools needed do not existor are very archaic in their technolory. Many companies desire the use of webinars and web conferencing as well. ATutor does not support this service.
One implication where ATutor would be useful would be in training and perhaps CBT for employees. The makers of ATutor designed the product primarily for it to be used in the academic sector. Colleges and high schools would benefit more from the features that ATutor offers. The interface of ATutor is mediocre at best and only offers two view points, for the student and administrator/instructor.
ATutor is an amazing tool for educators to use. One feature that seems to be very useful is the test and survey creation tool. This automates the test and survey creationso that issues of format and/or problems of compatibility are not an issue. It also features a translation section for 20 languages, making this a suitable tool for people of most language backgrounds. Atutor offers the instructor the ability to create polls, forums, and search friendly glossary's for students. ATutor also is useful because it aides people with diasbilities. It offers text alternatives for all visual elements and keyboard access to all program elements, which allows a blind person to listen to an entire program by using a screen reader.
ATutor can be quickly installed and is designed with security features. Login passwords are encrypted and if the password is forgotten, it must be reset instead of sending it to the user by e-mail. Students can also personalize their profile by adding their pictures to the forum. ATutor also has a group blog where members can post public messages to all course members or post private messages only for the instructor and group members to view. Demo Login
Software Version
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The software is version 1.6
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Product Name
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ATutor
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Developer Name
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ATRC (The Adaptive Technology Resource Center)
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Communication Tools
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Discussion Forums
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The forums that Atutor offers is similar to that of most forums around. One unique feature of the Forum is that each of the languages represented, is available for use in the discussion format.
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File Exchange
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There is a file storage area on the site that offers file exchanges between students and instructors and vice versa. There doesn't appear to be any virus detection scanning software when uploading files.
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Internal Email
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There is no internal email configured by Atutor internally. This may not be such a big problem considering that there are several alternatives to communicating with other users on the system internally only.
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Online Journal/Notes
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There is a Blog area and this could be considered a Notes area or on line journal area. Use is very similar to the wiki style of blogging.
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Real-time Chat
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There is a real time chat environment available on Atutor. Similar to WebCT and many other real time chat environments, Atutor many of the options of other chat servers.
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Video Services
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N/A
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Whiteboard
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No Whiteboard exist.
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Productivity Tools
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Bookmarks
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N/A
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Orientation/Help
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There is a FAQ section on the Atutor site that explains many of the questions most people ask regarding the product.
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Searching Within Course
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There is a Search tool available for use for the course as well as for google.
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Calendar/Progress Review
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There is no Calendar available.
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Work Offline/Synchronize
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Not available
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Student Involvement Tools
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Groupwork
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A Group section exist to promote group project work and group activities. This is useful as it will promote the functions of the group and many of their projects.
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Self-assessment
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None available.
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Student Community Building
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N/A
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Student Portfolios
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A area called My Tracker offers the student to track their work and see what their progress is.
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Administration Tools
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Authentication
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Instructors have the option to create user accounts.
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Course Authorization
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Administrators have the authority to set limitations on accounts and set user parameters.
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Registration Integration
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Only available if the instructor sets the parameters to the course.
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Hosted Services
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Course Delivery Tools
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Course Management
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Instructors release content and created courses for students. There is a quiz creation and test creation section on the site as well.
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Instructor Helpdesk
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N/A
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Online Grading Tools
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With the online quiz creation tool, it offers the a grading tool as well.
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Student Tracking
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My Tracker (Read section on student portfolios)
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Curriculum Design
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Accessibility Compliance
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Course Templates
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Customizable and can be uploaded from Atutor.
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Curriculum Management
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Instructor based
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Customized Look and Feel
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Yes
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Instructional Standards Compliance
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Instructional Design Tools
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Content Sharing/Reuse
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Please see section on file sharing
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Hardware/Software
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Client Browser Required
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None listed
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Database Requirements
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N/A
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Server Software
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N/A
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UNIX Server
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N/A
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Windows Server
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Yes
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Pricing/Licensing GNU General Public License
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Company Profile
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A combination of developers create Atutor but the ATRC are responsible for the product.
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Costs
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Free to download, but for technical support there are packages available for purchase raging from $650 per year.
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Open Source
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Yes
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