ATutor
2706791
224539370
2008-07-09T09:04:00Z
Rjwilmsi
203434
no 'of' between a month and a year per [[Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style_%28dates_and_numbers%29#Longer_periods|MOS]] using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]]
{{Infobox_Software
|name =
|logo = [[Image:at-logo.gif|80px]]
|screenshot = [[Image:at screenshot1.jpg|250px]]
|caption = ATutor course home page
|developer = [[Adaptive Technology Resource Centre University of Toronto]]
|latest_release_version = 1.6
|latest_release_date = [[5 February]] [[2008]]
|operating_system = [[Cross-platform]]
|genre = [[Learning Management System]]
|license = [[GNU General Public License|GPL]]
|website = http://www.atutor.ca
|
}}
'''ATutor''' is an Open Source Web-based '''Learning Content Management System (LCMS)'''.
ATutor is used in various contexts, including online course management, [[professional development|continuing professional development]] for teachers, career development, and academic research.<ref name="Examples000">(See e.g., [http://atrc.utoronto.ca/ The Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC)at the University of Toronto.] [http://www.ldrc.ca/ The Learning Disabilities Resource Community (LDRC)] [http://www.ic.gc.ca/ Industry Canada (AForm)] [http://www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/redirect_hr.html Office of Learning Technology (OLT), a division of HRDC Canada] [http://www.ataoc.ca/ Alberta Online Consortium The Learning Exchange (TLE) learning objects repository module] [http://www.tmdnet.net/ TMD (Financial support for the ACollab integration, student roles and privileges feature)] [http://www.okcareertech.org/ Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education (Financial support for ATutor templating system)] [http://www.tektank.it/?page_id=28 Davide Guidi -- E-learning Lab, University of Bologna -- Gennaro Zezza, University of Cassino (Code contribution to test module)])</ref> The software is cited as unique for its accessibility features, (useful to visually-impaired and disabled learners); and for its suitability for educational use according to software evaluation criteria established by The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).<ref name="ASTD000">[http://www.astd.org/astd About Astd - Astd - Astd<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref name="Clark000">{{cite web
| title = Technical Evaluation Report 37. Assistive Software for Disabled Learners
| url = http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/viewArticle/198/280
| accessdate = 2007-08-06
}}The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 5, No 3 (2004), ISSN: 1492-3831</ref> ATutor is used internationally and has been translated into over fifteen languages with support for over forty additional language modules currently under development.<ref name="GlobalUse000">
(See e.g., [http://cc.swu.ac.th/ccnews/content/e1624/e1950/e4022/e4073/index_th.html Thailand]
[http://ius.unicas.it/ATutor/ Italy]
[Greek]
[German]
[Portuguese]
)
</ref>
<ref name="InternationalList000">
{{cite web
| title = Czech: PREPARATION OF ON-LINE ASSESSMENTS (masters thesis)
| url = https://dip.felk.cvut.cz/browse/pdfcache/bicikj1_2006dipl.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Italian: ATutor conference
| url = http://www.atutorday.it/
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Europe: La valutazione delle piattaforme tecnologiche per l'eLearning: uno sguardo al mondo open source.
| url = http://www.tesionline.com/intl/table-of-contents.jsp?idt=9679
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Belgium: Cofale (PHD Thesis)
| url = http://cofale.info.ucl.ac.be/
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Europe: Open Source Learning Management Systemen vergeleken
| url = http://www.2useit.nl/downloads/OpenSource-LMS-en-vergeleken-2useIT-200705.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Europe: Implementierung eines SCORM-basierenden Zugangs zu Web-basierendem Unterricht
| url = http://www.iicm.tugraz.at/thesis/mmitter.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Chile: Virtual Highschool Based on LMS open source and learning objects (Chile) PDF
| url = http://www.formatex.org/micte2005/87.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Chile: EMPAQUETAMIENTO DE OBJETOS DE APRENDIZAJE BAJO EL ESTANDAR SCORM.
| url = http://gita.inf.uach.cl/publicaciones/Empaquetamiento_de_LO_SCORM.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Cyprus
| url = http://www.formatex.org/micte2006/Downloadable-files/oral/An%20Evaluation%20of%20Open%20Source.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Germany: Evaluierung der E-Learning-Plattform ATutor
| url = http://www2.iicm.edu/cguetl/research/opensource_elearning_systems/Ausarbeitungen/Atutor/Atutor.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Germany: Institut für Informatik: Vorstellung des Open Source LMS ATutor pp 23 (German - pdf)
| url = http://ki.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/teach/ss-2004/elearning/material/vortraege/proceedings.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Germany: Vergleich von Open-Source Learning Management Systemen (pdf)
| url = http://ki.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/teach/ss-2004/elearning/material/vortraege/proceedings.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Greece: (pdf)
| url = http://gita.inf.uach.cl/publicaciones/Empaquetamiento_de_LO_SCORM.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Greece: (pdf)
| url = http://learn.itbiz.gr/stoixeia1_v1.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Italy: La Scelta di un Learning Management System (pdf, Italian)
| url = http://www.api.ei.unibo.it/docs/e-learning.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Spain: EVALUACIÓN DE PLATAFORMAS E-LEARNING DE LICENCIA PÚBLICA (pdf, Spanish comparison ATutor& Moodle)
| url = http://www.uv.es/ticape/docs/nabuen/PFC.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Switzerland
| url = http://tecfa.unige.ch/tecfa/talks/schneide/mauritius05/frameworks-odtl.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Tanzania: New technologies for teaching and learning: Challenges for higher learning institutions in developing countries
| url = http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=246&layout=html
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Uruguay: Recycling Course Web Pages for the Semantic Web
| url = http://www.programafrida.net/docs/informes/b72_EDUCA-1-06.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}}; </ref>
ATutor is the first LCMS to comply completely with the accessibility specifications of [[W3C]] [[WCAG]] 1.0 at the AA+ level, allowing the access to all the included content of the system at all levels of user-privilege, including administrator accounts.<ref>For details on the WCAG specification, see: [http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0].</ref> Its conformity with [[XHTML]] 1.0 is intended to ensure that ATutor is presented and displayed consistently in any compatible technology.
ATutor's developers assert that it is the only fully-accessible LCMS software on the market, including for-fee and closed source software. This aspect of ATutor has been affirmed in at least one University-published review of the software.<ref name="Clark000" /> ATutor is also cited in numerous technical reviews and scholarly articles; and many [[Extension (computing)|third-party extensions]] have been developed and distributed for use with the software.<ref name="Clark000" />
<ref name="Looi000">{{cite book
| title = Artificial Intelligence in Education Supporting Learning Through Intelligent and Socially Informed Technology
| first = Chee-Kit
| last = Looi
| publisher = IOS Press
| year = 2005
| id = ISBN 1586035304
}}</ref>
<ref name="Williams000">{{cite book
| title = 2nd European Conference on E-Learning Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, 6-7 November 2003
| first = Roy
| last = Williams
| publisher = Academic Conferences Limited
| year = 2003
| id = ISBN 0954457749
}}</ref>
<ref name="Amant000">{{cite book
| title = Handbook of Research on Open Source Software: Technological, Economic, and Social Perspectives
| first = Kirk
| last = Amant
| publisher = Idea Group Inc (IGI)
| year = 2007
| id = ISBN 1591409993
}}</ref>
<ref name="Li000">{{cite book
| title = New Horizon In Web-based Learning
| first = Qing
| last = Li
| publisher = World Scientific
| year = 2004
| id = ISBN 9812560297
}}</ref>
<ref name="AcademicList000">
{{cite web
| title = Academic research
| url = http://csdl2.computer.org/persagen/DLAbsToc.jsp?resourcePath=/dl/proceedings/&toc=comp/proceedings/la-web/2006/2693/00/2693toc.xml&DOI=10.1109/LA-WEB.2006.31
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = An Open Source software evaluation model with a case study on Course Management Systems(Masters Thesis)
| url = http://www.karinvandenberg.nl/Thesis.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Assistive Software for Disabled Learners (Athabasca University, PDF)
| url = http://cde.athabascau.ca/softeval/reports/R370408.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Auricle: ATutor IMS Content Export
| url = http://www.formatex.org/micte2005/87.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Auricle: ATutor Teaches a Lesson
| url = http://www.bath.ac.uk/dacs/cdntl/pMachine/morriblog_more.php?id=192_0_4_0_M
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Automating Bypass Testing for Web Applications (phd thesis)
| url = http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:BeeHLIU7QJoJ:ise.gmu.edu/~ofut/rsrch/VP-thesis.pdf+atutor+thesis&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = COL LMS Open Source
| url = http://www.col.org/colweb/site/pid/3110
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = COL LMS Open Source
| url = http://www.col.org/colweb/site/pid/3909
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = COL LMS Open Source
| url = http://www.col.org/colweb/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/docs/03LMSOpenSource.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Constructivist Learning: An Operational Approach for Designing Adaptive Learning Environments Supporting Cognitive Flexibility
| url = http://www.info.ucl.ac.be/Research/Publication/Theses/Thesis_vmc_final_version.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Course Management Systems: Software Evaluation and Selection Criteria (PDF)
| url = http://fp.uni.edu/its/et/lms/cms_eval.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Course Platform Evaluation Report
| url = http://eduforge.org/docman/view.php/7/7/Shortlisting%20of%20LMS.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Educational Technology and Society (October 2006 Volume 9 Number 4 Volume 9 Number 4)
| url = http://www.ifets.info/journals/9_4/ets_9_4.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = IOSN: Education Primer. (Asia Pacific Development Information)
| url = http://iosn.net/education/foss-education-primer/fossPrimer-Education.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society (The Italian e-Learning Association Journal) Accessible and Adaptive Elearning (2007)
| url = http://www.je-lks.it
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Mobile Learning: The Next Generation of Learning (doc)
| url = http://learning.ericsson.net/mlearning2/files/workpackage3/corvinus_technical_summary.doc
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Recycling Course Web Pages for the Semantic Web
| url = http://www.programafrida.net/docs/informes/b72_EDUCA-1-06.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Research in Information Visualization and E-Learning
| url = http://www.mbernard.org/research%202005.html
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Shortlisting of Learning Management System software Part I of LMS
| url = http://eduforge.org/docman/view.php/7/7/Shortlisting%20of%20LMS.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = Technical Evaluation Learning Management Systems
| url = http://eduforge.org/docman/view.php/7/18/LMS%20Technical%20Evaluation%20-%20May04.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}};
{{cite web
| title = VE4ALL (VIRTUAL EDUCATION FOR ALL) (phd thesis)
| url = http://www.cs.deu.edu.tr/seniorprojects/ve4all.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-08-09
}}; </ref>
== Background ==
ATutor was first released in late 2002. It came in response to two studies conducted by the developer in the years prior that looked at the accessibility of online learning systems to people with disabilities. Results of the studies showed none of the popular Learning Management Systems at the time even provided minimal conformance with accessibility guidelines. At the time a blind person for instance, could not participate fully in online courses.<ref>For related details, consult: ''Technical Evaluation Report 37. Assistive Software for Disabled Learners.'' (referenced ''supra'').</ref>
=== Accessibility features ===
Two, of many, accessibility features in the system are text alternatives for all visual elements, and keyboard access to all elements of the program. With these features, a blind person can listen to the entire interface of the system with the help of a screen reader, and he or she can access the system without needing a mouse. These features also allow ATutor to adapt to a wide variety of technologies including cell phones, personal data assistants (PDAs), and text-based Web browsers, to name a few.<ref>A full list of accessibility features can be found on the ATutor Web site. (http://www.atutor.ca)</ref>
ATutor includes a content authoring tool that prompts content developers to create accessible learning materials. Such prompts encourage authors to add a text alternatives if they forget to include one when adding an image, for instance. The authoring tool also includes a Web service that evaluates the accessibility of authored content against various international standards. In addition to creating accessible content, the tool is itself accessible, allowing a blind user to create content themselves.
=== Adaptability features ===
ATutor is also designed for adaptability to any of several teaching and learning scenarios. There are four main areas that reflect this design principle: themes, privileges, tool modules, and groups.<ref>For additional details, consult ''Virtual Highschool Based on LMS open source and learning objects.'', ''Constructivist Learning: An Operational Approach for Designing Adaptive Learning Environments Supporting Cognitive Flexibility'' (referenced ''supra'').</ref>
The ATutor theme system to allows administrators to easily customize the look and layout of the system to their particular needs.<ref>The theme system was introduced in mid 2004.</ref> Themes are used to give ATutor a new look, to give categories of courses their own look, or to provide multiple versions of ATutor on a single system, from which users could choose one as a preference setting.
The privilege system allows instructors to assign tool management privileges to particular members of a course. Instructors may create assistants or course tutors that had limited control over any of the authoring or management tools.<ref>The privilege system was introduced early 2005.</ref>
<!--
Later in 2005 tool modules were introduced into the system. Essentially, the learning tools that already existed in ATutor were separated from the core system. This allowed ATutor administrators to customize the system, deciding which learning tools would be available on the system, and which default tools would be available in a newly created course. It also allowed instructors to choose from the available tools only those that might be used in a particular course. Perhaps the most important aspect of the modules system was to allow developers to easily extend ATutor with new features. Third party programs could be integrated into the system. New tools could be created by any developer to customize the system to their particular needs. And, ultimately, spread the development of ATutor as a whole from its central core of developers during its early years, out into its community of users.
Groups were introduced in early 2006. Groups essentially allowed instructors to create sub-courses within a course, where he or she maintains control over the management of the larger course, but can assign course members to groups that have their own group specific versions of many of the tools available to the instructor or to the course as a whole.
-->
== E-learning patent dispute ==
ATutor is one of three [[open source]] learning management systems named in a formal challenge to an e-learning patent issued to [[Blackboard Inc.]] in July 2006. The [[Software Freedom Law Center]] filed a re-examination request on behalf of ATutor, and two other clients in late 2006. In early 2007 the re-examination request was granted by the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] (USPTO). If successful, the request will ultimately lead to the cancellation of all 44 claims of the Blackboard patent.<ref name="FreedomLaw000">For full details, see the Press Releases from The Software Freedom Law Center. [http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2006/nov/30/blackboard-patent-reexam-filed/] [http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2007/jan/25/blackboard-reexam-ordered/].</ref>
In support of the challenge to the Blackboard patent, volunteers across the Internet found examples of older programs that used ideas claimed by the patent. These volunteers collaborated to make a Wikipedia article on the History of virtual learning environments, which documents several examples of prior art.<ref name="FreedomLaw000" />
Additionally, Greg Gay, project lead of ATutor asserted in support of the re-examination request: "A patent on an educational concept -- namely the relationship among students, instructors, and administrators -- makes no sense. Such ideas are public and have been practiced for centuries; they are not the result of research and development."<ref name="FreedomLaw000" />
== Notes and references ==
{{reflist}}
== See also ==
* [[Learning management system]]
* [[Intellectual property]]
* [[Adaptive technology]]
* [[Online learning community]]
==External links==
* [http://www.atutor.ca/ Atutor publisher's site]
* [http://elearning-india.com/content/blogcategory/19/38/ List of most of the Learning Management Systems]
[[Category:Free learning management systems]]
[[Category:Virtual learning environments]]
[[Category:Assistive technology]]
[[Category:Free educational software]]
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