ATutor

Infobox_Software
name =



caption = ATutor course home page
developer = Adaptive Technology Resource Centre University of Toronto
latest_release_version = 1.6.1
latest_release_date = 2 July 2008
operating_system = Cross-platform
genre = Learning Management System
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, continuing professional development for teachers, career development, and academic research.(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)] )] 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). [http://www.astd.org/astd About Astd - Astd - Astd ] ] 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 = 2007-08-06The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 5, No 3 (2004), ISSN: 1492-3831] ATutor is used internationally and has been translated into over fifteen languages with support for over forty additional language modules currently under development.(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] )] 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 ; ]

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. [For details on the WCAG specification, see: [http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0] .] 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. ATutor is also cited in numerous technical reviews and scholarly articles; and many third-party extensions have been developed and distributed for use with the software.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] 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] 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] cite book
title = New Horizon In Web-based Learning
first = Qing
last = Li
publisher = World Scientific
year = 2004
id = ISBN 9812560297] 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 ; ]

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. [For related details, consult: "Technical Evaluation Report 37. Assistive Software for Disabled Learners." (referenced "supra").]

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. [A full list of accessibility features can be found on the ATutor Web site. (http://www.atutor.ca)]

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. [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").]

The ATutor theme system allows administrators to easily customize the look and layout of the system to their particular needs. [The theme system was introduced in mid 2004.] 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. [The privilege system was introduced early 2005.]

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.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/] .]

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.

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."

Notes and references

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]