Atutor

=**Atutor **=

A**Tutor **, designed with accessibility and adaptability in mind, combines social networking features with content management thereby allowing students to learn in an adaptive learning environment. It can be used in various contexts, including online course management, [|continuing professional development] and academic research. Educators and instructors assemble, package, and redistribute instructional content through the web. They can easily retrieve and import prepackaged content and conduct online classes.. **ATutor** is used internationally and has been translated into over fifteen languages with support for over forty additional language modules currently under development .
 * Description **
 * ATutor **is an [|open source],[| Web-based] **Learning Content Management System ([|LCMS])**.



The first release of **ATutor** to the public was 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 for people with disabilities. Results of the studies showed that none of the popular Learning Management Systems (LMS) at the time provided minimal conformance with accessibility guidelines. At the time a blind person, could not fully participate in online courses.
 * History **

Utilization of open-source software offers the potential to reduce software costs for an institution. Elimination or reduction of licensing fees can free up monies for investment in adapting and managing the software. This offers reliability, performance, and security, over proprietary software due to the availability of the source code customization is easier, and vulnerabilities can be identified and resolved by third parties. [|E-learning] platforms are applications used for delivery of learning content and facilitation of learning process. They are developed for administration and teaching in tertiary education. This software enables administrators and lecturers to manipulate enrollment data electronically access course materials, and carry out assessments (OECD, 2005). The activities managed by the[| LMS] vary from instructor-led classroom training to educational seminars to [|Web-based] online training. In addition to managing the administrative functions of online learning, some systems helps create, reuse, locate, deliver, manage, and improve learning content.
 * Impact on Teaching and Learning **

Some accessibility features introduced in **ATutor** go beyond technical compliance with accessibility guidelines, to address more practical usability issues. It is possible for developers to adhere faithfully to accessibility guidelines, but still create a Web site or Web application that is difficult to use. For instance, if one were to include Alt text with every image, as guidelines sometimes suggest, assistive technologies would be required to announce meaningless images such as spacers or decorations that would interfere with comprehension of the important content on the screen. The practical solution in this case is to include an empty Alt text attribute for these images so assistive technologies will ignore them. It is the way in which **ATutor** addresses these types of practical issues that makes the tool both accessible and usable .
 * Practical Applications **
 * ATutor** supports these accessibility standards :
 * W3C WCAG 1.0
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">W3C WCAG 1.0
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">W3C WCAG 2.0
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">W3C ATAG 2.0
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">US Section 508
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Italy Stanca Act
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">IMS AccessForAll 2.0
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">ISO/IEC 24751

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 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Atutor Demonstration **

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 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">﻿ **

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 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">External Links **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Jay Ka is a graduate student at the University of Hawaii Manoa Campus, and enrolled in the Educational Technology Master's Program 2011. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">He currently works for DOD. Email : jka2360@gmail.com <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> [] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">[] [] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">[] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">[] [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software#Open_Source_Definition] [] [] [] [] [] [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">2007-08-09. ; <span class="citationweb" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">[|"Tanzania: New technologies for teaching and learning: Challenges for higher learning institutions in developing countries"] <span class="printonly" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">. <span class="reference-accessdate" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">2007-08-09 <span class="citationweb" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;"> ; <span class="citationweb" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">[|"Europe: Open Source Learning Management Systemen vergeleken"] <span class="printonly" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">. [][] <span class="reference-accessdate" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">. <span class="printonly" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 11pt;">[]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">About the Author **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">References **