Course Connect
Our Course Management System designed to help educators create quality online courses and course supplements
CourseConnect makes interactive learning an integral part of the online format thanks to discussion boards, forums, and online assignments and quizzes. The teacher can provide support over a greater time period, making contact when appropriate for both the teacher and student. Surveys, polls, and class directories create opportunities for seeking further clarification and/or guidance.
Course Connect features include: Assignments, Chat, Choice, Forums, Quizzes, Surveys, and more
Assignments
An assignment is where you set a task with a due date and a maximum grade. Students are able to upload one file, multiple files, or submit through Turnitin.com to satisfy the requirements. The date they upload their file is recorded. Afterwards, you have a single page on which you can view each file (and how late or early it is), and then record a grade and a comment. Thirty minutes after you grade any particular student, CourseConnect will automatically email that student a notification.
Chats
The chat module allows participants to have a real-time synchronous discussion via the web. Chat may include individuals' profile pictures, URLs, smileys, embedded HTML, images, etc. All sessions are logged for later viewing, and these can also be made available to students.
Choice
A choice activity is very simple - you ask a question and specify a choice of responses. Students can make their choice, and you have a report screen where you can see the results. It may be used to gather research consent from students, and it could be used for quick polls or class votes.
Forums
Depending on how a Faculty member structures their online course, this module may be the most important - it is here that discussion takes place. The Forum functions much like a newsgroup but has several features that were created especially for the higher education lecture class environment. Individuals post messages and responses that are then displayed in a persistent, common, virtual space. Photographs next to messages help students and instructors in a large class link faces with ideas. Instructors determine the organization and malleability of forums, allowing them to organize messages into categories that reflect their curriculum.
Students logging on to the Forum may be allowed to see a listing of the most recent postings and any replies to their earlier messages as well as announcements from their instructors. Digital images and word-processing documents can be attached to messages, allowing faculty to distribute materials to students and enabling student groups to share project information.
Quizzes
This module allows you to design and set quiz tests, consisting of multiple choice, true-false, and short answer questions. These questions are kept in a categorized database, and can be re-used within courses and even between courses. Quizzes can allow multiple attempts. Each attempt is automatically marked, and the teacher can choose whether to give feedback or to show correct answers. This module includes grading facilities.
Surveys
The survey module provides a number of predefined survey instruments that are useful in evaluating and understanding your class. Currently they include the COLLES (Constructivist On-Line Learning Environment Survey) and the ATTLS (Attitudes to Thinking and Learning Survey) instruments. They can be given to students early in the course as a diagnostic tool and/or at the end of the course as an evaluation tool.
If you are interested in using CourseConnect for any of your classes, or want to learn more, please contact ITS