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  1. 5. TOOLS USED FOR ONLINE LEARNING

5. TOOLS USED FOR ONLINE LEARNING

Nowadays online learning platforms provide a wide range (Fernandez, Gill, Palacios and Devece, 2011) of features through their various tools, which can be classified as follows:

  • Productivity-oriented Tools: Under the category of productivity-oriented tools, all tools that give the student follow-up on activities. The features that stand out: bookmarks, which allow students to quickly return to a previously viewed webpage, whether it is the course or not, and the calendar and progress review, which make time management for courses a valuable aspect. Helping participants to use the platform for orientation and helping participants to use the learning system (tutorials, manuals, online help, course searchengine to facilitate course selection and location indicating a search pattern, and synchronization and offline work mechanisms, where students have the option of working disconnected) would also be included.

  • Learning-oriented Tools: Under the category of learning-oriented tools, the features that stand out are discussion forums, discussion forums, and tools that allow messages to be exchanged during the course’s duration. Forums can be arranged chronologically, by categories, or by conversation topics, with or without the ability to attach files to postings. Aside from forums, synchronous communication options for sharing immediate communications among participants (Chat, Video conference) and asynchronous communication tools for exchanging mail and messages both within the course and using external mail addresses must be available (Email, messaging). Blogs, a technology that allows students and professors to make notes in a journal (edublogs), whether they are subject blogs or personal blogs of the students for whom they give support and join, are another similar format. Wikis, which allow for collaborative production of online documents, would be included in this category as well.

  • Students’ participation Tools: Work groups to organize a class into groups so that each student has their own space where the teacher assigns tasks or projects; self-assessment tools to practice or review online examinations and be aware of their evaluations are examples of tools for participating students. The teacher usually does not count these. Finally, the study findings can be added to the system: a student’s corner or designated locations for learners (to display jobs and advertisements, see photographs, personal information, and so on).

  • Knowledge Management System tools: The items would be included in knowledge management systems. Both tools for collaborative work and internal organising of common knowledge memory are provided by integral knowledge systems. Normally, they use a hierarchical framework to reflect the organisation of knowledge. The goal of moderating information systems is to offer users an interface that allows them to search for information in a certain area using diverse and distributed knowledge sources.

Tools for creating and distributing courses and content: Assessments and computerized results, which allow teachers to create, conduct, and evaluate final tests, would be integrated into tools dedicated to distributing courses and content. Teachers can be selfcorrected, and solutions, comments, and explanations can be presented if they desire. Course administration: these technologies help teachers to keep track of their students’ progress through the use of course materials. Support for course developers in the management of the following (forums, online assistance, e-mail) as well as student followup tools to provide extra analysis about the use of course content.

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