September 21, 2004
ATutor 1.4.2 has been released. ATutor is an Open Source Web-based Learning Content Management System (LCMS) designed with accessibility and adaptability in mind.
**New in this Release:**
*Test/Survey Manager*: Now create surveys, add Likert-type questions, view detailed statistics on a per-question basis, with current tests and surveys linked from the course home page for quick access.
*Secure Content*: Secure the content directory by placing it outside of the web server path during installation, or upgrade, to prevent unauthorized access of private course files.
*Search Course Catalogue*: Search through courses as a guest, or as an ATutor user, to find catalogue listings, or system wide topic information.
*Course Category Themes*: Associate categories with a specific theme, so all course in a category look the same.
*File Manager Enhancements*: Now rename files and directories as well as delete entire directories even if they’re not empty.
*Course Polls*: Instructors can create polls for their courses, to quickly gather student opinions.
*Course Language Property*: Designate a course’s primary language.
*Browse Source Code Repository*: Public and developer access to evolving ATutor source code.
*Languages*: At the time of release ATutor 1.4.2 was available in 9 languages: Danish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Slovenian, Spanish, and English….with many others nearing completion.
**Currently being Developed for an Upcoming ATutor Release**:
*Overhaul of Language Support*: For the next release the ATutor translation tools are being moved into ATutor, so rather than having to translate through the atutor.ca site, language can be translated from within ATutor itself. Administrators can generate their own language packs, so changes made to the language can be reused from version to version. Support for a full range of language character sets will be available.
*File Manager Upgrade*: A full featured file manager will be available in the next release adding move, rename, and edit utilities, and the ability to create new files online.
*Optimizations*: Much of the functionality is being rewritten to provide better modularity for those who wish to extend ATutor with custom utilities. The caching function has been rewritten and will be extended to include most repetitive content, greatly increasing the speed at which pages load, particularly for very large courses, or high traffic servers.
*Course Copy and Backup Manager*: Instructors will be able to copy their courses to create new course sessions. Administrators can archive courses to create master copies, generate new courses, and import local or remotely stored ATutor courses.
*Test Manager Upgrades*: Test and question creation is being overhauled in preparation for future support of standardized question formats. This will allow instructors to reuse questions across tests, in different courses, on other ATutor systems, or in other e-learning systems. Tests can be packaged with other content to create complete learning units.
**and much more**
For more information about other features visit the ATutor home site:
http://www.atutor.ca/
ATutor Features
http://www.atutor.ca/atutor/index.php
ATutor Demos
http://www.atutor.ca/atutor/demo.php
ATutor Documentation
http://www.atutor.ca/atutor/docs/index.php
ATutor Development
http://www.atutor.ca/development/index.php
Download ATutor
http://www.atutor.ca/atutor/download.php