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Features

The following is a summary of the key features and functionalities of the RefinedTraining Platform. The entire architecture is fully standards compliant, while using the very latest technologies to provide maximum benefit and extend the system lifecycle.

Overall design

RefinedTraining's overall design:

Promotes a social constructionist pedagogy (collaboration, activities, critical reflection, etc)
Suitable for 100% online classes as well as supplementing face-to-face learning
Simple, lightweight, efficient, compatible, low-tech browser interface
Easy to install on almost any platform that supports PHP. Requires only one database (and can share it).
Full database abstraction supports all major brands of database (except for initial table definition)
Course listing shows descriptions for every course on the server, including accessibility to guests.
Courses can be categorised and searched - one RefinedTraining site can support thousands of courses
Emphasis on strong security throughout. Forms are all checked, data validated, cookies encrypted etc
Most text entry areas (resources, forum postings etc) can be edited using an embedded WYSIWYG HTML editor

Site management

Site is managed by an administrator user
Site is defined during setup. Defaults can be edited during setup or globally accepted
Site can be modified by a robust Site administration block.
Plug-in "themes" allow the administrator to customize the site colors, fonts, layout etc to suit local needs
Plug-in activity modules can be added to existing RefinedTraining installations
Plug-in language packs allow full localization to any language. These can be edited using a built-in web-based editor. Currently there are language packs for over 70 languages.

User management

Goals are to reduce admin involvement to a minimum, while retaining high security
Supports a range of authentication mechanisms through plug-in authentication modules, allowing easy integration with existing systems.
Standard email method: Trainees can create their own login accounts. Email addresses are verified by confirmation.
LDAP method: account logins can be checked against an LDAP server. Admin can specify which fields to use.
IMAP, POP3, NNTP: account logins are checked against a mail or news server. SSL, certificates and TLS are supported.
Trainees are encouraged to build an online profile including photos, description. Email addresses can be protected from display if required.
Every user can specify their own timezone, and every date in RefinedTraining is translated to that timezone (e.g. posting dates, assignment due dates etc)
Every user can choose the language used for the RefinedTraining interface (English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese etc)

Enrolment

Instructors can add an "enrolment key" to their courses to keep out non-Trainees. They can give out this key face-to-face or via personal email etc
Instructors can enrol Trainees manually if desired
Instructors can unenrol Trainees manually if desired, otherwise they are automatically unenrolled after a certain period of inactivity (set by the admin)
External database: any database containing at least two fields can be used as an external authentication source.
Each person requires only one account for the whole server - each account can have different access
Meta courses can group together related courses so participants can interact with each other

Roles

Roles for specific participants can be defined for each course
An admin account controls the creation of courses and creates Instructors by assigning users to courses
Course creators can create courses, teach in them, and assign others to Instructor roles.
Instructors are a role in a specific course.
Non-editing Instructor roles are available for adjuncts, and part-time tutors.

Course Management

Overview

A full Instructor has full control over all settings for a course, including restricting other Instructors
Choice of course formats such as by week, by topic or a discussion-focussed social format
Course Themes. A course can have its own theme of colors and layout.
Flexible array of course activities - Forums, Quizzes, Glossaries, Resources, Choices, Surveys, Assignments, Chats, Workshops
Groups - Instructor(s) and Trainees can be placed in one or more groups
Recent changes to the course since the last login can be displayed on the course home page - helps give sense of community
Most text entry areas (resources, forum postings etc) can be edited using an embedded WYSIWYG HTML editor
All grades for Forums, Quizzes and Assignments can be viewed on one page (and downloaded as a spreadsheet file)
Full user logging and tracking - activity reports for each Trainee are available with graphs and details about each module (last access, number of times read) as well as a detailed "story" of each Trainees involvement including postings etc on one page.
Mail integration - copies of forum posts, Instructor feedback etc can be mailed in HTML or plain text.
Custom scales - Instructors can define their own scales to be used for grading forums and assignments
Courses can be packaged as a single zip file using the Backup function. These can be restored on any RefinedTraining server.

Assignment Module

Assignments can be specified with a due date and a maximum grade.
Trainees can upload their assignments (any file format) to the server - they are date-stamped.
Late assignments are allowed, but the amount of lateness is shown clearly to the Instructor
For each particular assignment, the whole class can be assessed (grade and comment) on one page in one form.
Instructor feedback is appended to the assignment page for each Trainee, and notification is mailed out.
The Instructor can choose to allow resubmission of assignments after grading (for regrading)
Allowing resubmissions can allow the Instructor to progress monitor Trainee projects/assignments as they evolve.
Advanced assignments can allow multiple files to be uploaded. This could keep together preplanning maps, outlines, research papers and presentations.

Chat Module

Allows smooth, synchronous text interaction
Includes profile pictures in the chat window
Supports URLs, smilies, embedded HTML, images etc
All sessions are logged for later viewing, and these can also be made available to Trainees

Choice Module

Like a poll. Can either be used to vote on something, or to get feedback from every Trainee (eg research consent)
Instructor sees intuitive table view of who chose what
Trainees can optionally be allowed to see an up-to-date graph of results

Forum Module

Different types of forums are available, such as Instructor-only, course news, open-to-all, and one-thread-per-user.
All postings have the authors photo attached.
Discussions can be viewed nested, flat or threaded, oldest or newest first.
Individual forums can be subscribed to by each person so that copies are forwarded via email, or the Instructor can force subscription for all
The Instructor can choose not to allow replies (eg for an announcements-only forum)
Discussion threads can be easily moved between forums by the Instructor
Attached images are shown inline
If forum ratings are being used, these can be restricted to a range of dates

Glossary Module

This is one of the modules that best illustrates the way that RefinedTraining can fundamentally improve upon the experience of a traditional classroom
When Trainees contribute to a course in a public place like the glossary, their ideas are given weight and attention and often result in a greater pride or ownership of the assignment
Allows participants to create and maintain a list of definitions, like a dictionary
Trainee entries can be previewed by instructors before publishing
Entries can be searched or browsed using alphabet, category, date, and author
A glossary of terms can be easily referenced by Trainees
Almost any module of RefinedTraining can be set to hyperlink - automatically - to any word or phrase that is stored in or added to the glossary
Glossary items can be grouped in categories
Participants can comment on glossary entries
Entries can be rated using Instructor-defined scales
Glossaries can be easily exported and imported via xml
Glossaries can be fully searched
Glossaries can be viewed with different display formats

Lesson Module

A lesson is a series of pages which can be presented in a linear fashion, like a slide show, or in a non-linear, branching manner, or in a combination of the two.
Navigation through the lesson can be straight forward or complex, logical or random
Pages can allow Trainees choices through answers to Instructor directed questions or descriptions
Each choice can be associated with jumps that link to other tables
Offers different scoring and grading potentials
Interfaces with Grade and Glossary modules
Lessons can build upon each other through conditional dependencies upon one another
Question pages include Multiple choice, Multi-answer, T/F, numeric, short answer and essay.
Pages can be imported either as questions in a variety of formats or from PowerPoints
Trainee attempts, time limits, minimum score and retakes can be set.
Page content is HTML compatible, with a full set of edit tools for the Instructor
Trainees may see progress bars, running score, reinforcement to Trainee questions
Password, start and end times, and other restrictions can be placed on Trainees.

Quiz Module

Instructors can define a database of questions for re-use in different quizzes
Questions can be stored in categories for easy access, and these categories can be "published" to make them accessible from any course on the site.
Quizzes are automatically graded, and can be re-graded if questions are modified
Quizzes can have a limited time window outside of which they are not available
At the Instructor's option, quizzes can be attempted multiple times, and can show feedback and/or correct answers
Quiz questions and quiz answers can be shuffled (randomised) to reduce cheating
Questions allow HTML and images
Questions can be imported from external text files
Quizzes can be attempted multiple times, if desired
Attempts can be cumulative, if desired, and finished over several sessions
Multiple-choice questions supporting single or multiple answers
Short Answer questions (words or phrases)
True-False questions
Matching questions
Random questions
Numerical questions (with allowable ranges)
Embedded-answer questions (cloze style) with answers within passages of text
Embedded descriptive text and graphics

Resource Module

Supports display of any electronic content, Word, Powerpoint, Flash, Video, Sounds etc. that are stored locally, or remotely
Files can be uploaded and managed (zipped, unzipped, renamed, moved, etc..) on the server
Folders can be created and managed on the server and linked to
Internal web pages (html formatted) can be created with WYSIWYG editor and linked to
Internal text pages (no formatting) can be created and linked to
External content on the web can be linked to or seamlessly included within the course interface.
External web applications can be linked to with data passed to them
Linked MP3 audio files will display with elegant flash player

Survey Module

Built-in surveys (COLLES, ATTLS) have been proven as instruments for analysing online classes
Online survey reports always available, including many graphs. Data is downloadable as an Excel spreadsheet or CSV text file.
Survey interface prevents partly-finished surveys.
Feedback is provided to the Trainee of their results compared to the class averages

Wiki Module

Wiki is a web page that anyone can add to or edit
It enables documents to be authored collectively and supports collaborative learning
Old versions are not deleted and may be restored if required

Workshop Module

Allows peer assessment of documents, and the Instructor can manage and grade the assessment.
Supports a wide range of possible grading scales
Instructor can provide sample documents for Trainees to practice grading
Very flexible with many options.