August 2, 2007
*ATutor 1.5.5 Released*
ATutor 1.5.5 has been released. This release is primarily a maintenance release, but does include a few smaller new features and additions to existing functionality, described below. Users are encouraged to upgrade their systems.
Download ATutor 1.5.5
http://www.atutor.ca/atutor/download.php
*New in ATutor 1.5.5*
*The "Media" tag* , used to quickly embed multimedia files into content pages, forum messages, glossary items, test questions, and other places where content is created. Supported formats are: mpeg, mov, wmv, swf, mp3, wav, ogg, mid, and YouTube hosted videos
*LaTeX support* , primarily to make it possible to add mathematical notation where content is created, but also to add other formatting provided by LaTeX.
*Course end date* so a course can be automatically closed when it is finished.
*Redesigned Browse Courses* page to provide better sorting and searching of courses.
*View Student Enrollment* so administrators can see a list of all courses a particular student is enrolled in.
*Module Group Tools* are now available to allow module developers to extend their modules to make them available to groups.
For a full list of changes see the Change Log on the ATutor web site
Change Log
http://www.atutor.ca/atutor/mantis/changelog_page.php
*New Modules*
Payments: Allows administrators, and instructors with administrator permission, to set a price for a course, and grant access automatically, or manually, after a payment has been received. Supports PayPal IPN and MiraPay payment gateways.
ATutor Modules
http://www.atutor.ca/modules/index.php
*Translation*
Only a handful of new language has been added in this release so in most cases, existing users can just turn on the translation tools in ATutor to translate the dozen or so new language items. Be sure to export the language once translated, and post it to the Translation forum on atutor.ca, so it can be added to the language database for future releases. Or, as usual, language packs can be updated by translating directly through the atutor.ca translation site.
Translation Forum
http://www.atutor.ca/forum/4/1.html
*Looking Forward to the Next Few Releases*
A number of significant features are planned and funded for the next few releases of ATutor, some for the next release near the end of September, others for winter release in January, and others to be introduced throughout 2008.
*UTF-8* the conversion to UTF-8 is already happening. You will notice that many language packs are already available in the UFT-8 character set. Over the next couple releases, ATutor users are encouraged to setup there systems with UTF-8 language packs. Though in most cases you can already use these language packs without any trouble, if you do experience troubles, please report them. We will likely switch completely to UTF-8 for the winter release.
*Gradebook*, finally after many requests, the Gradebook project has been funded. Work will begin early in 2008, and should be available in the spring 2008 release.
*Calendar and Scheduling* module has also been funded, and will also be introduced in early 2008.
*Content Packaging Upgrade* from 1.1.2 to 1.1.4 (or 2.0 if the specification is ready) early in 2008
*IMS QTI import/export* tools for quizzes and tests will be completed for the spring 2008 release.
*PHP Version of AChecker*, the ATRC open source accessibility checker, is being created this fall, and should be available both as a standalone application which can be used by anyone to evaluate the accessibility of their Web sites, and available as a module for ATutor.
*Fluid integration* The Fluid project is building a variety interoperable tools that can be used to build e-learning applications, another project lead by the ATRC. During 2008, into 2009 the Fluid tools will become available in ATutor. (http://fluidproject.org)