Tools Module

As mentioned in an earlier post, the Tools Module is divided into five sections:

• Announcements
• Calendar
• Tasks
• View Grades
• Personal Information

Furthermore, the Modify Content and Modify Layout buttons could be deleted and these links could be added to the Tools. Another idea would be to take each individual tool and add a linked tab to the navigational tabs in section two.

This post will briefly review each of the Tools.

Announcements

The Announcements feature works fairly well. All Announcements are listed by default, and four tabs allow you to choose views: view today, view last 7 days, view last 30 days, and view all. Additionally, a pull-down menu allows you to select a particular class in order to view announcements for that class only.

A few features might help the Announcements section improve. A sort feature could be added that allowed the Announcements to be seen both newest to oldest or oldest to newest. Also, in their current form, all of the announcements are listed in their entirety. It would be nice if just the titles of the announcements were listed and the detailed text could be expanded or collapsed. As a smaller note, the choice of the push pin as the icon is a little confusing since it signifies a bulletin board entry that has been "pinned" or placed permanently due to its importance. An alternate icon would be preferable.

One improvement is needed for each of the pages in the tools module - unless the items are listed in the tabs navigational bar, the actual tools module should be visible in each sub-page to function as a vertical navigational toolbar.

Figure 8 - Announcements - Rating - 7.5

Calendar

The Calendar function is relatively standard with four major views: day, week, month, and year. Events can be added in a typical fashion. A sort function allows the events to be shown by the course they are attached to. When adding events, however, it's unclear how to associate them with a particular course.

As a navigational issue, the Tools module should be shown as a vertical navigational bar on each calendar page (or on the tabs).

Figure 9 - Calendar - Rating - 8.5

Tasks

The Tasks page is similar to the Calendar - the basic functions of any task programs exist, including priority, status, and due date. Like the calendar page, however, it is unclear how to associate a specific task with a particular course.

Figure 10 - Tasks - Rating - 8.5

View Grades

The View Grades page seems to work well. The first click takes you to a list of your courses. Clicking on an individual course takes you to your grades. This is not the official source for grades on the transcript, it is a place where the instructor may or may not have listed grades for assignments throughout the course. As such, the value is dependent upon how much information the Instructor adds.

The basic architecture appears sound (except for the common omission of the list of Tools as a vertical navigational bar).

Figure 11 - View Grades - Rating - 9.0

Figure 12 - Specific Grades Page

Personal Information

The Personal Information Page contains six links:

• Edit Personal Information
• Change Password
• Set CD-ROM Drive
• Set Privacy Options
• Set Visual Text Box Editor Options
• Set Locale

Unfortunately, I actually used the change password feature once, and it completely messed up my entire UAA log-in process. These features need to be completely reviewed by IT for their effectiveness and revised and deleted as necessary.

Figure 13 - Personal Information - Rating - 1.5