What is IdeaTools?
IdeaTools is a Web-based online course-building tool created at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) to help non-technically inclined faculty members build and manage online courses to support classroom teaching and distance learning. It automates many of the tasks of creating interactive Web sites for instructional purposes, freeing educators to use their time more productively to develop course content.

IdeaTools offers pedagogical tools for creating and structuring online lesson materials that engage students actively in the learning process. Courses developed with IdeaTools are comprehensive instructional solutions incorporating Web-based lessons, interactive exercises, online assignments, quizzes, grade books, and discussion forums. Graphics, charts, and diagrams can be added by teachers to create visually rich learning materials. Students can utilize the course materials at any time and from any place if they have access to the Web.

IdeaTools provides a low-cost way for academic departments and small colleges with limited financial resources to create Web-based online teaching solutions.

How does it work?
The hallmark of IdeaTools is its flexibility and relative ease of use. After approximately 10 hours of workshop training, most teachers with Internet access and a Windows-based PC will be able to use IdeaTools to create their own online courses. Interactive online tutorials are a possible training option in the future.

The course-building process begins when lesson units, handouts, quizzes, and homework are listed within a course outline. A click on a "Save" button generates a complete Web site in a few seconds. Drop-down menus, tables of contents, and site maps are automatically created, making it easy to access all instructional materials.

Clicking an "Edit" icon allows you to begin creating course materials, including computer-graded quizzes and electronic homework. Special pedagogical tools allow you to incorporate pop-up notes and glossaries, as well as interactive tutorials and exercises to provide students with additional learning guidance.

IdeaTools is a Web server application, a type of software that runs on a central computer, allowing any teacher to access its course-building tools through the Internet Explorer Web browser. (IdeaTools does not support Netscape.) Teachers can utilize IdeaTools from home or office to create Web-based readings, handouts, quizzes, homework, essays, and labs. Work can be saved directly online without time-consuming file transfers to remote Web servers. Once saved, course materials are immediately available to students, allowing them to access the lessons on the Web at any time.

Being a Web server application, IdeaTools is a scaleable product. A single copy installed on a Web server will serve many teachers and students in widely dispersed locations. This simplifies product support; when a reported software bug is fixed, it is fixed for all current and future users.

What special equipment is needed?
The IdeaTools software must be installed on a Web server running Windows NT 4 Server or better with Internet Information Server 4 or better and PHP4 or better. In addition, schools must have the necessary network infrastructure to support Internet operations.

Instructors and students must have their own desktop computers with Internet Explorer 5 or better in order to access IdeaTools on the Web. Instructors must work with a Windows-based PC when building online courses, but the materials developed can be viewed on both PCs and Macs.

Besides the price of IdeaTools, you may need to purchase and install other low-cost software components, depending on features you select. Each of these software components typically costs $40-100. This assumes that a school has the necessary network infrastructure and the capability to provide ongoing technical support for Internet operations. IdeaTools will work on a low-end Web server with hardware costing less than $3000. Another option schools may consider would be to lease a Web server from a server warehouse facility or share a Web server with another school that has the needed infrastructure and technical support capabilities.

Ideas for Faculty Working with IdeaTools
Over the last three years, several NTID faculty members have been using IdeaTools to teach courses in diverse content areas, including Web design, computer programming, reading and writing, social studies, astronomy, meteorology, and environmental studies.

IdeaTools was created to allow instructors to convert existing course materials for online use. This allows them to continue working with instructional formats that have served them well in the past while they experiment with new pedagogical approaches made possible by IdeaTools.

Here are some examples of how NTID faculty members are using IdeaTools:


• Rose Marie Toscano (rmtnge@rit.edu) uses IdeaTools to teach Writing and Literature I & II to deaf students. She began by making her self-authored booklets available to students online, and experimented with electronic homework submission and online class forums. She currently employs special writing markup tools to grade student essays online and uses other Web-based tutoring tools to offer remedial assistance to students who need help to improve their reading and writing.
• Jim Mallory (jrmnet@rit.edu) uses IdeaTools to teach several computer programming courses, both in NTID classrooms and to distance learning students, including international students. He uses online testing to evaluate his distance learning students and employs interactive video demonstrations to show students step by step how to complete their programming projects. He also makes his online course materials available for use by adjunct instructors.
• Paula Grcevic (pagnda@rit.edu) uses IdeaTools to teach multiple sections of graphics design courses. All her course materials developed over the course of several years have been converted for online use. Her students also submit their art projects and journals online. After grading, Paula returns the projects to the students with her comments. Taking advantage of the ease of the electronic resubmission process, she offers her students the option to revise and resubmit their projects to improve their grades.

IdeaTools might work for you. For more information, contact: Simon Ting 585-475-7461 (TTY) Fax: 585-475-6500 sktnmp@rit.edu