A Web-based Platform for Distance Education

We have developed a web-based platform for distance education. The platform supports efficient creation and maintenance of online distance courses, only requiring an Internet connection and a web browser from teachers and students. All tools that are necessary to run a distance course are integrated in the platform and accessible via a regular web browser, such as such as Internet Explorer, or Mozilla Firefox. This means that students and teachers can access the course from any computer with Internet connection, just as any other regular web page. After logging in to the course home page, teachers can easily create student accounts, upload their learning material, add course assignments, correct turned assignments, add news and FAQs, and much more, just by using a regular web browser, no other tools are needed. The similar applies for the students; they log in to their personal course account via the course home page, and once logged in, they can turn in their solutions to the course assignments and find corrected reports with grades and corrections done by the teacher. The platform has been successfully used in several courses at the Malardalen University. Its functions are continuously extended to cover diverse user's requirements.