E-Learning | News

Prof-desk Offers Free Online Course Management System

• By Kerry Sullivan
• 06/24/11

Prof-desk offers online discussion capabilities for teachers and students.

Social networking and online chatting might be a distraction for some, but the makers of the online course management system Prof-desk are using Web-based collaborative tools to connect teachers and students to assignments and to each other--for free.

Though in development for the last two years, the Prof-desk online course management system only formally launched this month. It currently offers more than 400 multimedia instructional and learning resources, including:

• Online educational games;
• Homework forums;
• Online grade books;
• Homework organizational tools;
• Interactive studying;
• Online classrooms;
• Educational videos;
• Quizzes;
• Rating and ranking systems for uploaded content and users;
• Educational lessons and assignments repositories;
• Class calendars;
• Forums for sharing best practices; and
• Chat interfaces that connect students and teachers on local, state, national, and international (translation button included) levels, among others.

Prof-desk's functionality is specific to the user type. Teachers can:

• Create a teacher account;
• Create or upload material;
• Make a class;
• Create a class roster;
• Post homework assignments;
• Post grades; and
• Message a class.

Students can:

• Create a student account;
• Join a class at their school or search for other classes;
• View their grades;
• View their homework assignments;
• Submit their homework assignments;
• Add contacts;
• Message their contacts;
• Search for academic materials; and
• Submit and answer questions.

Parents can:

• View their children's homework assignments; and
• View their children's grades.

Schools must be registered with Prof-desk for classes to be posted. Registration details can be found in the Prof-desk Help Center.