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Prof-desk Offers Free Online Course Management System

  • By Kerry Sullivan
  • 06/24/11
Prof-desk offers online discussion capabilities for teachers and students.
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.

About the Author

Kerry A. Sullivan is a freelance writer in based in Virginia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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