The online course has several collaborative tools to allow you to communicate with instructors and your peers, and to help you contribute to and view information about the course. Read the description of each item and select the tabs along the top of the page to see an image of each tool.

• Gradebook: You can use the Gradebook to view any assignments or other course work your instructor has set up to be gradable and viewable. You can also view instructor comments with the Gradebook. Only you and your instructor will be able to view your grades.

• Email: The Email tool is a convenient and effective way for you, your instructor and other students to communicate with each other without leaving the course. You can use the email tool to send a private email to your instructor or to another student, or you can send messages and files to a group of students. This feature also gives you the ability to send file attachments with your message.

• Chat: Like a regular online chat room, the Chat tool lets you, your instructor, and other students in your course communicate with each other in real time. You can also use the chat tool to:
  • View chat logs, which are archived chats from the course
  • Send private messages to your instructor or to another student
  • "Follow" one another to web sites related to the course discussion

• Search: With the Search tool, you can search your course calendar, course announcements and other parts of your online course for specific assignments or topics. The search tool also gives you direct access to Internet web sites from within your course using many popular search engines.

• Doc Sharing: The Document Sharing tool lets you upload and download documents, images, spreadsheets and HTML pages. You can download documents your instructor or other students provide and then view, build, revise, or recreate those documents. You can then upload your changes for the entire class to view.

• Journal: The Journal is a place where you can make notes and record your thoughts. It's also a place where your instructor can make specific assignments. For example, your instructor can post articles or questions in your journal and then ask you to respond to whatever he or she posted in your journal. You also have the option of sharing your journal entries with your Instructor. Your instructor can read and modify any entries you choose to share. Your instructor can also create entries for you to see in your journal.

• Webliography: The Webliography course tool lets you work with your instructor and with other students to create an annotated bibliography of WorldWideWeb sites that are relevant to your course. Both you and your instructor can submit sites to the Webliography. You can sort Webliography entries by the date they were submitted, by category, or by the person who submitted the entry.