What do we really need?

Introduction
One of the joys of open source is the freedom to speak about it honestly, and in plain english.  To call something, say, a phone, and not a "telecommunications infrastructure solution".  To say what something is -- and what it isn't.

Along those lines, we've built a checklist of common needs that educators have for online learning spaces and tools.  Then we use it to describe where Caucus fits -- and doesn't fit, as shown by the checked and unchecked boxes in each section.  We welcome feedback and suggestions about this list, especially suggestions for specific needs that belong in the list.

Make your own checklist
What do you need for your online classes?  Try this experiment: print this page, and next to each checkbox, write 1, 2, or 3 for "don't need", "helpful", and "required".  Circle the checked 3's, and highlight the unchecked 3's.  What does this tell you?  Is anything missing from this list?

	Category		Current Capabilities		Future Plans
	Assignments		Each class has an instructor-controlled list of assignments		Make assignment creation optionally create a gradebook entry, and vice versa.  Integrate with SCORM player, provide minimal LMS capability.
			Start (visible), stop, and due dates
			May contain richtext, attached files, links
			Students may submit completed assignments on-line
			Launch integrated LMS or SCORM packages
			Tied one-to-one with entries in gradebook
			Automatic grade entry into gradebook
	Browser Compatibility		Compatible with IE7, IE6 and IE5.5
			Compatible with Firefox, Netscape
			Compatible with Safari 3
	Conversation & Participation		Each class has an instructor-controlled membership list, with specific privileges		We think uncontrolled, overused branching is a bad idea.  So we've designed "break-outs" (controlled branching) into the recently released version 5.1.  Researching adding spell-checking via the Google API.
			Multiple discussion "threads" per class
			Richtext editor for discussions
			Files and links may be attached to individual discussion responses
			Tracks which discussions are new vs. seen
			Important discussions saveable in personal notebook
			Important discussions link to "to-do" list
			Automatic email notification of new discussion
			Selected discussions may be anonymous
			Real-time "chat" & whiteboard available, with saved history for later use (add-on)
			"Who's on now?"
			Users may participate via email (can act like a listserv)
			"Branching" within threads
			Built-in spell checker
			Instructor preview/moderation before posts are visible
			Voting or surveys
	Customization		Change graphics and colors via web interface		Replace all English text in pages with calls to a "dictionary" function, to ease translation to other languages.
			Construct "center" or "portal" page via web interface
			Supports multiple, distinct user interfaces to same data
			HTML-like source code for all pages provided and modifiable
			Optional customizable fixed-left-menu-bar
			Drag-and-drop design wizards for each page
	Document Storage		Upload documents into discussion
			Upload documents into separate folders (storage area)
			Limit access to documents by class or roles or groups
			Multiple version management (shared editing)
			Administrator management of attached documents
			Automatic handling of attached streaming video/audio
	E-commerce		Require online payment to enter class(es) (add-on)
	Grading		Each class has a built-in gradebook, with automatic summation of numeric grades
			Grades may be weighted or unweighted
			Students may see their own grades
			Gradebooks may be exported to spreadsheets
			Grades available to protected MySQL queries
			Gradebooks may be imported from spreadsheets
			Gradebooks may be exported to student records system
	Integration with other applications		Can use LDAP for user authentication
			Single-signon
			Data available via SQL
			Easy integration with student data systems
	Knowledge Management		Search text (simple boolean)		Automatically convert attached files to HTML, then search them.
			"Bookmark" important discussions in personal notebook
			Shareable "to-do" lists, optionally tied to specific discussions
			Produce static HTML snapshots of entire classes (archive online or on a CD or DVD)
			Search text of attached files
			"Permalinks" -- bookmark any page in a browser
	Lesson & Content Creation		Richtext editor easy to write formatted text, with links and attached files		Integrate with SCORM player, provide minimal LMS capability.
			Imports MS Word text and formatting
			Simple quiz creation tools
			Multi-page lesson creation tools
			Content Management tools
			LMS capability
			SCORM packages
	Security & Administration		Multiple administrator roles with many levels of privilege
			Instructors have complete administrative control of their classes
			Access control for all objects (classes, discussion, assignments, file storage, etc.)
			Works with SSL ("https")
			Works well with all firewalls and proxy servers
			Works with or without browser cookies
			Automatic off-site data backup plan available
			Data encrypted inside database
	Tests & Quizzes		Built-in quizzes, automatic scoring
			Quiz results entered automatically into gradebook
	Tracking & Statistics		Detailed user statistics available via wizard
			"Roll your own" SQL queries against statistics database
			Publish results as web page or spreadsheet