OLAT Feature List and Some Screenshots

Click on the screenshots to get a full-size view!

General Overview

Open Source (Apache 2 License)
Java based framework (Brasato) with special Accessibility-mode, HTML based frontend GUI (XHTML 1.0)
AJAX/Web 2.0 enabled
Entirely multilingual, UTF8 supported, online translation tool
Supports standards such as IMS CP, SCORM 1.2, QTI 1.2 etc.
Server requirements: With OLAT, there is no need for a high-end server!
Scalability: Install an OLAT cluster if one server alone does not meet your requirements!
CSS framework YAML: Increased robustness and browser-compatibility of entire layout.
Portlets on HOME-tab are configurable

Users & Groups

Unlimited number of accounts
Different roles
Various authentication methods
Administrators can add, modify or delete users
Personalized authoring and learning environment
Manage your files via HTTP or WebDAV
Configure your personal home portal
Calendar (per course, per group and combined personal calendar), also via ical, notifications (via eMail or RSS)
Be up-to-date as regards news and changes via e-mail or RSS feed
Full-text search
Share resources with other authors (learning resource repository)
Form your own project groups and invite buddies
Use discussion forums, file share space, contact forms etc.
Instant Messenger: See who is online and chat with others using either the integrated chat client (AJAX based) or an external Jabber client

Authentication Options

Users can create their own accounts (with/without approval by administrators)
Direct login into OLAT with OLAT user name and password
Access file system via WebDAV login
Full Shibboleth integration
Single sign-on e.g. via Switch AAI
Control access to courses by means of AAI attributes

Course Management

Flexible course system
Based on IMS Learning design concepts
Create a personalized course structure according to your needs
Course editor: create your course using OLAT course elements
Group management: manage your learners
Rights management: grant specific users access to course tools
Assessment tool: assess your learners
Archive tool: download log files or runtime data and import/export courses
Create your own course layout using CSS

Course Elements OLAT Offers

Wiki
Single pages with integrated WYSIWYG HTML editor (+ jsMath)
Include external pages or sites via tunneling
Both SCORM 1.2 and IMS Content Packages (+ CP editor)
Forums and "file dialog" element to discuss papers
Folders for download material
Tasks with drop box, sample solution and scores
Tests (with scores) and self-tests (anonymous, no scores) based on QTI 1.2 standard
Questionnaire for course evaluations
Enrollment for groups (by student or tutor or both) with wait lists
Contact forms for easy communication with group members or tutors

Online Help and Documentation

Extensive context-sensitive help
User manual available as HTML or PDF
Demo courses and course templates
Comprehensive help, manual, tutorials and discussion forum

Multilingual

Entirely supports UTF8
Our main translations: German, English, French, Italian and Spanish
Community translations: Portuguese, Russian, Czech, Polish, Lithuanian, Danish, Greek, Chinese (traditional and simplified) and Farsi (Persian)
Under development: Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian (Bahasa), Rumantsch and Turkish
The online translation tool has been rebuilt in 2009 and is simpler than ever!
More information in the translations chapter

For a more detailed description of the features OLAT offers please refer to the functional survey [1.3MB - Filetype: PDF] (also available in German: "OLAT Funktionsübersicht [1.7MB - Filetype: PDF] "). Click on the image to see bigger screenshots in the right column.